Gita Satsang - Chapter 6 : Verses 10-15 - Wed. Mar. 28, 2001

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Namaste,

 

mat chittaaH mat gata-praaNaaH bodhayantaH parasparam.h .

kathayantaH cha maa.n nitya.n tushhyanti cha ramanti cha ..

 

shriimad-bhagavad-giitaa 10:9

 

'With their thought on Me, with their life absorbed in Me,

instructing each other, and ever speaking of Me,

they are content and delighted.'

Ch.10:v.9.

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atha shhashhTho.adhyaayaH . Chapter 6 : Verses 10-15

[with Shankara-Bhashya, tr. Sw.Gambhirananda]

 

dhyaana-yogaH. The Yoga of Meditation

 

Therefore, to acquire this excellent result-

 

yogii yu~njiita satatam aatmaana.n rahasi sthitaH .

ekaakii yata-chitta-aatmaa niraashiiH aparigrahaH .. 10..

 

10. A yogi should constantly concentrate his mind by staying in a

solitary place, alone, with mind and body controlled, free from

expectations, (and) free from acquisition.

 

A yogi, a man of meditation; satatam yu~njiita, should constantly

concentrate; aatmaanam, his mind; sthitah, by staying; rahasi, in a

solitary place, in mountain caves etc.; ekaakii, alone, without any

companion; yata-citta-aatmaa, with mind and body controlled;

niraashiiH, without expectations, free from hankering; and

aparigrahaH, free from acquisition.

>From the use of the qualifying words, 'in a solitary place'

and 'alone', it follows that (he has to undertake all these) after

espousing monasticism. And even after renunciation, he should

concentrate his mind by desisting from all acquisition. This is the

meaning.

 

Now then have to be stated the rules regarding seat, food, movements,

etc. as disciplines for yoga in the case of one practising

concentration; as also the signs of one who has succeeded in Yoga,

and the consequent result etc. Hence this is begun. Among these,

the seat is being first spoken of:

 

shuchau deshe pratishhThaapya sthiram aasanam aatmanaH .

na ati uchchhrita.n na ati niicha.n chaila-ajina-kusha-uttaram.h ..

11..

 

11. Having firmly established in a clean place his seat, neither too

high nor too low, and made of cloth, skin and kusha-grass, placed

successively one below the other;

 

tatra ekaagraM manaH kR^itvaa yata-chitta-indriya-kriyaaH .

upavishya aasane yu~njyaat yogam aatma-vishuddhaye .. 12..

 

12. (and) sitting on that seat, he should concentrate his mind for

the purification of the internal organ, making the mind one-pointed

and keeping the actions of the mind and senses under control.

 

pratishhthaapya, having established; sthiram, firmly; shuchau, in a

clean; deshe, place, which is solitary, either naturally or through

improvement; aatmanaH, his own; aasanam, seat; na ati uchchhritam,

neither too high; na ati niicham, nor even too low; and that made of

chaila-ajina-kusha-uttaram, cloth, skin, and kusha-grass, placed

successively one below the other-the successive arrangement of cloth

etc. here is in a reverse order to that of the textual reading-.

 

What follows after thus establishing the seat?

 

upavishya, sitting; tatra, on that; aasane, seat; yogam yu~njyaat,

he should concentrate his mind. To what purpose should he

concentrate his mind? In answer the Lord says: aatma-vishuddhaye,

for the purification of the internal organ. How? kR^itvaa, making;

manaH, the mind; ekaagram, one-pointed, by withdrawing it from all

objects; and yata-chitta-indriya-kriyaaH, keeping the actions

(kriyaaH) of the mind (chitta) and senses (indriya) under control

(yata).

 

The external seat has been spoken of. Now is being stated how the

posture of the body should be:

 

sama.n kaaya-shiro-griiva.n dhaarayan achala.n sthiraH .

saMprekshya naasika-agraM sva.n dishaH cha anavalokayan.h .. 13..

