Samādhi

Bhagavad-Gita Sixth Chapter

The Path of Yoga: 

 Meditation and Practice

by Michael Dolan/B.V. Mahayogi

There may be some objection to my feeble attempts to do justice to the meaning of the Bhagavad-Gita. I am not a great Sanskrit scholar. Nor am I an enlightened being. I make no pretension of being a "Guru" or spiritual master. And yet, I have studied the Bhagavad-Gita for over 50 years now. I studied at the feet of Bhaktivedānta Swāmi as his disciple and later after his passing I studied at the feet of B.R. Shridhar Swami.

In his book on Surrender, Prapanna-Jivanāmṛtam, Shridhar Maharaja appeals to the reader, pointing out that while there may be some imperfections in his work, the sincere souls will find something worthwhile:

“Despite my disqualifications, for the satisfaction of the pure devotees I have compiled in this book an anthology of stanzas that are well established by our predecessors." He quotes the Bhagavatam as evidence: तद्वाग्विसर्गो जनताघविप्लवो यस्मिन्प्रतिश्लोकमबद्धवत्यपि। नामान्यनन्तस्य यशोऽङ्कितानि यच् छृण्वन्ति गायन्ति गृणन्ति साधवः ॥६॥ भाः १।५।११

“tad-vāg-visargo janatāgha-viplavo yasmin prati-ślokam abaddhavaty api nāmāny anantasya yaśo ’ṅkitāni yach chhṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ [6] (SB: 1.5.11) “Even if every stanza is imperfectly composed, the sins of the people are totally vanquished by those expressions or books in which the glorious Holy Names of the Infinite Supreme Lord are described..."

Rupa Goswāmī himself echoes this in his Śrī-Rūpapādānāṁ. अभिव्यक्ता मत्तः प्रकृतिलघुरूपादपि बुधा विधात्री सिद्धार्थान्हरिगुणमयी वः कृतिरियम्। पुलिन्देनाप्यग्निः किमु समिधमुन्मथ्य जनितो हिरण्यश्रेणीनामपहरति नान्तःकलुषताम् ॥७॥ श्रीरूपपादानां

abhivyaktā mattaḥ prakṛti-laghu-rūpād api budhā vidhātrī siddhārthān hari-guṇamayī vaḥ kṛtir iyam pulindenāpy agniḥ kim u samidham unmathya janito hiraṇya-śreṇīnām apaharati nāntaḥ kaluṣatām [7] (Śrī-Rūpapādānāṁ) “O learned personalities, this treatise, composed of the divine qualities of Lord Hari, will fulfill your cherished wishes despite the fact that it is presented by me, a very insignificant person. Does not the fire ignited from pieces of wood rubbed together by a low-born barbarian dissipate the impurities in gold?”

“As Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmipād has (in his humility) expressed that gold can be purified with fire lit by a barbarian, similarly, the pure devotees’ grief born of their separation from the Lord may also be dispelled by this book (which will light the lamp of their divine love for the Lord).” [Excerpt From: Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. “Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam.”]

In the spirit of my spiritual preceptor and divine guardian, I humbly offer this attempt to communicate the ideas of the Bhagavad-Gita. I am sure that if there is anything imperfect, the sincere souls will overlook the imperfections. After all, a honeybee can sip nectar even from thorny flowers.

We continue our summary of the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita from the 20th Verse:

यत्रोपरमते चित्तं निरुद्धं योगसेवया

यत्र चैवात्मनात्मानं पश्यन्न् आत्मनि तुष्यति ६.२०

yatroparamate cittaṃ niruddhaṃ yogasevayā

yatra caivātmanātmānaṃ paśyann ātmani tuṣyati 6.20

It is important to remember that as Krishna goes through the different paths to realization, from sacrifice to karma to knowledge to renunciation to eight-fold yoga, He is really re-stating the same argument: dedication to God is the best path. He will re-iterate this again and again. Sometimes dedication is masked as sacrifice; at times it is embedded in reflection. But the inner purport is surrender and dedication to divinity as developed through bhakti. This will become more clear in later chapters.

Having said that, the sixth chapter is about yoga specifically. But there is a caveat here as well. It seems that yoga is a technique. By practicing this technique, we get something. We do yoga and the result is physical: a finely tuned body and mind. This is a materialistic take on the benefits of yoga. In a deeper sense, yoga is a path to divinity. We cannot force our way into the higher domain. We shall enter that domain only through His mercy. So, following rules and practicing a technique may be conducive to a higher spiritual state; but in the end that higher spiritual state is merely a pathway towards accepting His mercy. We practice yoga in order to be open to His mercy. Our minds at present are closed. We operate in a materialistic sphere with the mentality of exploitation. The practice of yoga should be a means to fine-tune our body and mind that we can be open to real spiritual life in surrender and dedication. This is the highest yoga as Krishna explains at the end of the chapter. And the idea of surrender and divine love is emphasized throughout this entire discourse. There is no heresy here. The message of the Gita is universal. Christians may see this as a call to dedication, to follow in the footsteps of Christ by developing love of God through inner peace.

