“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.” (Bhagavad Gita 18:66)

This verse is in the last chapter of the Gita and Lord Krishna has already described many kinds of knowledge, including that of the soul and of Brahman, and of the different statuses in society. He has expounded on renunciation, nonattachment, control of the mind and senses, and meditation. But after all of this, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, a royal warrior who contemplated turning his back on his duty in an important war because it meant fighting his beloved relatives and teacher, should give up all that has been explained to him and simply surrender to Krishna. It is in this surrender, Krishna says, that will save him from all sorts of sinful reactions. And, Lord Krishna promise to protect him upon his surrender.

The magic here is that the process of surrendering to Krishna automatically frees the devotee from sinful reactions. It’s not that one must already be free from sin before surrendering. It is the process of surrender, with faith and love, which brings freedom from the contamination of material nature.

Devotees can be confident that Krishna will protect them from all difficulties. Krishna says “ma shuchaha,” which means: don’t fear, don’t hesitate, don’t worry. These words are significant because, though we may become perplexed about how to go about giving up all forms of religion and simply surrender to Lord Krishna, such worry is useless. The Bhagavad Gita means “song of the Lord” and is a Hindu scripture made up of 700 verses in Sanskrit, which is a part of the Mahabharata epic. The Gita is the narration of a dialogue between Arjuna, a royal warrior, and Lord Krishna, who took the role of his charioteer and guide on a battlefield. This scripture teaches the great truths of dharma, knowledge, devotional service, raja yoga, and the Sankhya philosophy.

Each of the 23 fragrances of Prabhuji’s Gifts Devotion Stick Incense line displays a verse in Sanskrit, most of which came from the Bhagavad Gita. The verse above is on the Madhurya Rasa package.