मच्चित्तः सर्वदुर्गाणि मत्प्रसादात्तरिष्यसि ।
अथ चेत्त्वमहङ्कारान्न श्रोष्यसि विनङ्क्ष्यसि ॥ १८.५८ ॥
यदहङ्कारमाश्रित्य न योत्स्य इति मन्यसे ।
मिथ्यैष व्यवसायस्ते प्रकृतिस्त्वां नियोक्ष्यति ॥ १८.५९ ॥

maccitta: sarva-durgāṇi mat-prasādāt-tariṣyasi |
atha cet-tvam-ahaṅkārān-na śroṣyasi vinaṅkṣyasi || 18.58 ||
yad-ahaṅkāram-āśritya na yotsya iti manyase |
mithyaiṣa vyavasāyas-te prakṛtis-tvām niyokṣyati || 18.59 ||

Surmounting all hurdles by the grace of the Supreme

Can such a state be had? Is it possible for one to completely eschew all doership about whatever he does? Is not even the basic discrimination like good and bad, virtue and vice, necessary in such all-fold renunciation? What happens when any slip or error takes place? Questions like these are quite common, because the normal mind is unable to rise to the level of wholesome piety or sublimity.

Krishna takes note of it and provides his own striking clarification:

With the mind resting on the Supreme, you will surmount all hardships by Its grace. But if, due to obstinacy, you do not heed these words, you will be led to ruin. Resorting to ego should you think “I will not fight”, such a decision will be in vain. For, Nature will surely compel you to fight.

For one taking to such an inner renunciation and the resulting transformation of the mind into one of full-fold Godliness, no anxiety of any kind need be there at all. One given totally to the Supreme (maccittaḥ) will tide over all trials and tribulations by the grace of the Supreme Itself.

World thrives on dvandvas and therefore it is likely to cause even grave difficulties and torments at times. It is not due to any wrong or sin of the seeker. It is part of the natural life of anyone in the world. Even if, as a part of this duality some risk or trouble arises, the seeker need not have undue doubt or concern. The unalterable laws of Nature will ensure that the seeker survives all that with enrichment and elevation, provided his renunciation to the Supreme is complete.

After giving insight into the lofty state, Krishna pronounces a warning, which will persuade the seeker to accept and comply with the message. If anyone, due to his own ill-conceived ego, resists the call for renunciation and the resultant abidance in all-fold Godliness, then he will be ruined. In the face of such a stern warning, there is no option at all. He has to make his mind wholesomely Godly. He must take to the path of inner renunciation, abdication of all activities to the Supreme.

Krishna goes a step further. Addressing Arjuna, he says: “You told me in the beginning that you would not fight (na yotsya iti -2.9), and laid your bow and arrow down. You were not then aware of the immortal Self, inexorable Nature and the supreme Reality. Now that you understand the place and supremacy of all these, you have no reason to feel or say that you will not fight. Even if you tend to think in these lines, it is merely a mental indulgence. Such options and deliberations of delusion can only be in the mind, in its imagination. Any such resolve or insistence would be clearly wrong. Being under the grip of Nature, its three guṇas, you will be forced to fight (prakṛtis-tvām niyokṣyati).”

In reality, a good man as well as a bad one is under the grip of Nature. Diversity is the core of Nature, the display of which is the world. It is Nature that shapes one as good and another as bad. There is no special place for anything in the world. All have equal place.