Sixth discourse
DHYANA-YOGA
*Dhyana-yoga is incompatible with works
*Renunciation in action
The Blssed Lord said:
1.
He who, without depending on the fruits of action, performs his bounden duty, he is a Samnyasin and a Yogin: not he who is without fire and without action.
2.
Do thou, O Panava, know Yoga to be that which they call renunciation; no one, verily, becomes a Yogin who has not renounced thoughts.
*Action is a stepping-stone to Dhyana-Yoga.
3.
For a devotee who wishes to attain to Yoga, action is said to be the means. For the same (devotee), when he has attained to Yoga, quiescence (sama) is said to be the means.
Who is a Yogin ?
4.
When a man, renouncing all thoughts, is not attached to sense-objects and actions, then he is said to have attained to Yoga.
5.
Let a man raise himself by himself, let him not lower himself; for, he alone is the friend of himself, he alone is the enemy of himself.
6.
To him who has conquered himself by himself, his own self is the friend of himself, but, to him who has not (conquered) himself, his own self stands in the place of an enemy like the (external) foe.
7.
The self-controlled and serene man's Supreme Self is steadfast in cold and heat, in pleasure and pain, as also in honour and disgrace.
8.
The Yogin whose self is satisfied with knowledge and wisdom, who remains unshaken, who has conquered the senses, he is said to be a saint,—for whom a lump of earth, a stone and gold are equal.
Moreover,
9.
He is esteemed, who is of the same mind to the good-hearted, friends, foes, the indifferent, the neutral, the hateful, relatives, the righteous, and the unrighteous.
*Directions for the practice of Yoga
Wherefore, to attain the highest results,
10.
Let the Yogin try constantly to keep the mind steady, remaining in seclusion, alone, with the mind and body controlled, free from desire, and having no possessions.
11.
Having in a cleanly spot established a firm seat, neither too high nor too low, with cloth, skin, and kusa grass thereon;
12.
Making the mind one-pointed, with the actions of the mind and the senses controlled, let him, seated there on the seat, practise Yoga for the purification of the self.
13.
Holding erect and still the body, head, and neck, firm, gazing on the tip of his nose, without looking around;
Moreover,
14.
Serene-minded, fearless, firm in the vow of godly life, having restrained the mind, thinking on Me, and balanced, let him sit, looking up to Me as the Supreme.
Now the fruit of Yoga is described as follows;
15.
Thus always keeping the mind balanced, the Yogin, with the mind controlled, attains to the Peace abiding in Me, which culminates in Nirvana (moksha.)
16.
Yoga is not possible for him who eats too much, nor for him who does not eat at all, nor for him who is addicted to too much sleep, nor for him who is (ever) wakeful, O Arjuna.
17.
To him whose food and recreation are moderate, whose exertion in actions is moderate, whose sleep and waking are moderate, to him accrues Yoga which is destructive of pain.
*Consummation
18.
When the well-restrained thought is established in the Self only, without longing for any of the objects of desire, then he is said to be a Saint.
19.
'As a lamp in a sheltered spot does not flicker,'—this has been thought as the simile of a Yogin of subdued thought, practising Yoga in the Self.
20.
When thought is quiescent, restrained by the practice of Yoga ; when, seeing the Self by the self, he is satisfied in his own Self;
21.
When he knows that Infinite Joy which, transcending the senses, can be grasped by reason; when, steady (in the Self), he moves never from the Reality;
22.
When, having obtained it, he thinks no other acquisition superior to it; when, therein established, he is not moved even by a great pain;
23.
This severance from union with pain, be it known, is called union (Yoga). That Yoga must be practised with determination and with undepressed heart.
*Further directions concerning the practice of Yoga
Moreover,
24.
Abandoning without reserve all fancy-born desires, well-restraining all the senses from all quarters by the mind;
25.
Little by little let him withdraw, by reason (buddhi) held in firmness; keeping the mind established in the Self, let him not think of anything.
26.
By whatever cause the wavering and unsteady mind wanders away, from that let him restrain it and bring it back direct under the control of the Self.
*The effect of Dhyana-Yoga
27.
Supreme Bliss verily comes to this Yogin, whose mind is quite tranquil, whose passion is quieted, who has become Brahman, who is blemishless.
28.
Thus always keeping the self steadfast, the Yogin, freed from sins, attains with ease to the infinite bliss of contact with the ( Supreme) Brahman.
29.
The Self abiding in all beings, and all beings (abiding) in the Self, sees he whose self has been made steadfast by Yoga, who everywhere sees the same.
30.
He who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, to him I vanish not, nor to Me does he vanish.
31.
Whoso, intent on unity, worships Me who abide in all beings, that Yogin dwells in Me, whatever his mode of life.
32.
Whoso, by comparison with himself, sees the same everywhere, O Arjuna, be it pleasure or pain, he is deemed the highest Yogin.
* Practice and Indifference are the surest means to Yoga
Arjuna said:
33.
This Yoga in equanimity, taught by Thee, O Destroyer of Madhu,—I see not its steady continuance, because of the restlessness (of the mind).
34.
The mind verily, is, O Krishna, restless, turbulent, strong and obstinate. Thereof the restraint I deem quite as difficult as that of the wind.
The Blessed Lord said:
35.
Doubtless, O mighty-armed, the mind is hard to restrain and restless; but by practice, O son of Kunti, and by indifference it may be restrained.
36.
Yoga, methinks, is hard to attain for a man of uncontrolled self; but by him who (often) strives, self-controlled, it can be acquired by (proper) means.
* Failures in Yoga and the after-career
Arjuna said:
37.
He who strives not, but who is possessed of faith, whose mind wanders away from Yoga, — having failed to attain perfection in Yoga, what end, O Krishna, does he meet?
38.
Having failed in both, does he not perish like a riven cloud, supportless, O mighty-armed, and perplexed in the path to Brahman?
39.
This doubt of mine, O Krishna, do Thou dispel completely; for none other than Thyself can possibly destroy this doubt.
The Blessed Lord said:
40.
O Partha, neither in this world nor in the next is there destruction for him; none, verily, who does good, My son, ever comes to grief.
41.
Having attained to the worlds of the righteous, and having dwelt there for eternal years, he who failed in Yoga is reborn in a house of the pure and wealthy.
42.
Else, he is born in a family of wise Yogins only. This, verily, a birth like this, is very hard to obtain in this world.
43.
There he gains touch with the knowledge that was acquired in the former body and strives more than before for perfection, O son of the Kurus.
44.
By that very former practice is he borne on, though unwilling. Even he who merely wishes to know of Yoga rises superior to the Word-Brahman.
*The best of the Yogins
And why is the life of a Yogin preferable?
45.
Verily, a Yogin who strives with assiduity, purified from sins and perfected in the course of many births, then reaches the Supreme Goal.
Wherefore,
46.
A Yogin is deemed superior to men of austerity, and superior to even men of knowledge he is also superior to men of action; therefore be thou a Yogin, O Arjuna,
47.
Of all Yogins, whoso, full of faith, worships Me with his inner self abiding in Me, he is deemed by Me as most devout.
END OF SIXTH DISCOURSE
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