Perhaps you know what our Master Paramahamsa- deva used to say. He would say that the meaning of the Gita could be discovered by uttering the word Gita a number of times. Gita then comes to sound like tyagi (Gi-ta-gi-ta-gi-ta-gi). That is to say, renunciation is the essence of the Gita. In fact, the study of the Gita makes it clear that its indubitable lesson is dedication of every thing to God. Some say that the Gita teaches the pursuit of one’s own calling in a spirit of non-attachment after dedicating all the fruits of work to God. If this be possible what more is needed? The Lord Himself says:-
Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou givest away, whatever austerity thou practisest, O son of Kunti, do that as an offering unto Me. (BG 9.27).
But is it easy to succeed in this? It requires tremendous effort, it is not done without struggle. But there is no cause for despair. The Lord says: ‘Gaining perfection through many births (the Yogi) then reaches the highest goal’ (BG 6.45).
If success is not possible in one birth, it will be so in another. Let there be no forgetting of the ideal. Practice should be continuous. In this way success must come one day. In the last incarnation man will be born with the Divine endowments, and all his tendencies will be noble. Realization of God is certain in that birth. Dedication of the self to God, total renunciation of egoism — this is the essence of the teachings of the Gita. This is my conviction. To be wholly His, not to depend at all on one’s own self or others this is the gist of the Gita. The aim of human life is gained if one can follow it so in any way. He is very compassionate; He has promised in the Gita that if one can depend on Him, He Himself does everything else. The import of the Gita is, “My devotee is never lost. (BG 9.31)” The doer of good never comes to grief this also is one of the central truths of the Gita.