Dhyana Yoga

Whoever does the work that must be done, without depending on its fruits, is a renunciate and a yogi. Not the one who lights no sacred fire and does no work.

Know that what they call renunciation is yoga, Arjuna. No one becomes a yogi without giving up selfish intent.

For the sage who wishes to rise to yoga, action is said to be the means. For the same sage, once risen to yoga, stillness is said to be the means.

When a person clings neither to sense-objects nor to actions, having given up all intent, then they are said to have risen to yoga.

Lift yourself by yourself. Do not let yourself sink. The self alone is its own friend, and the self alone is its own enemy.

For the one who has conquered the self by the self, the self is a friend. But for the one whose self is unconquered, the self stays hostile, like an enemy.

For the one who is self-controlled and at peace, the supreme Self stays steady through cold and heat, pleasure and pain, honor and dishonor.

The yogi whose self is content with knowledge and realization, who is unmoved, who has mastered the senses, and to whom a clod of earth, a stone, and gold are the same, is said to be steadfast.

The one who regards them all with an equal mind excels: well-wisher and friend, enemy and stranger, the neutral, the hateful, the relative, the good, and the sinful alike.

A yogi should constantly steady the mind, staying in a solitary place, alone, with mind and body controlled, free from desire and from the urge to possess.

In a clean place, let him set up a firm seat for himself, neither too high nor too low, layered with cloth, deerskin, and kusha grass.

Seated there, let him make the mind one-pointed, with the workings of mind and senses controlled, and practice yoga to purify the self.

Hold the body, head, and neck straight and still. Stay steady. Look at the tip of your nose, not turning to gaze around.

Let him sit with a calm mind, free from fear, firm in the vow of celibacy. Controlling the mind, fixing his thoughts on me, let him stay absorbed, with me as his supreme goal.

Keeping the mind absorbed this way, always, the yogi of disciplined mind reaches the peace that ends in liberation and abides in me.

Yoga is not for one who eats too much, nor for one who does not eat at all. It is not for one who sleeps too much, nor for one who stays awake too long, Arjuna.

For one who is moderate in eating and recreation, moderate in his actions, and moderate in sleep and waking, yoga becomes the destroyer of sorrow.

When the controlled mind rests in the Self alone, free from craving for every object of desire, then one is said to be absorbed in yoga.

As a lamp in a windless place does not flicker, so is the yogi of controlled mind who practices concentration on the Self.

When the mind, restrained by the practice of yoga, comes to rest, and when one sees the Self by the self and is content in the Self alone;

When one knows that boundless joy which discernment grasps and which lies beyond the senses, and stays established there, one does not swerve from the truth.

Having gained it, one finds no other gain greater. Established in it, one is not shaken even by heavy sorrow.

Know this severance from union with sorrow to be what is called yoga. Practice this yoga with resolve and with a heart that does not lose heart.

Letting go of all desires born of intention, completely and without exception, restraining the whole group of senses with the mind on every side;

Little by little, let him grow still, using discernment held firm by resolve. Let him fix the mind on the Self and think of nothing at all.

Wherever the restless, unsteady mind wanders off, let him rein it in from there and bring it back under the control of the Self alone.

Supreme bliss comes to this yogi whose mind is at peace, whose passion is stilled, who is free from sin, and who has become Brahman.

Engaging the self in this way always, the taintless yogi easily attains the boundless bliss of contact with Brahman.

With the mind made steady by yoga, seeing the same everywhere, he sees the Self abiding in all beings and all beings in the Self.

For the one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, and he is never lost to Me.

The yogi who, established in unity, worships Me as dwelling in all beings, abides in Me, whatever his way of living.

The yogi who, measuring by himself, sees the same everywhere, whether pleasure or pain, is held to be the highest.

Arjuna said: This yoga of sameness that you have taught, I do not see how it can hold steady, because the mind is so restless.

For the mind is restless, turbulent, strong, and unyielding, Krishna. To control it seems to me as hard as controlling the wind.

The Blessed Lord said: No doubt the mind is restless and hard to control. But it can be brought under control by practice and detachment.

Yoga is hard to attain for one whose mind is uncontrolled. That is my view. But one who strives, with a controlled mind, can reach it by the right means.

Arjuna said: A person has faith but cannot control himself, and his mind wanders away from yoga. He fails to reach perfection in yoga. What end does he meet, Krishna?

Fallen from both paths, with no support, lost on the path to Brahman: does he not perish like a scattered cloud, Krishna?

Krishna, you should clear away this doubt of mine completely. No one but you can dispel it.

Krishna said: There is no ruin for him, neither in this world nor the next. No one who does good ever comes to a bad end, dear one.

He who has fallen from yoga reaches the worlds of the righteous and lives there for long ages. Then he is born again in the house of the pure and the prosperous.

Or he is born in the family of wise yogis. Such a birth is very hard to obtain in this world.

There he regains the discernment gained in his former body. And from there he strives even harder for perfection, Arjuna.

By that former practice alone he is carried forward, even against his will. Even one who only seeks to know yoga passes beyond the word of the Vedas.

The yogi who strives with effort, cleansed of all sin and perfected through many births, then reaches the highest goal.

The yogi is higher than those who practice austerity, higher even than those of knowledge, and higher than those of action. So become a yogi, Arjuna.

And of all yogis, the one who worships me with faith, his inmost self absorbed in me, I hold to be the most devoted.