THE BHAGAVAD GITA Chapter 6
Excerpts from God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita
by Paramahansa Yogananda
The Science of Meditation
VI:5-6
Let man uplift the self (ego) by the self; let the self not be self-degraded (cast down). Indeed, the self is its own friend; and the self is its own enemy.
For him whose self (ego) has been conquered by the Self (soul), the Self is the friend of the self; but verily, the Self behaves inimically, as an enemy, toward the self that is not subdued. [—Commentary]
Alternative translation:
The mind acts like an enemy for those who do not control it.
VI:7
The tranquil sage, victorious over the self (ego), is ever fully established in the Supreme Self (Spirit), whether he encounter cold or heat, pleasure or pain, praise or blame.
VI:9
He is a supreme yogi who regards with equal-mindedness all men—patrons, friends, enemies, strangers, mediators, hateful beings, relatives, the virtuous and the ungodly. [—Commentary]
Meditation
VI:10
Free from ever-hoping desires and from cravings for possessions, with the heart (waves of feeling) controlled by the soul (by yoga concentration), retiring alone to a quiet place, the yogi should constantly try to unite with the soul. [—Commentary]
VI:11
The yogi's seat, in a clean place, should be firm (not wobbly), neither too high nor too low, and covered, first, with kusha grass, then with a deer or tiger skin, then with a cloth. [—Commentary]
Concentration
VI:12
Established on that seat, concentrating the mind on one point, and controlling the activities of the fanciful faculty (chitta, feeling — the power that visualizes) and the senses, let him practice yoga for self-purification. [—Commentary]
Key to meditation:
concentrating at point between the eyebrows
VI:13
Firmly holding the spine, neck, and head erect and motionless, let the yogi focus his eyes at the starting place of the nose (the spot between the two eyebrows); let him not gaze around in various directions. [—Commentary]
AUM (OM)
VI:14-15
With serenity and fearlessness, with steadfastness in brahmacharya, with the mind controlled, with the thoughts centered on Me, the yogi should sit, meditating on Me as the Final Goal. [—Commentary]
The self-governed yogi — he whose mind is fully under control — thus engaging his soul in ceaseless meditative union with Spirit, attains the peace of My being: the final Nirvana (deliverance).
Control of the Mind
VI:19-23
The illustration of an unflickering flame of light in a mindless spot may be used in reference to a yogi who has conquered his feeling (chitta) by the practice of meditation on the Self.
The state of complete tranquility of the feeling (chitta), attained by yoga meditation, in which the self (ego) perceives itself as the Self (soul) and is content (fixed) in the Self;
The state in which the sense-transcendent immeasurable bliss becomes known to the awakened intuitive intelligence, and in which the yogi remains enthroned, never again to be removed;
The state that, once found, the yogi considers as the treasure beyond all other treasures—anchored therein, he is immune to even the mightiest grief;
That state is known as yoga - the pain-free state. The practice of yoga is therefore to be observed resolutely and with a stout heart. [—Commentary]
VI:24-28
Relinquish without exception all longings born of sankalpas (plannings), and completely control, sheerly with the mind, the sensory organs, the sensory powers, and their contact with the ubiquitous sense objects.
With the intuitive discrimination saturated in patience, with the mind absorbed in the soul, the yogi, freeing his mind from all thoughts, will by slow degrees attain tranquility.
Whenever the fickle and restless mind wanders away —for whatever reason—let the yogi withdraw it from those distractions and return it to the sole control of the Self.
The yogi who has completely calmed the mind and controlled the passions and freed them from all impurities, and who is one with Spirit—verily, he has attained supreme blessedness.
The yogi, free from all impurities, ceaselessly engaging the Self thus in the activity of yoga (divine union), readily attains the blessedness of continuous mergence in Spirit. With the soul united to Spirit by yoga, with a vision of equality for all things, the yogi beholds his Self (Spirit-united) in all creatures and all creatures in the Spirit. [—Commentary]
"I See Myself in Everyone and Everyone in Myself"
VI:29
With the soul united to Spirit by yoga, with a vision of equality for all things, the yogi beholds his Self (Spirit-united) in all creatures and all creatures in the Spirit.
Alternative translation:
"He who sees everyone in himself, and himself in everyone, thus seeing the same God living in all, he, the sage, no more kills the Self by the self."
"God Has Become Myself"
VI:30
He who perceives Me everywhere and beholds everything in Me never loses sight of Me, nor do I ever lose sight of him. [—Commentary]
All Beings are Manifestation of God
VI:31
That yogi stays forever in Me, who, anchored in divine unity whatever his mode of existence, realizes Me as pervading all beings. [—Commentary]
Control of the Mind
VI:34
Verily, the mind is unsteady, tumultuous, powerful, obstinate! O Krishna, I consider the mind as difficult to master as the wind! [—Commentary]
VI:35-36
The blessed Lord said:
(35) O Mahabaho ("mighty-armed" Atjuna), undoubtedly the mind is fickle and unruly; but by yoga practice and by dispassion, O Son of Kunti (Arjuna), the mind may nevertheless be controlled.
(36) This is My word: Yoga is difficult of attainment by the ungoverned man; but he who is self-controlled will, by striving through proper methods, be able to achieve it. [—Commentary]
VI:46
The yogi is deemed greater than body-disciplining ascetics, greater even than the followers of the path of wisdom or of the path of action; be thou, O Arjuna, a yogi! [—Commentary]
VI:47
He who with devotion absorbs himself in Me, with his soul immersed in Me, him I regard, among all classes of yogis, as the most equilibrated. [—Commentary]
