Conversation 6
Yoga of Self-control
The Blessed Lord said:
6:1. The one who actively performs his duty without desiring profit for oneself is a true sannyasi. Such a one is a yogi and not the one who lives without a fire and duties.
6:2. Know, O Pandava: what is called sannyasa is the same as yoga. The one who has not renounced the worldly desires cannot become a yogi.
6:3. For a reasonable one who is aspiring to Yoga action is the means. For the one who has attained Yoga non-action is the means.
6:4. He who has renounced the worldly desires and attained Yoga is attached neither to worldly objects nor to his activity.
6:5. By the power of the Atman let man to uncover his Atman! And let the Atman be never lowered again! One can be a friend to the Atman, one can be a foe to the Atman.
6:6. He is a friend to the Atman who has cognized the Atman. He who opposes the Atman remains the Atman’s foe.
6:7. He who has cognized the Atman attains the full peace for he takes refuge in the Divine Consciousness when he (his body) is in cold or heat, in situations of joy or grief, honor or dishonor.
6:8. He is called a true yogi who is calmed by wisdom and knowledge of the Atman, steadfast, whose indriyas are subjugated, to whom a clod, a stone and gold are the same.
6:9. He possesses developed consciousness and advanced spiritually who is well-disposed both to friends and to foes, to neutrals, to strangers, to the envious, to relatives, to the pious, to the vicious.
6:10. Let a yogi be constantly concentrating in the Atman, being in seclusion, self-disciplined, not indulging in reveries, devoid of the feeling of possessiveness.
6:11. Having arranged in a clean place a firm seat for working with the Atman, neither too high nor too low, covered with the kusha grass and with cloth which is alike to deer skin,
6:12. having concentrated his mind on one thing and subjugated his indriyas, staying calmly in one place, — he should practice yoga experiencing bliss in the Atman.
6:13. Keeping upright the trunk, neck, and head, directing his look to the tip of the nose but not looking, scattering not his attention,
6:14. having established oneself in the Atman, fearless, steadfast in brahmachariya, his mind conquered, his thoughts directed towards Me — he should aspire to Me as to His Ultimate Goal.
6:15. The yogi who has merged with the Atman and controls his mind enters the Highest Nirvana and abides there in Me.
6:16. Verily, the yoga is not for those who eat too much or do not eat at all, not for those who sleep too long or wake too long, O Arjuna!
6:17. Yoga dispels all suffering in him who became moderate in eating, resting, working, and also in sleeping and waking.
6:18. When his refined consciousness free from all cravings is concentrated in the Atman alone then he is said about: “He is in harmony”.
6:19. The yogi who has subjugated his mind and is being one with the Atman is like a lamp in a windless place whose flame does not flicker.
6:20 When mind calmed by yoga exercises becomes quiet, when man finds bliss in the Atman contemplating the Atman by the Atman,
6:21. when he attains that highest bliss accessible only to a developed consciousness and lying beyond ordinary reach of indriyas, when having cognized this bliss he will never stray from the Truth,
6:22. and having attained that he cannot imaging something higher, and existing in this state he is not shaken even by the most grave sorrow, —
6:23. such break of ties with grief is to be called Yoga. One should give oneself to such Yoga resolutely, without wavering.
6:24. Having abandoned vain desires and conquered all indriyas,
6:25. gradually calming the consciousness let him study his own essence — the Atman — without distracting thoughts to anything else.
6:26. If the uneasy and fickle mind wanders away curb it and constantly direct to the Atman.
6:27. The highest bliss awaits a yogi whose mind became calm and passions faded, after he became sinless and alike to Brahman.
6:28. The yogi who brought himself into harmony and got rid of vices experiences easily unlimited bliss of contact with Brahman.
6:29. The one established in Yoga sees the Atman in every being and all beings dwelling in the Atman; everywhere he sees the same.
6:30. He who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me — such a one I will never forsake and he will never forsake Me.
6:31. He who has established in such oneness worships Me present in everything — such a yogi lives in Me whatever his activity is.
6:32. The one who sees manifestations of the Atman in everything and who has cognized through this sameness of everything — both the pleasant and the unpleasant — such a one is regarded as a perfect yogi, O Arjuna.
Arjuna said:
6:33. For such Yoga which is attained through inner evenness, O Madhusudana, I do not see a firm ground in myself because of restlessness of mind.
6:34. For the mind is truly restless, O Krishna. It is turbulent, obstinate, hard to restrain. I think it is as difficult to curb it as to curb the wind.
The Blessed Lord said:
6:35. No doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is restless and it is hard to curb. Yet, one can put it under control by constant practice and dispassionateness.
6:36. Yoga is hard to attain for man who has not cognized his Atman. But he who has cognized his Atman is on the right way to Yoga, — this is My opinion.
Arjuna said:
6:37. The one who has not renounced the worldly but is endowed with faith, who has not subjugated his mind and fell off yoga, — what will happen to him, O Krishna?
6:38. Will such unsteady man who has failed on the both paths and strayed from the path to Brahman be destroyed like a riven cloud, O Mighty One?
6:39. Dispel my doubts, O Krishna! You alone can do this.
The Blessed Lord said:
6:40. O Partha, there is no destruction for him either in this world or in the next! Never the one who wished to behave righteously will come on the path of sorrow, O My beloved!
6:41. The one fallen off yoga attains the worlds of righteous people and stays there countless years; then he gets born again in a pure and blessed family,
6:42. or he may even be born in a family of wise yogis, but such birth is very hard to attain.
6:43. He is born again, his consciousness is developed in the previous incarnation, and he continues his advancement on the Path to the Perfection, O joy of the Kurus!
6:44. Merits of the previous life drive him forward: the one who aspired to cognition of Yoga surpassed the level of the ritual religious practice.
6:45. The yogi who strives tirelessly, who has rid oneself of vices, and through many incarnations was going to the Perfection — such a yogi achieves the Supreme Goal.
6:46. A yogi is superior to ascetics, to sages, to man of action. Therefore, become a yogi, O Arjuna!
6:47. Among all yogis I consider superior to others the one who lives in Me being connected with Me through the Atman and serves Me whole-heartedly.
Thus in the upanishads of the blessed Bhagavad Gita, the Science of Eternal, the Scripture of yoga, says the sixth conversation between Shri Krishna and Arjuna, entitled:
Yoga of Self-control.
