Chapter 6 · 47 verses

Dhyana Yoga: The Yoga of Meditation

अध्याय 6 — ध्यानयोग

How to meditate, how to train a restless mind through practice and detachment, and the reassurance that no sincere effort is ever wasted.

ध्यान कैसे करें, चंचल मन को अभ्यास और वैराग्य से कैसे साधें, और यह आश्वासन कि कोई भी सच्चा प्रयास कभी व्यर्थ नहीं जाता।

Verse 6.1अनाश्रितः कर्मफलं कार्यं कर्म करोति यः …Krishna says the true renunciate and true yogi is someone who does their duty without depending on its results — not someone who merely stops lighting the sacred fire or stops working.
Verse 6.2यं संन्यासमिति प्राहुर्योगं तं विद्धि पाण्डव …What people call renunciation is the same as yoga, Arjuna. No one becomes a yogi without letting go of selfish plans and desires.
Verse 6.3आरुरुक्षोर्मुनेर्योगं कर्म कारणमुच्यते …For someone starting out on yoga, action is the way forward. For someone who has already risen in yoga, calm and stillness become the way.
Verse 6.4यदा हि नेन्द्रियार्थेषु न कर्मस्वनुषज्जते …A person is said to have risen in yoga when they are no longer attached to sense objects or to actions, and have let go of all selfish plans.
Verse 6.5उद्धरेदात्मनाऽऽत्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् …Lift yourself up by your own mind; do not let yourself sink. The mind alone is your friend, and the mind alone your enemy.
Verse 6.6बन्धुरात्माऽऽत्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः …For someone who has conquered their mind, the mind is a friend. But for someone who has not, the mind acts like an enemy.
Verse 6.7जितात्मनः प्रशान्तस्य परमात्मा समाहितः …One who has conquered the mind and is at peace stays steady in the Self through cold and heat, pleasure and pain, honor and insult.
Verse 6.8ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा कूटस्थो विजितेन्द्रियः …A yogi content with knowledge and experience, unshaken, master of the senses, sees a lump of earth, a stone, and gold as equal.
Verse 6.9सुहृन्मित्रार्युदासीनमध्यस्थद्वेष्यबन्धुषु …Even higher is one who treats well-wishers, friends, enemies, neutral people, the hostile, relatives, the good, and the wicked with an equal mind.
Verse 6.10योगी युञ्जीत सततमात्मानं रहसि स्थितः …A yogi should regularly practice concentrating the mind, staying alone in a quiet place, with mind and body controlled, free of longing and the urge to possess.
Verse 6.11शुचौ देशे प्रतिष्ठाप्य स्थिरमासनमात्मनः …In a clean place, set up a firm seat that is neither too high nor too low, covered with kusha grass, a deerskin, and a cloth, one over the other.
Verse 6.12तत्रैकाग्रं मनः कृत्वा यतचित्तेन्द्रियक्रियः …Sitting on that seat, focusing the mind on one point and controlling thoughts and senses, one should practice yoga to purify the self.
Verse 6.13समं कायशिरोग्रीवं धारयन्नचलं स्थिरः …Keep the body, head, and neck straight and still, steady the gaze at the tip of the nose, and do not look around in different directions.
Verse 6.14प्रशान्तात्मा विगतभीर्ब्रह्मचारिव्रते स्थितः …Calm and fearless, firm in a vow of self-restraint, with the mind controlled and thinking of Krishna, one should sit in yoga with Him as the highest goal.
Verse 6.15युञ्जन्नेवं सदाऽऽत्मानं योगी नियतमानसः …Always uniting the mind like this, the yogi with a controlled mind reaches the peace rooted in Krishna — the supreme freedom.
Verse 6.16नात्यश्नतस्तु योगोऽस्ति न चैकान्तमनश्नतः …Yoga is not for someone who eats too much or too little, nor for someone who sleeps too much or stays awake too much, Arjuna.
Verse 6.17युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु …For one who is moderate in eating and recreation, balanced in work, and regular in sleep and waking, yoga removes all sorrow.
Verse 6.18यदा विनियतं चित्तमात्मन्येवावतिष्ठते …When the well-controlled mind rests in the Self alone, free from craving for any pleasure, a person is said to be established in yoga.
Verse 6.19यथा दीपो निवातस्थो नेङ्गते सोपमा स्मृता …Like a lamp flame that does not flicker in a windless place — that is how the controlled mind of a yogi absorbed in meditation is described.
Verse 6.20यत्रोपरमते चित्तं निरुद्धं योगसेवया …When the mind, stilled by yoga practice, settles down, and one sees the Self through the self, one finds deep satisfaction in the Self.
Verse 6.21सुखमात्यन्तिकं यत्तद्बुद्धिग्राह्यमतीन्द्रियम् …When one knows that boundless joy grasped by the intellect and beyond the senses, and once settled there never drifts from the truth...
Verse 6.22यं लब्ध्वा चापरं लाभं मन्यते नाधिकं ततः …Having gained this, one sees no greater gain, and standing in it, one is not shaken even by heavy sorrow.
