Bhagavad Gita 16.24

Meaning

16.24 Therefore, the scripture is your authority as regards the determination of what is to be done and what is not to be done. After understanding (your) duty as presented by scriptural injunction, you ought to perform (your duty) here.

Commentary

16.24 तस्मात् therefore? शास्त्रम् scripture? प्रमाणम् (be) authority? ते they? कार्याकार्यव्यवस्थितौ in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done? ज्ञात्वा having known? शास्त्रविधानोक्तम् what is said in the ordinance of the scriptures? कर्म action? कर्तुम् to do? इह here (in this world)? अर्हसि shouldst.Commentary He who desires the welfare of the Self should not disregard the ?nds of the scriptures. A man who is anxious to obtain eternal bliss should respect the Vedas and the Smritis which lay down the code of right conduct. He should readily renounce whatever the scriptures teach him to abandon and accept whatever he is directed to accept.He who is thus entirely devoted to the Vedas cannot meet with misfortune? grief or delusion. No mother is more kind than the scriptures for they restrain us from doing evil and bestow on us the greatest good (liberation or Moksha). Therefore treat the scriptures with great respect. Renounce all that the scriptures prohibit. Whatever is worthy of being done? that thou shouldst do thoroughly with all thy heart and all thy strength.Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita? the science of the Eternal? the scripture of Yoga? the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna? ends the sixteenth discourse entitledThe Yoga of the Division BetweenThe Divine and the Demoniacal. ,