12.11 And if not even that Krishna speaks
अथैतदप्यशक्तोऽसि कर्तुं मद्योगमाश्रितः
सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं ततः कुरु यतात्मवान्
athaitad apy aśhakto ’si kartuṁ mad-yogam āśhritaḥ
sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṁ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān
And if you cannot manage even this, then take refuge in being joined to me, and give up the fruit of all action, self-restrained.
Explanation
The last rung, and it asks almost nothing.
If even working for his sake is beyond you, then simply take refuge in being joined and let go of the fruit of whatever you were going to do anyway.
This is the floor of the Gita. No devotion required, no meditation, no faith stated — only the surrender of the outcome, which is the instruction 2.47 gave before any of the machinery existed.
Word by word
- atha
- if
- etat
- this
- api
- even
- aśhaktaḥ
- unable
- asi
- you are
- kartum
- to work
- mad-yogam
- with devotion to me
- āśhritaḥ
- taking refuge
- sarva-karma
- of all actions
- phala-tyāgam
- to renounce the fruits
- tataḥ
- then
- kuru
- do
- yata-ātma-vān
- be situated in the self
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