VI
Sri Krishna
emphasises once again that the Yogi or Sannyasin is one who has renounced the fruits of
actions, not the actions themselves. The performance of actions without an eye on their
fruits brings about the purification of the mind. Only a purified mind, a mind free from
desires, can engage itself in constant meditation on the Atman. Desire gives rise to
imagination or Sankalpa, which drives the soul into the field of action. Therefore, none
can realise permanent freedom and tranquillity of mind without renouncing desires.
The lower
self must be controlled by the higher Self. All the lower impulses of the body, mind and
senses must be controlled by the power of the higher Self. Then the higher Self becomes
one’s friend. He who has perfect control of the body, mind and senses and is united
with God, sees God in all objects and beings. He sees inwardly that there is no difference
between gold and stone, between friends and enemies, between the righteous and the
unrighteous. He is perfectly harmonised.
Sri Krishna
proceeds to give various practical hints as to the practice of meditation. The aspirant
should select a secluded spot where there is no likelihood of disturbance. He should
arrange his meditation seat properly and sit in a comfortable posture, with the head, neck
and spine erect but not tensed. He should fix his purified mind on the Atman by
concentrating between the eyebrows or on the tip of the nose.
The
practice of Brahmacharya is absolutely necessary if one is to succeed in meditation. The
conservation and transformation of the vital fluid into spiritual energy gives immense
power of concentration. Fearlessness, too, is an essential quality on the Godward path. It
is faith in the sustaining protection and Grace of God.
The
aspirant is advised to practise moderation in his daily habits—in eating, sleeping,
recreation, etc. Extremes are to be avoided as they hinder the practice of meditation.
Living a life of such moderation, and gathering up all his forces and directing them
towards meditation upon the Atman, the aspirant gradually transcends the senses and
intellect and merges himself in the blissful Atman. He finds that the bliss of the Atman
is incomparable, that there is no gain greater than the Self. Having thus attained perfect
union with the Self, the Yogi no more descends into ignorance or delusion. He does not
relish any more the pleasures of the senses.
Lord
Krishna again emphasises that the concentration of the mind on the Atman should be like a
steady flame in a windless place. This ultimately leads to the vision of the Lord in all
beings and creatures. Arjuna is doubtful whether it is at all possible to engage the mind
steadily on the higher Self, as its very nature seems to be one of restlessness. Krishna
assures him that the practice can succeed through Vairagya (dispassion) and constant
effort.
Arjuna
wishes to know the fate of the aspirant who fails to realise the Supreme in spite of his
faith and sincerity. Krishna tells him that the accumulated power of his Yogic practices
will assure him a better birth in the future, with more favourable conditions for Sadhana.
The aspirant will then be compelled to carry on his Yogic practices with greater vigour
and faith and will finally achieve God-realisation.
Krishna
concludes that the Yogi—one who has attained union with the Supreme Lord—is
superior to the ascetics, to the men of book knowledge and the men of action, as the
latter have not transcended ignorance and merged in the Self.
The Blessed Lord said:
1. He who
performs his bounden duty without depending on the fruits of his actions—he is a
Sannyasin and a Yogi, not he who is without fire and without action.
2. Do thou,
O Arjuna, know Yoga to be that which they call renunciation; no one verily becomes a Yogi
who has not renounced thoughts!
COMMENTARY:
Lord Krishna eulogises Karma Yoga here because it is a means or a stepping stone to
the Yoga of meditation. In order to encourage the practice of Karma Yoga it is stated here
that it is Sannyasa.
3. For a
sage who wishes to attain to Yoga, action is said to be the means; for the same sage who
has attained to Yoga, inaction (quiescence) is said to be the means.
4. When a
man is not attached to the sense-objects or to actions, having renounced all thoughts,
then he is said to have attained to Yoga.
5. Let a
man lift himself by his own Self alone; let him not lower himself, for this self alone is
the friend of oneself and this self alone is the enemy of oneself.
6. The self
is the friend of the self for him who has conquered himself by the Self, but to the
unconquered self, this self stands in the position of an enemy like the (external) foe.
7. The
Supreme Self of him who is self-controlled and peaceful is balanced in cold and heat,
pleasure and pain, as also in honour and dishonour.
8. The Yogi
who is satisfied with the knowledge and the wisdom (of the Self), who has conquered the
senses, and to whom a clod of earth, a piece of stone and gold are the same, is said to be
harmonised (that is, is said to have attained the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi).
9. He who
is of the same mind to the good-hearted, friends, enemies, the indifferent, the neutral,
the hateful, the relatives, the righteous and the unrighteous, excels.
10. Let the
Yogi try constantly to keep the mind steady, remaining in solitude, alone, with the mind
and the body controlled, and free from hope and greed.
11. In a
clean spot, having established a firm seat of his own, neither too high nor too low, made
of a cloth, a skin and kusha grass, one over the other,
12. There,
having made the mind one-pointed, with the actions of the mind and the senses controlled,
let him, seated on the seat, practise Yoga for the purification of the self.
13. Let him
firmly hold his body, head and neck erect and perfectly still, gazing at the tip of his
nose, without looking around.
14.
Serene-minded, fearless, firm in the vow of a Brahmachari, having controlled the mind,
thinking of Me and balanced in mind, let him sit, having Me as his supreme goal.
15. Thus,
always keeping the mind balanced, the Yogi, with the mind controlled, attains to the peace
abiding in Me, which culminates in liberation.
