An Introduction to The Bhagavad Gita

Chapter 6 - PATH OF MEDITATION

A KARMA-YOGI IS A RENUNCIANT

Lord Krishna said: One who performs the prescribed duty without seeking its fruit for personal enjoyment is a renunciant and a Karma-yogi. One does not become a renunciant merely by not lighting the fire, and one does not become a yogi merely by abstaining from work. (6.01)

O Arjuna, renunciation (Samnyasa) is same as Karma-yoga. Because, no one becomes a Karma-yogi who has not renounced the selfish motive behind an action. (See also 5.01, 5.05, 6.01, and 18.02) (6.02)

A DEFINITION OF YOGA

For the wise, who seeks to attain yoga of meditation, or the equanimity of mind, Karma-yoga is said to be the means. For the one who has attained yoga, the equanimity becomes the means of Self-realization. A person is said to have attained yogic perfection when he or she has no desire for sensual pleasures, or attachment to the fruits of work, and has renounced all personal selfish motives. (6.03-04)

MIND IS THE BEST FRIEND AS WELL AS THE WORST ENEMY

One must elevate ¾ and not degrade ¾ oneself by one’s own mind. The mind alone is one’s friend as well as one’s enemy. The mind is the friend of those who have control over it, and the mind acts like an enemy for those who do not control it. (6.05-06)

One who has control over the lower self ¾ the mind and senses ¾ is tranquil in heat and cold, in pleasure and pain, and in honor and dishonor, and remains ever steadfast with the supreme Self. (6.07)

A person is called yogi who has both Self-knowledge and Self-realization, who is equanimous, who has control over the mind and senses, and to whom a clod, a stone, and gold are the same. (6.08)

A person is considered superior who is impartial towards companions, friends, enemies, neutrals, arbiters, haters, relatives, saints, and sinners. (6.09)

TECHNIQUES OF MEDITATION

A yogi, seated in solitude and alone, should constantly try to contemplate on a mental picture or just the majesty of the Supreme Being after bringing the mind and senses under control, and becoming free from desires and proprietorship. (6.10)

One should sit on his or her own firm seat that is neither too high nor too low, covered with grass, a deerskin, and a cloth, one over the other, in a clean spot. Sitting there in a comfortable position and concentrating the mind on God, controlling the thoughts and the activities of the senses, one should practice meditation for self-purification. (6.11-12)

One should sit by holding the waist, spine, chest, neck, and head erect, motionless and steady; fix the eyes and the mind steadily on the front of the nose, without looking around; make your mind serene and fearless, practice celibacy; have the mind under control, think of Me, and have Me as the supreme goal. (See also 4.29, 5.27, 8.10, and 8.12) (6.13-14)

Thus, by always practicing to keep the mind fixed on Me, the yogi whose mind is subdued attains peace of Nirvana and comes to Me. (6.15)

This yoga is not possible, O Arjuna, for the one who eats too much, or who does not eat at all; who sleeps too much or too little. (6.16)

The yoga of meditation destroys all sorrow for the one who is moderate in eating, recreation, working, sleeping, and waking. (6.17)

A person is said to have achieved yoga, the union with the Spirit, when the perfectly disciplined mind becomes free from all desires, and gets completely united with the Spirit in trance. (6.18)

A lamp in a spot sheltered by the Spirit from the wind of desires does not flicker. This simile is used for the subdued mind of a yogi practicing meditation on the Spirit. (6.19)

When the mind disciplined by the practice of meditation becomes steady, one becomes content with the Spirit by beholding the Spirit of God with purified intellect. (6.20)

One feels infinite bliss that is perceivable only through the intellect, and is beyond the reach of the senses. After realizing the Absolute Reality, one is never separated from it. (6.21)

After Self-realization (SR), one does not regard any other gain superior to SR. Established in SR, one is not moved even by the greatest calamity. (6.22)

The state of severance of union with sorrow is called yoga. This yoga should be practiced with firm determination, and without any mental reservation. (6.23)

