Q.73: Gurudev, in the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says, “Sarva-Sankalpa Parityagi”. What does it mean?

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

When you are about to go to sleep, and if you keep thinking “I have to do this, I have to do that”, then will you be able to get restful sleep? What do you do when you sleep? You keep everything aside. Only then will you are able to get sleep. There is a deeper meaning in this verse. Yoga will not happen until the mind is stuck in feverish thoughts like 'I want this' or 'I have to do this' or 'I need to do that'.

How can you find deep rest when your mind is running behind acquiring 20 different things? Can you get any comfort in such a state? So for some time, you need to set everything aside. This is what is meant by the term “Sarva-sankalpa Sanyasi”.

'Yada hi nendriyartheshu na karmasv-anusajjate. Sarva-sankalpa-sanyasi yogarudastadochyate' (Bhagavad Gita, 6.4)

When one reaches a stage where he desires nothing for himself, then he becomes a Yogi, a Sanyasi. Such a wise and selfless person becomes useful to everyone around him. Whom do you really call a saint, a prophet, or an apostle? One who does not desire anything for himself, and one who only prays and works for the welfare and wellbeing of everyone else.

Often one desires fame, or money, etc. It is desire that destroys a person and makes his vision and perspective in life very narrow and limited. So Lord Krishna says that until and unless a person drops all this (feverishness of desire) and becomes hollow and empty, he does not find peace. Once the mind becomes hollow and empty, one experiences such deep rest, and at the same time such deep joy arises from within.

In such a state, one realizes the light of the Divine within and all around. This is what is meant here.

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