VI - Athma Samyama Yogam

1/VI. Sri Bhagavan said, “he who does his duty without expecting the fruit of actions is a Sanyasi (Sankhyayogi) and a Yogi (Karmayogi) both. He is no Sanyasi (renouncer) who has merely renounced the sacred fire; even so he is no Yogi, who has merely given up all activity”

2/VI. “Arjuna, you must know that what they call Sanyasa is no other than Yoga; for none becomes a Yogi, who has not given up thoughts of the world”

3/VI. “To the contemplative soul who desires to climb to the heights of Karmayoga, disinterested action is spoken of as the stepping-stone; for the same man when he is established in Yoga, absence of all thoughts of the world is said to be the way to blessedness”

4/VI. “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 climbed to the heights of Yoga”

5/VI. “One should lift oneself by one's own efforts and should not degrade oneself; for one's own self is one's friend, and ones own self is one's enemy”

6/VI. “One's own self is the friend of the soul by whom the lower self (consisting of the mind, senses and body) has been conquered; even so the very self of him who has not conquered his lower self behaves antagonistically like an enemy”

7/VI. “The Supreme Spritit is rooted in the knowledge of the self-controlled man whose mind is perfectly serene in the midst of pairs of opposites, such as cold and heat, joy and sorrow, and honour and ignominy”

8/VI. “The Yogi whose mind is sated with Jnana (Knowledge of Nirguna Brahm) and Vijnana (Knowledge of Manifest Divinity), who is unmoved under all circumstances, whose senses are completely mastered, and to whom earth, store and gold are all alike, is spoken of as a God-realized soul”

9/VI. “He who looks upon well-wishers and neutrals as well as mediators, friends and foes, relatives and objects of hatred, the virtuous and the sinful with the same eye, stand supreme”

10/VI. “Living in seclusion all by himself, the Yogi who has controlled his mind and body, and is free from desires and void of possessions, should constantly engage his mind in meditation”

11/VI. “Having firmly placed his seat in a spot which is free from dirt and other impurities with the sacred 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/VI. “And occupying that seat, concentrating the mind and controlling the functions of the mind and senses, he should practise Yoga for self-purification”

13/VI. “Holding the trunk, head and neck straight and steady, remaining firm and fixing the gaze on the tip of his nose, without looking in other direction”

14/VI. “Firm in the vow of complete chastity and fearless, keeping himself perfectly calm and with the mind held in restraint and fixed on Me, the vigilant Yogi should sit absorbed in Me”

15/VI. “Thus constantly applying his mind to Me, the Yogi of disciplined mind attains the everlasting peace, consisting of supreme bliss, which abides in Me”

16/VI. “Arjuna, this Yoga is neither for him who over eats, nor for him who observes a complete fast; it is neither for him who is given to too much sleep; nor even for him who is ceaselessly awake”

17/VI. “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 performing actions, and regulated in sleep and wakefulness”

18/VI. “When the mind which is thoroughly disciplined gets riveted on God alone, then the person who is free from yearning for all enjoyments is said to be established in Yoga”

19/VI. “As a light does not flicker in a windless place, such is stated to be the picture of the disciplined mind of the Yogi practising meditation on God”

20/VI. “The state in which, curbed through the practice of Yoga, the mind becomes still, and in which, realizing God through subtle reason (purified by meditation on God) the soul rejoices only in God”

21/VI. “Nay, in which the soul experience the eternal and super sensuous job which can be apprehended only through the subtle and purified intellect, and wherein established the said Yogi moves not from Truth on any account”

22/VI. “And having obtained which he does not reckon any other gain as greater than that, and established in which he is not shaken even by the heaviest of sorrows”

23/VI. “That state, called Yoga, which is free from the contact of sorrow (in the form of transmigration), should be known. Nay, this Yoga should be resolutely practised with an unwearied mind”

24/VI. “Completely renouncing all desires arising from thoughts of the world, and fully restraining the whole pack of the senses from all sides by the time”

25/VI. “He should through gradual practice attain tranquillity; and fixing the mind on God through reason controlled by steadfastness, he should not think of anything else”

26/VI. “Drawing back the restless and fidgety mind from all those objects after which it runs, he should repeatedly fix it on God”

27/VI. “For the Yogi whose mind is perfectly serene who is sinless, whose passion is subdued, and who is identified with Brahma, the embodiment of Truth, Knowledge and Bliss, supreme happiness comes as a matter of course”

28/VI. “The sinless Yogi, thus uniting his self constantly with God, easily enjoys the eternal Bliss of oneness with Brahma”

29/VI. "The Yogi who is united in identity with the all-pervading, infinite Consciousness; and sees unity everywhere, beholds the Self present in all beings, and all beings as assumed in the Self”

30/VI. “He who sees Me (the Universal Self) present in all beings, and all beings existing within Me, never loses sight of Me, and I never lose sight of him”

31/VI. “The Yogi who is established in union with Me, and worships Me as residing in all beings (as their very Self); abides in Me; no matter what he does”

32/VI. “Arjuna, he who looks on all as one, on the analogy of his own self, and looks upon the joy and sorrow of all with a similar eye, such a Yogi is deemed the highest of all”

33/VI. Arjuna said, “Krishna, owing to restlessness of mind I do not perceive the stability of this Yoga in the form of equability, which You have just spoken of”

34/VI. “For Krishna, the mind is very unsteady, turbulent, tenacious and powerful therefore, I consider it as difficult to control as the wind”

35/VI. Sri Bhagavan said, “The mind is restless no doubt; and difficult to curb, Arjuna; but it can be brought under control by repeated practice (of meditation) and by the exercise of dispassion, O son of Kunti!!”

36/VI. “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/VI. Arjuna said, “Krishna, what becomes of the soul 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), and who thus fails to reach perfection in Yoga (God-Realization)?”

38/VI. “Krishna, strayed from the path leading to God-Realization and without anything to stand upon, is he not lost like the torn cloud, deprived of both God-Realization and heavenly enjoyment?”

39/VI. “Krishna, it behoves You to slash this doubt of mine completely; for none other than You can be found, who can tear this doubt”

40/VI. Sri Bhagavan said, “Dear Arjuna, there is no fall for him either here of hereafter. For none who strives for self-redemption (i.e., God-Realization) ever meets with evil destiny”

41/VI. “He who has fallen from Yoga, obtains 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/VI. “Or (if he is possessed of dispassion) he is born in the family of enlightened Yogis; but such a birth in this world is very difficult to obtain”

43/VI. “Arjuna, he automatically regains in that birth the spiritual insight of his previous birth; and through that he strives, harder than ever, for perfection (in the form of God-Realization)”

44/VI. “The other one (who takes birth in a rich family), though under the away of his senses, feels drawn towards God by force of the habit acquired in his previous birth; nay, even the seeker of enlightenment on Yoga (in the form of even-mindedness) transcends the fruit of actions performed with some interested motive as laid down in the Vedas”

45/VI. “The Yogi, however, who dilligently takes up the practice attains perfection in this very life with the help of latencies of many births, and being throughly purged of sin, forthwith reaches the supreme state”

46/VI. “The yogi is superior to the ascetics; he is regarded as superior even to those versed in sacred lore. The Yogi is also superior to those who perform action with some interested motive. Therefore, Arjuna, do you become a Yogi”

47/VI. “Of all Yogis, again, he who devoutly worship Me with his mind focussed on Me is considered by Me to be the best Yogi”

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OM THATH SATH