The BhagvadgitaChapter VI: Atma Samyam (The Yoga of Meditation)
1 Sri Bhagvan said: He, who does his duty without expecting the fruit of actions, is a Sannyasi (Sankhyayogi) and a Yogi (Karmayogi) both. He is no Sannyasi (renouncer) who has merely renounced the sacred fire; even so, he is no Yogi, who has merely given up all activity.
2 Arjuna, what they speak of as Sannyasa, know that to be the same as Yoga; for none becomes a Yogi, who has not given up thoughts of the world.
3 To the contemplative soul, who desires to rise to the heights of Karmayoga (in the form of equanimity), action without motive is spoken of as the ladder; for the same man when he is established in Yoga, tranquility of mind (absence of all thoughts of the world) is spoken of as the way (to blessedness).
4 When a man ceases to have any attachment either for the objects of senses or for actions and has renounced all thoughts of the world, he is said to have attained Yoga.
5 One should lift oneself up by one’s own effort and should not degrade oneself; for one’s own self is one’s friend, and one’s own self is one’s enemy.
6 One’s own self is the friend of that soul by whom the lower self (viz., the mind, the senses and the body) has been conquered; on the other hand, the very self of him, who has not conquered his lower self, behaves inimically like one’s own enemy.
7 The Supreme Spirit is firmly established in the knowledge of the self-controlled man whose mind is perfectly calm in the midst of pairs of opposites, such as cold and heat, joy and sorrow, and honor and ignominy.
8 The Yogi whose mind is sated with Jnana (Knowledge of Nirguna Brahma) and Vijnana (Knowledge of manifest Divinity), who is unchangeable under all circumstances, whose senses are thoroughly subdued, and to whom a clod, a stone and a piece of gold make no difference, is spoken of as a God-realized soul.
9 He, who regards well-wishers, friends, foes, neutrals, mediators, the objects of hatred, relatives, the virtuous and the sinful alike, stands supreme.
10 The Yogi, who has subdued his mind and body, and who is free from desires and bereft of possessions, -- living in seclusion all by himself alone he should constantly engage his mind in meditation.
11 In a clean spot having firmly placed his seat with Kusa grass, a deerskin and a cloth spread thereon one below another (Kusa below, deerskin in the middle, and cloth uppermost), neither very high nor very low,
12 And sitting on that seat, concentrating the mind and controlling the functions of the mind and the senses, he should practice Yoga for self-purification.
13 Keeping the trunk, head and neck straight and steady, remaining firm and looking at the tip of his nose, without looking in other directions,
14 Pledged to the vow of continence and fearless, keeping himself perfectly calm and with the mind thoroughly brought under control and fixed on Me, the vigilant Yogi should sit absorbed in Me.
15 Thus constantly applying his mind to Me, the Yogi of subdued mind attains the lasting Peace, consisting of supreme bliss, which rests in Me.
16 Arjuna, this Yoga is not for him who eats too much, nor for him who does not eat at all, nor for him who is given to too much sleep, nor for him who is ceaselessly awake.
17 Yoga, which rids one of woe, is accomplished only by him who is regulated in diet and recreation, regulated in performing actions, and regulated in sleeping and waking.
18 When the mind brought under complete control gets focused on God alone, then the person, who is free from yearning for all enjoyments, is said to be established in Yoga.
19 As a light does not shake in a place sheltered from the wind, analogous is stated to be the case of subdued mind of the Yogi practicing meditation on God.
20 The state in which, curbed through practice of Yoga, the mind comes to rest, and in which, realizing God through subtle reason (purified by meditation on God) the soul rejoices only in God.
21 Nay, in which the soul experiences the eternal and supersensuous joy which can be apprehended only through subtle and acute reason, and wherein established the said Yogi moves not from truth.
22 And having obtained which he does not reckon any other gain as greater than that, and established in which he is not moved even by great sorrow,
23 That state, called yoga, which is free from the contact of pain (in the form of transmigration), should be known. Nay, this Yoga should be resolutely practiced with an unwearied mind.
