Gita 18.56

Sadhak: "How can someone performing 'all actions always' attain liberation? Don't actions bind?"

Guru: "Actions bind when done with ego and attachment—'I am the doer, this is mine, I want the results.' Actions liberate when done as offering, with refuge in Krishna. The outer activity may look identical; the inner orientation transforms everything. A surgeon operating for ego performs binding action; the same surgeon operating as divine service performs liberating action."

Sadhak: "What exactly is 'mad-vyapashrayah'—taking refuge in Me?"

Guru: "It's making Krishna your ultimate foundation—not wealth, not status, not relationships, not even your own capacity, but the Lord alone. You act in the world, you use all your skills, but your deepest trust is in divine protection and guidance. When everything else can be taken away, what remains? If the answer is 'Krishna,' that's vyapashrayah."

Sadhak: "And 'mat-prasadat'—by My grace. So it's not our effort that liberates?"

Guru: "Your effort creates receptivity; grace actualizes liberation. It's like a flower opening to receive sunlight—the opening is effort, but the light that gives life comes from beyond. Krishna is saying: do your part (take refuge, perform actions in surrender), and I will do My part (bestow grace that leads to the eternal state). It's partnership, not solo performance."

Sadhak: "This 'eternal, imperishable state'—is it after death or achievable now?"

Guru: "Both. The state of refuge itself is a taste of the eternal—even while living, you access an unshakeable inner stability. After the body drops, this becomes complete, permanent. But don't think of it as only 'later.' The shashvatam padam is available in every moment of genuine surrender."