 

13. Holding the body, head and neck erect and still, being steady,

looking at the tip of his own nose-and not looking around;

 

prashaanta-aatmaa vigata-bhiiH brahmachaari-vrate sthitaH .

manaH sa.nyamya machchittaH yukta aasiita matparaH .. 14..

 

14. He should remain seated with a placid mind, free from fear, firm

in the vow of a celibate, and with the mind fixed on Me by

controlling it through concentration, having Me as the supreme Goal.

 

dhaarayan, holding; kaaya-shiro-griivam, the body (torso), head and

neck; samam, erect; and achalam, still- movement is possible for one

(even while) holding these erect; therefore it is specified, 'still'-

; sthiraH, being steady, i.e. remaining steady; sampreksya, looking

svam naasikaagram, at tip of his own nose -looking at it intently,

as it were; ca, and; anavalokayan, not looking; dishaH, around, i.e.

not glancing now and then in various directions. The words 'as it

were' are to be understood because what is intended here is not an

injunction for looking at the tip of one's own nose! What then? It

is the fixing the gaze of the eyes by withdrawing it from external

objects; and that is enjoined with a view to concentrating the mind.

[What is sought to be presented here as the primary objective is the

concentration of mind. If the gaze be directed outward, then it will

result in interrupting that concentration. Therefore the purpose is

to first fix the gaze of the eyes within.] If the intention were

merely the looking at the tip of the nose, then the mind would remain

fixed there itself, not on the Self! In, 'Making the mind fixed in

the Self' (25), the Lord will speak of concentrating the mind verily

on the Self. Therefore, owing to the missing word iva (as it were),

it is merely the withdrawal of the gaze that is implied by sampreksya

(looking).

 

Further, prashaanta-aatmaa, with a placid mind, with a mind

completely at peace; vigata-bhiiH, free from fear; sthitah, firm;

brahmacari-vrate, in the vow of a celibate, the vow cosisting in

serivce of the teacher, eating food got by begging, etc.-firm in

that, i.e. he should follow these; besides, mat-chittaH, with the

mind fixed on Me who am the supreme God; sa.nyamya, by controlling;

manaH, the mind, i.e. by stopping the modifications of the mind;

yuktaH, through concentration, i.e. by becoming concentrated;

aasiita, he should remain seated; mat-paraH, with Me as the supreme

Goal. Some passionate person may have his mind on a woman, but he

does not accept the woman as his supreme Goal. What then? He

accepts the king or Siva as his goal. But this one (the yogi) not

only has his mind on Me but has Me as his Goal.

 

After that, now is being stated the result of Yoga:

 

yu~njan eva.n sadaa-aatmaana.n yogii niyata-maanasaH .

shaanti.n nirvaaNa-paramaaM mat-sa.nsthaam adhigachchhati .. 15..

 

15. Concentrating the mind thus for ever, the yogi of controlled mind

achieves the Peace which culminates in Liberation and which abides in

Me.

 

yu~njan, concentrating; aatmaanam, the mind; evam, thus, according to

the methods shown above; sadaa, for ever; the yogii, niyata-maanasaH,

of controlled mind; adhi-gacchati, achieves; shaantim, the Peace, the

indifference to worldly attachments and possessions; nirvaaNa-

paramam, which culminates in Liberation; and mat-sa.nstham, which

abides in Me.

 

 

 

Now are being mentioned the rules about the yogi's food etc.:

 

[to be cotd.

 

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For Gita Dhyana Shlokas/Mantras and Mahatmya

/message/advaitin/6987

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Adi Shankara's commentary, translated by Swami Gambhirananda, at URL:

[kindly supplied by Madhava-ji]

advaitinGita/Shankara1/gmbCH6.htm

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Swami Chinmayananda's commentary at URL:

[kindly supplied by Ram-ji]

advaitinGita/Chinmaya/COMM6.HTM