24 Completely giving up all desires arising from thoughts of the world, and fully restraining the senses from all sides by the mind,
25 He should through gradual practice attain tranquility; and having established the mind in God through reason controlled by steadfastness, he should not think of anything else.
26 Restraining the restless and the fidgety mind from all those objects after which it runs, he should repeatedly concentrate it on God.
27 For to the Yogi, whose mind is perfectly calm, who is sinless, whose passion is subdued, and who is identified with Brahma, supreme happiness comes (as a matter of course).
28 The sinless Yogi thus, uniting his self constantly with God, easily enjoys the eternal bliss of oneness with Brahma.
29 The Yogi, who is united in identity with the all-pervading, infinite, Consciousness, and looks on all with an equal eye, sees the Self present in all beings, and all beings existing in the Self.
30 He who sees Me (the Universal Self) present in all beings, and sees all beings existing in Me, I am never out of sight of him, nor is he ever out of sight of Me.
31 He who, established in unity, worships Me as residing in all beings (as their very Self), that Yogi, though engaged in all forms of activities, dwells in Me.
32 Arjuna, he who looks on all as one, on the analogy of his own self, and looks upon the pleasure and pain of all with a similar eye, such a Yogi is regarded as supreme.
33 Arjuna said: Krsna, this Yoga in the form of equanimity, which You have taught, owing to restlessness of mind I do not perceive its stability.
34 For, Krsna, the mind is very unsteady, turbulent, tenacious and powerful; therefore, I consider it as difficult to control as the wind.
35 Sri Bhagvan said: The mind is without doubt unsteady and difficult to curb, Arjuna; but it can be controlled through practice (of meditation) and dispassion, O son of Kunti.
36 Yoga is difficult of achievement for one whose mind is not subdued; by him, however, who has the mind under control, and is ceaselessly striving, it can be easily attained through practice; such is My conviction.
37 Arjuna said: Krsna, he who, though endowed with faith, has not been able to subdue his passions, and whose mind is therefore diverted from Yoga (at the time of death), - failing to achieve perfection in Yoga (God-Realization) what fate does he meet with?
38 Krsna, deluded in the path of God and without anything to stand upon, does he not perish like torn cloud, deprived of both God-Realization and worldly enjoyment?
39 Krsna, it behooves You to dispel this doubt of mine completely; for none other than Yourself can be found, who can clear this doubt.
40 Sri Bhagvan said: Dear Arjuna, there is no fall for him either here or hereafter. For, none who works for self-redemption (or God-Realization) meets with an evil destiny.
41 He who has fallen from Yoga, having obtained the higher worlds (heaven, etc.) to which men of meritorious deeds alone are entitled, and having resided there for countless years, takes birth in the house of pious and wealthy men.
42 Or (if he has developed dispassion) he may be born in the family of enlightened Yogis; but this kind of birth is very difficult to obtain in this world.
43 Arjuna, there he regains the understanding of his previous birth (i.e., the latencies of the Yoga of even-mindedness are roused in him); and through that he strives, with greater vigor than before, for perfection in the form of God-Realization).
44 The one, who takes birth in a rich family, though subject to the senses, feels drawn toward God by force of this prenatal habit, and the seeker of the Yoga of equanimity also transcends the fruit of actions performed with some motive as laid down in the Vedas.
45 The Yogi, however, who diligently takes up the practice, attaining perfection in this very life through the help of latencies of many births, and being thoroughly purged of sin, forthwith reaches the supreme state.
46 The Yogi is superior to the ascetics; he is deemed superior even to those versed in sacred lore. The yogi is superior even to those who perform action with some motive. Therefore, Arjuna, do you become a Yogi.
47 Even among all Yogis, he who devoutly worships me with his mind focused on Me is considered by Me to be the best Yogi.
Thus, in the Upanisad sung by the Lord, the science of Brahma, the scripture on Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krsna and Arjuna, ends the sixth chapter entitled “Atma Samyam” (The Yoga of Meditation)