One gradually attains tranquillity of mind by totally abandoning all selfish desires, completely restraining the senses from the sense objects by the intellect, and keeping the mind fully absorbed in the Spirit by means of a well-trained and purified intellect and thinking of nothing else. (6.24-25)

Wheresoever this restless and unsteady mind wanders away, one should (witness it and) bring it under the watchful eye (supervision, control) of the Self. (6.26)

WHO IS A YOGI

Supreme bliss comes to a Self-realized yogi whose mind is tranquil, whose desires are under control, and who is free from faults. (6.27)

Such a sinless yogi, who constantly engages his or her mind and intellect with the Spirit, easily enjoys the infinite bliss of contact with The Spirit. (6.28)

A yogi, who is in union with the Supreme Being, sees every being with an equal eye because of perceiving the omnipresent Spirit abiding in all beings, and all beings abiding in the Supreme Being. (See also 4.35, 5.18) (6.29)

Those who perceive Me in everything, and behold everything in Me, are not separated from Me, and I am not separated from them. (6.30)

The non-dualists, who adore Me as abiding in all beings, abide in Me irrespective of their mode of living. (6.31)

One is considered the best yogi who regards every being like oneself, and who can feel the pain and pleasures of others as one’s own, O Arjuna. (6.32)

TWO METHODS TO SUBDUE THE RESTLESS MIND

Arjuna said: O Krishna, You have said that the yoga of meditation is characterized by the equanimity of mind, but due to restlessness of mind I do not perceive the steady state of mind. Because the mind, indeed, is very unsteady, turbulent, powerful, and obstinate, O Krishna. I think restraining the mind is as difficult as restraining the wind. (6.33-34)

Lord Krishna said: Undoubtedly, O Arjuna, the mind is restless and difficult to restrain, but it is subdued by any constant vigorous spiritual practice ¾ such as meditation ¾ with perseverance, and by detachment, O Arjuna. (6.35)

In My opinion, yoga is difficult for the one whose mind is not subdued. However, yoga is attainable by the person of subdued mind by striving through proper means. (6.36)

DESTINATION OF UNSUCCESSFUL YOGI

Arjuna said: The faithful who deviates from the path of meditation and fails to attain yogic perfection due to unsubdued mind — what is the destination of such a person, O Krishna? (6.37)

Do they not perish like a dispersing cloud, O Krishna, having lost both the heavenly and the worldly pleasures, supportless and bewildered on the path of Self-realization? (6.38)

O Krishna, only You are able to completely dispel this doubt of mine. Because there is none, other than You, who can dispel this doubt. (See also 15.15) (6.39)

Lord Krishna said: There is no destruction, O Arjuna, for a yogi either here or hereafter. A transcendentalist is never put to grief, My dear friend. (6.40)

The less evolved unsuccessful yogi is reborn in the house of the pious and prosperous after attaining heaven and living there for many years. The highly evolved unsuccessful yogi does not go to heaven, but is born in a spiritually advanced family. A birth like this is very difficult, indeed, to obtain in this world. (6.41-42)

There he or she regains the knowledge acquired in the previous life, and strives again to achieve perfection, O Arjuna. (6.43)

The unsuccessful yogi is instinctively carried towards God by virtue of the impressions of yogic practices of previous lives. Even the inquirer of yoga ¾ the union with God ¾ surpasses those who perform Vedic rituals. (6.44)

The yogi, who diligently strives, becomes completely free from all imperfections after gradually perfecting through many incarnations, and reaches the Supreme Abode. (6.45)

WHO IS THE BEST YOGI

The yogi, who is devoted to meditation, is superior to the ascetics. The yogi is superior to the Vedic scholars. The yogi is superior to the ritualists. Therefore, O Arjuna, be a yogi. (6.46)

And I consider the yogi-devotee ¾ who lovingly contemplates on Me with supreme faith, and whose mind is ever absorbed in Me ¾ to be the best of all the yogis. (See also 12.02 and 18.66) (6.47)

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