Chapter 6. Sankhya-yoga
Chapter 6, Verse 1.
 The Blessed
Lord said: One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works
as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true
mystic: not he who lights no fire and performs no work.
Chapter 6, Verse 2.
What
is called renunciation is the same as yoga, or linking oneself with the
Supreme, for no one can become a yogi unless he renounces the desire for
sense gratification.
Chapter 6, Verse 3.
For one
who is a neophyte in the eightfold yoga system, work is said to be the
means; and for one who has already attained to yoga, cessation of all material
activities is said to be the means.
Chapter 6, Verse 4.
A person
is said to be have attained to yoga when, having renounced all material
desires, he neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in fruitive
activities.
Chapter 6, Verse 5.
A man
must elevate himself by his own mind, not degrade himself. The mind is
the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.
Chapter 6, Verse 6.
For him
who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one
who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy.
Chapter 6, Verse 7.
For one
who has conquered the mind, the Supersoul is already reached, for he has
attained tranquility. To such a man happiness and distress, heat and cold,
honor and dishonor are all the same.
Chapter 6, Verse 8.
A person
is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogi [or
mystic] when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and
realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled.
He sees everything--whether it be pebbles, stones or gold--as the same.
Chapter 6, Verse 9.
A person
is said to be still further advanced when he regards all--the honest well-wisher,
friends and enemies, the envious, the pious, the sinner and those who are
indifferent and impartial--with an equal mind.
Chapter 6, Verse 10.
A transcendentalist
should always try to concentrate his mind on the Supreme Self; he should
live alone in a secluded place and should always carefully control his
mind. He should be free from desires and feelings of possessiveness.
Chapter 6, Verse 11-12.
To practice
yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kusa-grass on the
ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should
neither be too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place.
The yogi should then sit on it very firmly and should practice yoga by
controlling the mind and the senses, purifying the heart and fixing the
mind on one point.
Chapter 6, Verse 13-14.
One should
hold one's body, neck and head erect in a straight line and stare steadily
at the tip of the nose. Thus, with an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid
of fear, completely free from sex life, one should meditate upon Me within
the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life.
Chapter 6, Verse 15.
Thus
practicing control of the body, mind and activities, the mystic transcendentalist
attains to the kingdom of God [or the abode of Krsna] by cessation of material
existence.
Chapter 6, Verse 16.
There
is no possibility of one's becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much,
or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.
Chapter 6, Verse 17.
He who
is temperate in his habits of eating, sleeping, working and recreation
can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.
Chapter 6, Verse 18.
When
the yogi, by practice of yoga, disciplines his mental activities and becomes
situated in Transcendence--devoid of all material desires--he is said to
have attained yoga.
Chapter 6, Verse 19.
As a
lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcendentalist, whose
mind is controlled, remains always steady in his meditation on the transcendent
Self.
Chapter 6, Verse 20-23.
The stage
of perfection is called trance, or samadhi, when one's mind is completely
restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This is
characterized by one's ability to see the self by the pure mind and to
relish and rejoice in the self. In that joyous state, one is situated in
boundless transcendental happiness and enjoys himself through transcendental
senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth and upon gaining
this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position,
one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed
is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.
Chapter 6, Verse 24.
One should
engage oneself in the practice of yoga with undeviating determination and
faith. One should abandon, without exception, all material desires born
of false ego and thus control all the senses on all sides by the mind.
Chapter 6, Verse 25.
Gradually,
step by step, with full conviction, one should become situated in trance
by means of intelligence, and thus the mind should be fixed on the Self
alone and should think of nothing else.
Chapter 6, Verse 26.
From
whatever and wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady
nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control
of the Self.
Chapter 6, Verse 27.
The yogi
whose mind is fixed on Me verily attains the highest happiness. By virtue
of his identity with Brahman, he is liberated; his mind is peaceful, his
passions are quieted, and he is freed from sin.
Chapter 6, Verse 28.
Steady
in the Self, being freed from all material contamination, the yogi achieves
the highest perfectional stage of happiness in touch with the Supreme Consciousness.
Chapter 6, Verse 29.
A true
yogi observes Me in all beings, and also sees every being in Me. Indeed,
the self-realized man sees Me everywhere.
Chapter 6, Verse 30.
For one
who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor
is he ever lost to Me.
Chapter 6, Verse 31.
The yogi
who knows that I and the Supersoul within all creatures are one worships
Me and remains always in Me in all circumstances.
Chapter 6, Verse 32.
He is
a perfect yogi who, by comparison to his own self, sees the true equality
of all beings, both in their happiness and distress, O Arjuna!
Chapter 6, Verse 33.
Arjuna
said: O Madhusudana, the system of yoga which You have summarized appears
impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady.
Chapter 6, Verse 34.
For the
mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krsna, and to
subdue it is, it seems to me, more difficult than controlling the wind.
Chapter 6, Verse 35.
The Blessed
Lord said: O mighty-armed son of Kunti, it is undoubtedly very difficult
to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by constant practice and
by detachment.
Chapter 6, Verse 36.
For one
whose mind is unbridled, self-realization is difficult work. But he whose
mind is controlled and who strives by right means is assured of success.
That is My opinion.
Chapter 6, Verse 37.
Arjuna
said: What is the destination of the man of faith who does not persevere,
who in the beginning takes to the process of self-realization but who later
desists due to worldly-mindedness and thus does not attain perfection in
mysticism?
Chapter 6, Verse 38.
O mighty-armed
Krsna, does not such a man, being deviated from the path of Transcendence,
perish like a riven cloud, with no position in any sphere?
Chapter 6, Verse 39.
This
is my doubt, O Krsna, and I ask You to dispel it completely. But for Yourself,
no one is to be found who can destroy this doubt.
Chapter 6, Verse 40.
The Blessed
Lord said: Son of Prtha, a transcendentalist engaged in auspicious activities
does not meet with destruction either in this world or in the spiritual
world; one who does good, My friend, is never overcome by evil.
Chapter 6, Verse 41.
The unsuccessful
yogi, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living
entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of
rich aristocracy.
Chapter 6, Verse 42.
Or he
takes his birth in a family of transcendentalists who are surely great
in wisdom. Verily, such a birth is rare in this world.
Chapter 6, Verse 43.
On taking
such a birth, he again revives the divine consciousness of his previous
life, and he tries to make further progress in order to achieve complete
success, O son of Kuru.
Chapter 6, Verse 44.
By virtue
of the divine consciousness of his previous life, he automatically becomes
attracted to the yogic principles--even without seeking them. Such an inquisitive
transcendentalist, striving for yoga, stands always above the ritualistic
principles of the scriptures.
Chapter 6, Verse 45.
But when
the yogi engages himself with sincere endeavor in making further progress,
being washed of all contaminations, then ultimately, after many, many births
of practice, he attains the supreme goal.
Chapter 6, Verse 46.
A yogi
is greater than the ascetic, greater than the empiricist and greater than
the fruitive worker. Therefore, O Arjuna, in all circumstances, be a yogi.
Chapter 6, Verse 47.
And of
all yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in
transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga
and is the highest of all.
  
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