Dhyāna Yoga

One who performs their prescribed duty without depending on the fruits of action is a true sannyasi and yogi, not one who has merely renounced the sacred fire or ceased all activity.

What is called renunciation, know that to be yoga, O Pandava. For no one becomes a yogi without renouncing the desire for sense gratification.

For one who is a neophyte in yoga, action is said to be the means; for one who has already attained yoga, cessation of all material activities is said to be the means.

When a person is not attached to sense objects or to actions, having renounced all desires, that person is said to have attained yoga.

One must elevate oneself by one's own mind, not degrade oneself. The mind alone is the friend of the self, and the mind alone is the enemy of the self.

For one who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, the mind remains the greatest enemy.

For one who has conquered the mind, the Supreme Self is already reached, being equipoised in cold and heat, happiness and distress, honor and dishonor.

A yogi is said to be established in self-realization when satisfied with knowledge and realized wisdom, remaining immovable, having conquered the senses, and seeing a lump of earth, a stone, and gold as equal.

One who is equal-minded toward well-wishers, friends, enemies, the indifferent, the neutral, the hateful, relatives, the pious, and the sinful - such a person excels.

The yogi should constantly engage the mind in meditation, residing in a secluded place, alone, with mind and body controlled, free from desires and possessiveness.

In a clean place, having established a firm seat for oneself, neither too high nor too low, covered with cloth, deerskin, and kusha grass -

Seated there on the seat, making the mind one-pointed, controlling the activities of the mind and senses, one should practice yoga for self-purification.

Holding the body, head, and neck erect, steady and still, gazing at the tip of one's nose without looking in any other direction -

Serene-minded, fearless, firm in the vow of celibacy, controlling the mind, with thoughts fixed on Me - the yogi should sit, devoted to Me as the supreme goal.

Thus constantly keeping the mind absorbed in Me, the yogi of disciplined mind attains the supreme peace of nirvana that abides in Me.

Yoga is not possible for one who eats too much or too little, nor for one who sleeps too much or stays awake too long, O Arjuna.

For one who is moderate in eating and recreation, balanced in effort during work, and regulated in sleep and wakefulness - yoga becomes the destroyer of all suffering.

When the disciplined mind rests in the Self alone, free from longing for all desires - then one is said to be established in yoga.

As a lamp in a windless place does not flicker - such is the simile used for the yogi of controlled mind, practicing meditation on the Self.

Where the mind, restrained by the practice of yoga, ceases its movements; where, seeing the Self by the self, one is satisfied in the Self alone -

Where one experiences that infinite happiness which is grasped by the purified intellect and is beyond the senses - established there, one never departs from the truth.

Having gained which, one considers no other gain to be greater; established in which, one is not shaken even by the heaviest sorrow.

Let that be known as yoga - the disconnection from union with suffering. This yoga must be practiced with determination and an undaunted mind.

Completely abandoning all desires born of mental imagination, and fully restraining the group of senses from all sides by the mind alone -

Gradually, step by step, one should become situated in tranquility by means of intelligence sustained by conviction. Having fixed the mind on the Self, one should not think of anything else.

Wherever the restless and unsteady mind wanders, one should bring it back and fix it under the control of the Self alone.

Supreme happiness comes to the yogi whose mind is peaceful, whose passions are quieted, who is free from sin, and who has become one with Brahman.

Thus constantly engaging the self in yoga, the yogi freed from all contamination easily attains the infinite bliss of contact with Brahman.

One whose self is united in yoga sees the Self abiding in all beings and all beings in the Self, seeing the same everywhere.

One who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me - I am never lost to such a person, nor is that person ever lost to Me.

The yogi who, established in oneness, worships Me dwelling in all beings - that yogi abides in Me, regardless of their external circumstances.

One who sees the happiness and suffering of all beings as equal to one's own, through comparison with oneself - that yogi is considered the highest, O Arjuna.

Undoubtedly, O mighty-armed one, the mind is restless and difficult to control. But it can be controlled through practice and detachment, O son of Kunti.

For one whose mind is uncontrolled, yoga is difficult to attain - this is My opinion. But for one who strives with a controlled mind, it is achievable through proper means.

O Partha, there is no destruction for such a person either in this world or the next. No one who does good, My dear friend, ever comes to an evil end.

The unsuccessful yogi, after enjoying the higher planets of the righteous for many years, takes birth in the home of the pure and prosperous.

Or, the unsuccessful yogi takes birth in a family of wise yogis. Such a birth is very rare in this world.

There, one regains the spiritual consciousness from the previous life and strives again for perfection, O descendant of Kuru.

By virtue of previous practice, one is irresistibly drawn toward yoga. Even one who merely inquires about yoga transcends the ritualistic principles of the Vedas.

The yogi who strives with great effort, purified of all sins, perfected through many births, then attains the supreme destination.

The yogi is greater than the ascetic, greater even than the learned scholar, and greater than the ritualistic worker. Therefore, be a yogi, O Arjuna.

Of all yogis, one who worships Me with faith, with the inner self absorbed in Me - that one I consider the most intimately united with Me and the highest of all.