Bhagavad Gita/Conversation 6. Yoga of Self-Control
Conversation 6.
Yoga of Self-Control
Lord Krishna said:
6:1. The one who actively performs one’s own duty without desiring a profit is a true sannyasi. Such one is a Yogi, rather than 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 aspires to Yoga, action is the means. For the one who has attained Yoga, non-action is the means.
6:4. The one who has renounced worldly desires and attained Yoga is attached neither to earthly objects nor to worldly activity.
6:5. With the help of the Atman let a Yogi uncover the own 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. The one who cognizes the Atman is a friend to the Atman. The one who opposes the Atman remains the Atman’s foe!
6:7. The one who has cognized the Atman attains full peace, because such one takes refuge in the Divine Consciousness when being in cold or heat, in situations of joy or grief, honor or dishonor.
6:8. True Yogis are those who are calmed by wisdom and knowledge of the Atman, who are steadfast, whose indriyas are subjugated, to whom a clod, a stone, and gold are the same.
6:9. The one who has developed oneself as a consciousness and advanced spiritually is well-disposed both to friends and to foes, to neutrals, to strangers, to the envious, to relatives, to the pious, and 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 the mind on one thing and subjugated the indriyas, staying calmly in one place, — the Yogi should practice Yoga, experiencing bliss in the Atman!
6:13. Keeping upright the trunk, neck, and head, directing the look to the tip of the nose, but not looking, scattering not the attention,
6:14. having become established in the Atman, fearless, steadfast in brahmachariya, the mind conquered, the thoughts directed towards Me — the Yogi should aspire to Me as to His Ultimate Purpose!
6:15. The Yogi who has merged with the Atman and who controls the mind enters the Highest Nirvana and abides there in Me.
6:16. Verily, 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 the one who has become moderate in eating, resting, working, also in sleeping and waking.
6:18. Such a person — who is free from all cravings and is concentrated in the Atman alone — is regarded to be in harmony.
6:19. The Yogi who has subjugated the mind and is 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 the Yogi finds bliss in the Atman contemplating the Atman by the Atman,
6:21. when this Yogi attains that highest Bliss accessible only to a developed consciousness and lying beyond the ordinary reach of indriyas, and having cognized this bliss the Yogi never strays from the Truth,
6:22. and having attained this, the Yogi cannot imagine something higher, and existing in this state such one 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 the indriyas,
6:25. gradually calming the consciousness, the Yogi should study his or her 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 it to the Atman!
6:27. The highest happiness awaits a Yogi whose mind has become calm and whose passions have faded, who has become sinless and alike to Brahman!
6:28. A Yogi who has achieved inner harmony and has gotten rid of vices — easily experiences the unlimited Bliss of the contact with Brahman!
6:29. The one established in Yoga sees the Atman in every being and all beings dwelling in the Atman; such one sees the same everywhere.
6:30. They who see Me everywhere and see everything in Me — I will never forsake them and they will never forsake Me!
6:31. They, established in such Oneness, who worship Me present in everything — such Yogis live in Me whatever their activity is.
6:32. The one who sees manifestations of the Atman in everything and who has cognized through this the 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 balance, 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!
Lord Krishna said:
6:35. No doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is restless and 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 the Atman. But the one who has cognized the Atman is on the right way to Yoga — this is My opinion.
Arjuna said:
6:37. The one who has not renounced everything worldly but is endowed with faith, who has not subjugated the mind and fell away from Yoga, — what will happen to such a person, O Krishna?
6:38. Will the one who has failed on both of the paths and has 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!
Lord Krishna said:
6:40. O Partha, there is no destruction to such a person either in this world or in the next! The one who has wished to behave righteously will never come on the path of sorrow, O My beloved!
6:41. Such a person, who fell away from Yoga, having attained the worlds of righteous people and having stayed there countless years, then such one gets born again in a pure and blessed family.
6:42. Such one may even be born in a family of wise Yogis, but such a birth is very hard to attain.
6:43. Such one is born again, being the consciousness developed in the previous incarnation, and continues advancement on the Path to Perfection, O joy of the Kurus!
6:44. The merits of the previous life drive this person forward: the one, who has aspired to cognition of Yoga, surpasses the level of the ritual religious practice!
6:45. Yogis who strive tirelessly, who have ridden themselves of vices and over many incarnations have been going to Perfection — such Yogis achieve the Supreme Aim!
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.
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