16. Verily
Yoga is not possible for him who eats too much, nor for him who does not eat at all; nor
for him who sleeps too much, nor for him who is (always) awake, O Arjuna!
17. Yoga
becomes the destroyer of pain for him who is always moderate in eating and recreation
(such as walking, etc.), who is moderate in exertion in actions, who is moderate in sleep
and wakefulness.
18. When
the perfectly controlled mind rests in the Self only, free from longing for the objects of
desire, then it is said: “He is united.”
COMMENTARY:
Without union with the Self neither harmony nor balance nor Samadhi is possible.
19. As a
lamp placed in a windless spot does not flicker—to such is compared the Yogi of
controlled mind, practising Yoga in the Self (or absorbed in the Yoga of the Self).
COMMENTARY:
This is a beautiful simile which Yogis often quote when they talk of concentration or
one-pointedness of mind.
20. When
the mind, restrained by the practice of Yoga, attains to quietude, and when, seeing the
Self by the Self, he is satisfied in his own Self,
21. When he
(the Yogi) feels that infinite bliss which can be grasped by the (pure) intellect and
which transcends the senses, and, established wherein he never moves from the Reality,
22. Which,
having obtained, he thinks there is no other gain superior to it; wherein established, he
is not moved even by heavy sorrow,—
23. Let
that be known by the name of Yoga, the severance from union with pain. This Yoga should be
practised with determination and with an undesponding mind.
24.
Abandoning without reserve all the desires born of Sankalpa, and completely restraining
the whole group of senses by the mind from all sides,
COMMENTARY:
The mind is so diplomatic that it keeps certain desires for its secret gratification.
So one should completely abandon all desires without reservation.
25. Little
by little let him attain to quietude by the intellect held firmly; having made the mind
establish itself in the Self, let him not think of anything.
26. From
whatever cause the restless, unsteady mind wanders away, from that let him restrain it and
bring it under the control of the Self alone.
27. Supreme
bliss verily comes to this Yogi whose mind is quite peaceful, whose passion is quieted,
who has become Brahman, and who is free from sin.
28. The
Yogi, always engaging the mind thus (in the practice of Yoga), freed from sins, easily
enjoys the infinite bliss of contact with Brahman (the Eternal).
29. With
the mind harmonised by Yoga he sees the Self abiding in all beings and all beings in the
Self; he sees the same everywhere.
30. He who
sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, he does not become separated from Me nor do
I become separated from him.
COMMENTARY:
The Lord describes here the effect of oneness.
31. He who,
being established in unity, worships Me who dwells in all beings,—that Yogi abides in
Me, whatever may be his mode of living.
32. He who,
through the likeness of the Self, O Arjuna, sees equality everywhere, be it pleasure or
pain, he is regarded as the highest Yogi!
Arjuna said:
33. This
Yoga of equanimity taught by Thee, O Krishna, I do not see its steady continuance, because
of restlessness (of the mind)!
34. The
mind verily is restless, turbulent, strong and unyielding, O Krishna! I deem it as
difficult to control as to control the wind.
COMMENTARY:
The mind ever changes its point of concentration from one object to another. So it is
always restless. It is not only restless but also turbulent and impetuous, strong and
obstinate. It produces agitation in the body and in the senses. That is why the mind is
even more difficult to control than to control the wind.
The Blessed Lord said:
35.
Undoubtedly, O mighty-armed Arjuna, the mind is difficult to control and restless; but, by
practice and by dispassion it may be restrained!
36. I think
that Yoga is hard to be attained by one of uncontrolled self, but the self~controlled and
striving one attains to it by the (proper) means.
Arjuna said:
37. He who
is unable to control himself though he has the faith, and whose mind wanders away from
Yoga, what end does he meet, having failed to attain perfection in Yoga, O Krishna?
38. Fallen
from both, does he not perish like a rent cloud, supportless, O mighty-armed (Krishna),
deluded on the path of Brahman?
39. This
doubt of mine, O Krishna, do Thou completely dispel, because it is not possible for any
but Thee to dispel this doubt.
COMMENTARY:
There is no better teacher than the Lord Himself as He is omniscient.
The Blessed Lord said:
40. O
Arjuna, neither in this world, nor in the next world is there destruction for him; none,
verily, who does good, O My son, ever comes to grief!
41. Having
attained to the worlds of the righteous and, having dwelt there for everlasting years, he
who fell from Yoga is reborn in the house of the pure and wealthy.
42. Or he
is born in a family of even the wise Yogis; verily a birth like this is very difficult to
obtain in this world.
43. There
he comes in touch with the knowledge acquired in his former body and strives more than
before for perfection, O Arjuna!
44. By that
very former practice he is borne on in spite of himself. Even he who merely wishes to know
Yoga transcends the Brahmic word.
COMMENTARY:
One who had fallen from Yoga is carried to the goal (which he intended to reach in his
previous birth), by the force of the impressions of his past Yogic practices, though he
may be unconscious of it and may not be willing to adopt the course of Yogic discipline
due to the force of some evil Karma.
45. But,
the Yogi who strives with assiduity, purified of sins and perfected gradually through many
births, reaches the highest goal.
46. The
Yogi is thought to be superior to the ascetics and even superior to men of knowledge
(obtained through the study of scriptures); he is also superior to men of action;
therefore, be thou a Yogi, O Arjuna!
47. And
among all the Yogis, he who, full of faith and with his inner self merged in Me, worships
Me, he is deemed by Me to be the most devout.
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 sixth discourse
entitled:
“The Yoga of Meditation”
Chapters: 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18