Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 6
The Yoga of Self-Mastery
47 verses · Krishna teaches meditation, mental discipline, and the practice of maintaining equanimity through self-control.
Chapter 6
आत्मसंयमयोग
Ātma Saṁyama Yoga
6.1
The Blessed Lord said: One who performs prescribed duties without depending on the fruits…
6.2
What they call renunciation, know that to be yoga, O son of Pandu
6.3
For a sage who wishes to ascend to yoga, selfless action is said to be the means
6.4
When one is no longer attached to sense objects or to actions, having renounced all…
6.5
One must elevate oneself by one's own self; one should never degrade oneself
6.6
For one who has conquered the self by the self, the self is a friend
6.7
For one who has conquered the self and is serene, the Supreme Self is already established…
6.8
The yogi who is satisfied with knowledge and realized wisdom, who is unwavering and…
6.9
One who is even-minded toward well-wishers, friends, enemies, the neutral, mediators, the…
6.10
The yogi should constantly engage the mind in meditation, sitting in a secluded place,…
6.11
In a clean place, having established a firm seat for oneself — neither too high nor too…
6.12
Sitting on that seat, making the mind one-pointed by controlling the thoughts, senses,…
6.13
Holding the body, head, and neck erect and still, gazing at the tip of one's own nose,…
6.14
Serene-minded, free from fear, established in the vow of celibacy, controlling the mind,…
6.15
Thus, the yogi who constantly unites the mind with the Self, with a disciplined mind,…
6.16
Yoga is not for one who eats too much or too little, nor for one who sleeps too much or…
6.17
For one who is moderate in eating and recreation, moderate in effort at work, moderate in…
6.18
When the perfectly disciplined mind rests in the Self alone, free from longing for all…
6.19
Just as a lamp in a windless place does not flicker — that is the simile used for the…
6.20
Where the mind, restrained by the practice of yoga, comes to rest; where, seeing the Self…
6.21
Where one experiences infinite happiness that is beyond the senses but perceived by the…
6.22
Having gained which, one considers no other gain to be greater; established in which, one…
6.23
Let that be known as yoga — the severance of union with suffering
6.24
Abandoning all desires born of mental resolve, completely restraining the group of senses…
6.25
Gradually, step by step, one should attain tranquility with the intellect held firm by…
6.26
Wherever the restless and unsteady mind wanders, one should bring it back and direct it…
6.27
Supreme happiness comes to the yogi whose mind is peaceful, whose passions are quieted,…
6.28
Thus constantly uniting the self with the Supreme, the yogi, freed from sin, easily…
6.29
The one who is united in yoga sees the Self in all beings and all beings in the Self —…
6.30
One who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me — I am never lost to such a person,…
6.31
The yogi who, established in oneness, worships Me dwelling in all beings — that yogi,…
6.32
The yogi who, by comparison with oneself, sees equality everywhere — whether in happiness…
6.33
Arjuna said: O Madhusudana, this yoga of equanimity that You have described — I do not…
6.34
The mind is indeed restless, O Krishna — turbulent, powerful, and obstinate
6.35
The Blessed Lord said: Undoubtedly, O mighty-armed one, the mind is restless and…
6.36
Yoga is difficult to attain for one whose mind is uncontrolled, in My opinion
6.37
Arjuna said: What happens to the person who has faith but lacks self-control — whose mind…
6.38
Does such a person, fallen from both paths, not perish like a torn cloud — without…
6.39
O Krishna, please dispel this doubt of mine completely
6.40
The Blessed Lord said: O Partha, neither in this world nor the next is there destruction…
6.41
Having attained the worlds of the righteous and lived there for many years, the one who…
6.42
Or, the unsuccessful yogi may be born into a family of wise yogis
6.43
There, that person regains the spiritual wisdom from the previous body and strives again…
6.44
By that previous practice alone, one is involuntarily drawn toward yoga
6.45
But the yogi who strives with great effort, purified of sins, perfected through many…
6.46
The yogi is considered superior to ascetics, superior even to scholars, and superior to…
6.47
And of all yogis, the one who worships Me with great faith, with the inner self absorbed…