Chapter 18: Conclusion-The Perfection of Renunciation
Bg 18.46
TEXT 46
yatah pravrttir bhutanam
yena sarvam idam tatam
sva-karmana tam abhyarcya
siddhim vindati manavah
yena sarvam idam tatam
sva-karmana tam abhyarcya
siddhim vindati manavah
SYNONYMS
yatah—from whom; pravrttih—emanation; bhutanam—of all living entities; yena—by whom; sarvam—all; idam—this; tatam—is pervaded; svakarmana—in his own duties; tam—Him; abhyarcya—by worshiping; siddhim—perfection; vindati—achieves; manavah—a man.
TRANSLATION
By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, man can, in the performance of his own duty, attain perfection.
PURPORT
As stated in the Fifteenth Chapter, all living beings are fragmental parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. As such, the Supreme Lord is the beginning of all living entities. This is confirmed in the Vedanta-sutra-janmady asya yatah. The Supreme Lord is therefore the beginning of life of every living entity. And the Supreme Lord, by His two energies, His external energy and internal energy, is all-pervading. Therefore one should worship the Supreme Lord with His energies. Generally the Vaisnava devotees worship the Supreme Lord with His internal energy. His external energy is a perverted reflection of the internal energy. The external energy is a background, but the Supreme Lord by the expansion of His plenary portion as Paramatma is situated everywhere. He is the Supersoul of all demigods, all human beings, all animals, everywhere. One should therefore know that as part and parcel of the Supreme Lord it is his duty to render service unto the Supreme. Everyone should be engaged in devotional service to the Lord in full Krsna consciousness. That is recommended in this verse.
Everyone should think that he is engaged in a particular type of occupation by Hrsikesa, the master of the senses. And, by the result of the work in which one is engaged, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, should be worshiped. If one thinks always in this way, in full Krsna consciousness, then, by the grace of the Lord, he becomes fully aware of everything. That is the perfection of life. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita, tesam aham samuddharta. The Supreme Lord Himself takes charge of delivering such a devotee. That is the highest perfection of life. In whatever occupation one may be engaged, if he serves the Supreme Lord, he will achieve the highest perfection.
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Copyright (c) 1972 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada