Gita 4.36

Sadhak: "Guruji, this verse seems too good to be true. Is Krishna really saying that knowledge absolves all sin? What about karma, consequences, justice?"

Guru: "Let's be precise about what is being said and what is not. Krishna doesn't say knowledge prevents consequences of past actions—the body may still experience results. What knowledge destroys is bondage. The criminal released from prison may still bear scars; what changes is they're no longer imprisoned. Knowledge frees you from identification with the one who did the deeds, not from the deeds themselves."

Sadhak: "But how can I be free if I've genuinely harmed people? My conscience haunts me. The damage is done."

Guru: "Your conscience is valuable—it shows you have not become callous. But notice: the guilt assumes a continuous 'you' who did those things and remains stained. Is that the same 'you' who sits here now? Cells have changed, thoughts have changed, even values have changed. What continuity actually exists? The sense of being a stable self dragging its past behind it—this is the illusion. When this is seen through, you can take full responsibility for past actions without being existentially crushed by them."

Sadhak: "Won't this teaching make people careless about their actions? If knowledge saves everyone anyway, why not sin freely?"

Guru: "A valid concern, often raised. But notice: this teaching is for the sincere seeker, not the cunning manipulator. The person who would use this as license to harm has fundamentally misunderstood—they're still very much identified with the ego that wants to get away with things. True knowledge dissolves the very desire to harm. When you see yourself in all beings, hurting another becomes impossible—like cutting your own flesh. The teaching doesn't make ethics unnecessary; it transforms ethics from external rule to internal impossibility."

Sadhak: "The image of a 'boat' crossing an ocean is powerful. But what kind of ocean is this—the ocean of sin, or something else?"

Guru: "The word vṛjina means not only sin but misery, crookedness, suffering. It's the entire ocean of saṁsāra—the cycle of becoming and unbecoming, the endless repetition of birth, action, result, death, rebirth. Sin is just part of this ocean; the whole thing must be crossed. And 'crossing' doesn't mean escaping to somewhere else—it means recognizing you were never really in the ocean. The one drowning was a dream figure. Awakening is not reaching the other shore; it's waking up in your bed having never been in the water."

Sadhak: "Why does Krishna say 'even if you are the most sinful'? Is he being hyperbolic?"

Guru: "He's speaking directly to Arjuna's despair—and to anyone who feels disqualified from spiritual progress. We all have this voice: 'I'm too damaged, too far gone, too inherently flawed.' Krishna is silencing that voice absolutely. The superlative—pāpa-kṛt-tamaḥ, the most sinful among all sinners—leaves no room for 'yes, but my case is special.' No case is special enough to defeat knowledge. This is ultimate compassion."

Sadhak: "What about the victims of sinful actions? It seems unfair that the perpetrator gains freedom while victims still suffer."

Guru: "This is looking at it from within the dream. Yes, at the level of relative reality, actions have consequences and victims deserve justice and healing. Nothing in this teaching negates that. The perpetrator who genuinely attains knowledge will feel the full weight of what they've done—but as compassion rather than guilt. They will naturally want to make amends, help victims, prevent future harm. True knowledge increases moral sensitivity, not decreases it. But the teaching also reminds us: from the ultimate view, both 'victim' and 'perpetrator' are roles played in consciousness, neither ultimately real. This doesn't make the play unimportant—it's still lived—but it puts it in proper context."

Sadhak: "How do I actually get on this boat of knowledge? What's the practical step?"

Guru: "The previous verse told you: approach the wise with humility, questions, and service. This verse tells you the result: freedom from all bondage. The boat is built through hearing the teaching, reflecting on it, and meditating until it becomes your own direct seeing. Each moment of genuine inquiry is a plank added to the boat. Each glimpse of the Self is testing the water. Full recognition is setting sail. And then—surprise—you find the ocean was only ever a painting, the boat was never needed, and you never left home."

Sadhak: "But right now my sins feel very real. The guilt is heavy."

Guru: "Feel the weight of the guilt right now. Feel where it sits in your body, its texture, its color. Now notice: what is aware of this guilt? Is that awareness guilty? Is awareness touched by what it witnesses? You can feel crushing guilt and simultaneously notice the untouched awareness in which it appears. The guilt doesn't disappear, but you discover you are not identical to it. This is the first taste of the boat. Build on it. This awareness has never sinned, never can sin, is eternally pure. And that—not the body-mind that acted—is what you truly are."

Sadhak: "This feels like a lot to trust. What if I'm deceiving myself?"

Guru: "Healthy skepticism! Never believe blindly—verify for yourself. Is there awareness reading these words? Is that awareness inherently damaged or inherently clear? Don't take anyone's word for it; look directly. The teaching isn't asking for faith in something remote; it's pointing to your immediate experience. If you discover awareness is inherently stainless, that's not believing a teacher—that's knowing for yourself. Then the teaching has served its purpose, and the boat has carried you beyond the need for boats."