The greatest evil is bondage and this endures so long as one lives in the realm of the Gunas, except in the case of a freed soul. All action is comprised in one or the other of the Gunas. All action therefore involves the evil of bondage.

^389:49 He attains . . . renunciation--This may also be interpreted to mean: he attains the supreme state in which he remains as the actionless Self, by his renunciation of all actions, for which he is prepared by his right knowledge.

^390:51 Pure: free from doubt and misconception, being merged in Brahman through the elimination of all alien attributes ascribed to It.

Relinquishing sound &c.--abandoning all superfluous luxuries, all objects except those only which are necessary for the bare maintenance of the body, and laying aside attraction and hatred even for those objects.

^391:52 Eating but little--as conducive to the serenity of thought by keeping off languor, sleepiness and the like.

Meditation--upon the nature of the Self.

Concentration--one-pointedness of thought, on one feature of the Self.

Dispassion--for the seen and the unseen.

^391:53 Power--that power which is combined with passion and desire.

Property: Though a man who is free from all passions of the mind and the senses, may own so much of external belongings as is necessary for bodily sustenance and for the observance of his religious duties (Dharma), yet this the aspirant abandons, even if this comes of itself, because he does not regard the bodily life as his; thus he becomes a Paramahamsa Parivrajaka, a Sannyasin of the highest order.

^392:54 Brahman-become: not that he is yet freed and become the Absolute, but is firmly grounded in the knowledge that he is Brahman. His attainment of freedom is described in the next verse.

Supreme devotion: the devotion stated in VII. 17.

^394:59 Thy Prakriti: Thy nature as a Kshatriya.

^395:61 See commentary to IX. 10.

Arjuna means 'white,' and here it signifies--'O pure-hearted one.'

^396:63 It: the Shastra, the teaching as declared above.

^396:64 Again: though more than once declared.

^397:65 Thou shalt reach Myself: Thus acting,--i.e., looking upon the Lord alone as thy aim, means and end--thou shalt attain the Highest.

Truly do I promise unto thee.--Have implicit faith in the declarations of Me, the Lord, as I pledge thee My troth.

^398:66 All Dharmas--including Adharma also: all actions, righteous or unrighteous, since absolute freedom from the bondage of all action is intended to be taught here.

Take refuge in Me alone--knowing that there is naught else except Me, the Self of all, dwelling the same in all.

Liberate thee--by manifesting Myself as thy own Self.

All sins: all bonds of Dharma and Adharma.