Verse 6.23तं विद्याद् दुःखसंयोगवियोगं योगसंज्ञितम् …Know this freedom from all connection with sorrow as yoga. It should be practiced with determination and an undiscouraged mind.
Verse 6.24सङ्कल्पप्रभवान्कामांस्त्यक्त्वा सर्वानशेषतः …Fully letting go of all desires born from selfish wishes, and pulling back the senses from every side with the mind...
Verse 6.25शनैः शनैरुपरमेद् बुद्ध्या धृतिगृहीतया …...one should slowly grow calm, with the intellect held steady. Fixing the mind on the Self, one should think of nothing else.
Verse 6.26यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम् …Wherever the restless, unsteady mind wanders, gently bring it back and rest it in the Self.
Verse 6.27प्रशान्तमनसं ह्येनं योगिनं सुखमुत्तमम् …Supreme joy comes to the yogi whose mind is at peace, whose passions have settled, who is free from wrongdoing and has become one with the Divine.
Verse 6.28युञ्जन्नेवं सदाऽऽत्मानं योगी विगतकल्मषः …Steadily uniting the self like this, the yogi, free of faults, easily enjoys the endless happiness of contact with the Divine.
Verse 6.29सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि …One whose mind is united in yoga sees the Self in all beings and all beings in the Self, seeing the same everywhere.
Verse 6.30यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र सर्वं च मयि पश्यति …Krishna says: whoever sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost to them, and they are never lost to Me.
Verse 6.31सर्वभूतस्थितं यो मां भजत्येकत्वमास्थितः …The yogi who, rooted in oneness, worships Krishna as present in all beings lives in Krishna, whatever kind of life they lead.
Verse 6.32आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन …The highest yogi, Arjuna, is one who sees others' joy and sorrow as their own, measuring everyone by the same standard as oneself.
Verse 6.33योऽयं योगस्त्वया प्रोक्तः साम्येन मधुसूदन …Arjuna says: Krishna, this yoga of evenness You describe — I can't see how it can last, because the mind is so restless.
Verse 6.34चञ्चलं हि मनः कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवद्दृढम् …Arjuna continues: the mind is restless, stormy, powerful, and stubborn. Controlling it seems as hard as controlling the wind.
Verse 6.35असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलं …Without doubt the mind is restless and hard to control. But it can be trained through steady practice (abhyāsa) and detachment (vairāgya).
Verse 6.36असंयतात्मना योगो दुष्प्राप इति मे मतिः …Krishna says yoga is hard to reach for someone without self-control. But someone who masters the mind and keeps striving in the right way can attain it.
Verse 6.37अयतिः श्रद्धयोपेतो योगाच्चलितमानसः …Arjuna asks: what happens to someone who has faith but doesn't manage to control themselves, and whose mind slips away from yoga before reaching perfection?
Verse 6.38कच्चिन्नोभयविभ्रष्टश्छिन्नाभ्रमिव नश्यति …Arjuna worries: having lost both worldly and spiritual paths, without support and confused on the road to the Divine, does such a person vanish like a scattered cloud?
Verse 6.39एतन्मे संशयं कृष्ण छेत्तुमर्हस्यशेषतः …Arjuna asks Krishna to fully remove this doubt, since no one but Krishna can clear it.
Verse 6.40पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस्तस्य विद्यते …One who does good never comes to a bad end, dear friend.
Verse 6.41प्राप्य पुण्यकृतां लोकानुषित्वा शाश्वतीः समाः …A person who falls short in yoga reaches the worlds of the virtuous, lives there for long ages, and is then born into a good and prosperous family.
Verse 6.42अथवा योगिनामेव कुले भवति धीमताम् …Or such a person is born into a family of wise yogis. A birth like this is very rare in the world.
Verse 6.43तत्र तं बुद्धिसंयोगं लभते पौर्वदेहिकम् …There, they regain the understanding they had built in their past life, and strive even harder for perfection.
Verse 6.44पूर्वाभ्यासेन तेनैव ह्रियते ह्यवशोऽपि सः …Drawn by their earlier practice, they are pulled toward yoga almost without choosing. Even someone who just wants to know about yoga goes beyond mere rituals.
Verse 6.45प्रयत्नाद्यतमानस्तु योगी संशुद्धकिल्बिषः …A yogi who keeps striving with effort, cleansed of faults and perfected over many births, finally reaches the highest goal.
Verse 6.46तपस्विभ्योऽधिको योगी ज्ञानिभ्योऽपि मतोऽधिकः …A yogi is greater than those who practice harsh austerities, greater than scholars, and greater than people who do rituals for results. So, Arjuna, be a yogi.
Verse 6.47योगिनामपि सर्वेषां मद्गतेनान्तरात्मना …Among all yogis, Krishna says, the one He holds closest is the person who, with faith, worships Him with their innermost self absorbed in Him.