Conversation 6. Yoga of Self-Control

Bhagavad Gita with Commentaries / Conversation 6. Yoga of Self-Control

Conversation 6. Yoga of Self-Control

The Blessed One said:

6:1. The one who actively performs his duty without desiring self-profit is a true sannyasi. Such one is a yogi, and not those living without a fire and duties.

6:2. Know, O Pandava: that which is called sannyasa is the same as yoga. The one who has not renounced worldly desires cannot become a yogi!

6:3. For the reasonable one who is aspiring to Yoga, action is the means. For the one who has attained Yoga, non-action is the means.

6:4. He who has renounced the worldly desires and attained Yoga is attached neither to earthly objects nor to his activity.

6:5. By the power of the Atman let man uncover his Atman! And let the Atman be never lowered again! One can be a friend to the Atman; one can be a foe to the Atman.

6:6. He is a friend to the Atman who cognizes the Atman. He who opposes the Atman remains the Atman’s foe.

6:7. He who has cognized the Atman attains the full peace, for he takes refuge in the Divine Consciousness* when he (his body) is in cold or heat, in situations of joy or grief, honor or dishonor.

6:8. He is called a true yogi who is calmed by wisdom and knowledge of the Atman, steadfast, whose indriyas are subjugated, to whom a clod, a stone and gold are the same.

6:9. He possesses a developed consciousness and is advanced spiritually who is well-disposed both to friends and to foes, to neutrals, to strangers, to the envious, to relatives, to the pious, to the vicious.

6:10. Let a yogi be constantly concentrating in the Atman, being in seclusion, self-disciplined, not indulging in reveries, devoid of the feeling of possessiveness.

6:11. Having arranged in a clean place a firm seat for working with the Atman, neither too high nor too low, covered with the kusha grass and with cloth which is alike to deer skin,

6:12. having concentrated his mind on one thing and subjugated his indriyas, staying calmly in one place, — he should practice yoga experiencing bliss in the Atman.

6:13. Keeping upright the trunk, neck, and head, directing his look to the tip of the nose, but not looking, scattering not his attention,

6:14. having established himself in the Atman, fearless, steadfast in brahmachariya*, his mind conquered, his thoughts directed toward Me — he should aspire to Me as to His Ultimate Goal.

6:15. The yogi who has merged with the Atman and who controls his mind enters the Highest Nirvana and abides there in Me.

6:16. Verily, the yoga is not for those who eat too much or do not eat at all, nor for those who sleep too long or wake too long, O Arjuna!

6:17. Yoga dispels all suffering in him who became moderate in eating, resting, working, and also in sleeping and waking.

6:18. When he, as a refined consciousness free from all cravings, is concentrated in the Atman alone, then he is said about: “He is in harmony”.

6:19. The yogi who has subjugated his mind and is being one with the Atman is like a lamp in a windless place whose flame does not flicker.

6:20 When the mind calmed by yoga exercises becomes quiet, when man finds bliss in the Atman contemplating the Atman by the Atman,

6:21. when he attains that highest Bliss accessible only to a developed consciousness and lying beyond the ordinary reach of indriyas, when having cognized this bliss he never strays from the Truth,

6:22. and having attained that he cannot imagine something higher, and existing in this state he is not shaken even by the most grave sorrow, —

6:23. such a break of ties with grief is to be called Yoga. One should give oneself to such Yoga resolutely, without wavering!

6:24. Having abandoned vain desires and conquered all indriyas,

6:25. gradually calming the consciousness, he should study his own Essence — the Atman — without distracting thoughts to anything else.

6:26. If the uneasy and fickle mind wanders away, curb it and constantly direct to the Atman.

6:27. The highest happiness awaits a yogi whose mind became calm and passions faded, who became sinless and alike to Brahman.

6:28. The yogi who brought himself into harmony and got rid of vices experiences easily the unlimited Bliss of contact with Brahman.

6:29. The one established in Yoga sees the Atman in every being and all beings dwelling in the Atman; everywhere he sees the same.

6:30. He who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me — him I will never forsake and he will never forsake Me.

6:31. He, established in such oneness, who worships Me present in everything — such a yogi lives in Me whatever his activity is.

6:32. The one who sees manifestations of the Atman in everything and who has cognized through this sameness of everything — both the pleasant and the unpleasant — such one is regarded as a perfect yogi, O Arjuna.

Arjuna said:

6:33. For such Yoga, which is attained through inner evenness, O Madhusudana, I do not see a firm ground in myself, because of the restlessness of the mind.

6:34. For the mind is truly restless, O Krishna! It is turbulent, obstinate, hard to restrain! I think it is as difficult to curb it as to curb the wind!

The Blessed One said:

6:35. No doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is restless, and it is hard to curb. Yet, one can put it under control by constant practice and dispassionateness.

6:36. Yoga is hard to attain for man who has not cognized his Atman. But he who has cognized his Atman is on the right way to Yoga, — this is My opinion.

Arjuna said:

6:37. The one who has not renounced the worldly but is endowed with faith, who has not subjugated his mind and fell away from yoga, — what will happen to him, O Krishna?

6:38. Will such unsteady man who has failed on the both paths and strayed from the path to Brahman be destroyed like a riven cloud, O Mighty One?

6:39. Dispel my doubts, O Krishna! You alone can do this.

The Blessed One said:

6:40. O Partha, there is no destruction to him either in this world or in the next! Never the one who wished to behave righteously will come on the path of sorrow, O My beloved!

6:41. The one fallen away from yoga attains the worlds of righteous people and stays there countless years; then he gets born again in a pure and blessed family,

6:42. or he may even be born in a family of wise yogis, but such birth is very hard to attain.

6:43. He is born again, his consciousness is developed in the previous incarnation, and he continues his advancement on the Path to Perfection, O joy of the Kurus!

6:44. Merits of the previous life drive him forward: the one, who aspired to cognition of Yoga, surpassed the level of the ritual religious practice.

6:45. The yogi who strives tirelessly, who has rid himself of vices, and through many incarnations was going to Perfection — such a yogi achieves the Supreme Goal.

6:46. A yogi is superior to ascetics, to sages, to a man of action. Therefore, become a yogi, O Arjuna!

6:47. Among all yogis, I respect most the one who lives in Me being connected with Me through the Atman and serves Me whole-heartedly.

Thus in the upanishads of the blessed Bhagavad Gita, the Science of Eternal, the Scripture of yoga, says the sixth conversation between Shri Krishna and Arjuna, entitled:

Yoga of Self-Control.