The purpose of eightfold yoga path is this. By following rules, relaxing our breathing, and holding spiritual knowledge in mind gradually one enters into a constant state of grace. This stage is called samādhi.

Samādhi is attained through constant meditation. In this state, one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. One becomes sensitive to the prospect of surrender. Samādhi is characterized by one's ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self. The mind achieves peace through freedom from materialistic obsessions. Gradually the yogi discovers God within. Above and beyond our own individual spirituality there is a higher Consciousness: The Lord within the heart or the Supersoul, called “Paramatma.” In samādhi one experiences a constant perception of God Within. In this state of spiritual enlightenment, one feels transcendentally ecstatic. Such joy is never materialistic.

If the nature of the soul is to be conscious and eternal, (sat, chit) the real food of the soul is happiness (ananda.) In the joyful state of samādhi, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness. Once enlightened, one never deviates from this reality, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position through the daily practice of meditation, one cannot be moved, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. The inner perception of Godhead, being able to perceive God Within, even while experiencing one’s self as eternal blissful consciousness is real yoga.

This yoga frees one from all material miseries and so should be practiced with determination and faith. There may be setbacks on the path but one should continue with perserverance.

In the same way, one should give up material desires born of false ego control the senses by keeping the mind peaceful in blissful knowledge. Through higher intelligence and peaceful mind one should become fixed in samādhi by following these steps. In this way the mind becomes absorbed in meditation upon the Supreme. The mind is unsteady. But wherever the mind wanders, the yogi brings it back under the control of the Self in concert with the Supreme Self.

The joy of self-realization thus becomes available to such a yogi who is freed from material passions. Freed from attachment, fear and anger, the heart pacified, this yogi becomes situated in the divine nature.

Thus engaged in yoga practice, always fixed in the Atma, being freed from all material contamination, the yogi achieves the highest perfectional stage of happiness in touch with the Supreme Consciousness.

यत्रोपरमते चित्तं निरुद्धं योगसेवया

यत्र चैवात्मनात्मानं पश्यन्न् आत्मनि तुष्यति ६.२०

सुखम् आत्यन्तिकं यत् तद् बुद्धिग्राह्यम्

अतीन्द्रियम्

वेत्ति यत्र न चैवायं स्थितश् चलति तत्त्वतः ६.२१

यं लब्ध्वा चापरं लाभं मन्यते नाधिकं

ततः

यस्मिन् स्थितो न दुःखेन गुरुणापि विचाल्यते ६.२२

तं विद्याद्.ह् दुःखसंयोगवियोगं योगसंज्ञितम्

स निश्चयेन योक्तव्यो योगोनिर्विण्णचेतसा ६.२३

सङ्कल्पप्रभवान् कामांस् त्यक्त्वा सर्वान् अशेषतः

मनसैवेन्द्रियग्रामं विनियम्य समन्ततः ६.२४

शनैः शनैर् उपरमेद् बुद्ध्या धृतिगृहीतया

आत्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किंचिद् अपि चिन्तयेत्

६.२५

यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश् चञ्चलम् अस्थिरम्

ततस् ततो नियम्यैतद् आत्मन्य् एव वशं नयेत् ६.२६

प्रशान्तमनसं ह्य् एनं योगिनं सुखम् उत्तमम्

उपैति शान्तरजसं ब्रह्मभूतम् अकल्मषम् ६.२७

युञ्जन्न् एवं सदात्मानं योगी विगतकल्मषः

सुखेन ब्रह्मसंस्पर्शम् अत्यन्तं सुखम् अश्नुते

६.२८


yatroparamate cittaṃ niruddhaṃ yogasevayā
yatra caivātmanātmānaṃ paśyann ātmani tuṣyati 6.20

sukham ātyantikaṃ yat tad buddhigrāhyam
atīndriyam
vetti yatra na caivāyaṃ sthitaś calati tattvataḥ 6.21

yaṃ labdhvā cāparaṃ lābhaṃ manyate nādhikaṃ
tataḥ
yasmin sthito na duḥkhena guruṇāpi vicālyate 6.22

taṃ vidyād.h duḥkhasaṃyogaviyogaṃ yogasaṃjñitam
sa niścayena yoktavyo yogonirviṇṇacetasā 6.23

saṅkalpaprabhavān kāmāṃs tyaktvā sarvān aśeṣataḥ
manasaivendriyagrāmaṃ viniyamya samantataḥ 6.24

śanaiḥ śanair uparamed buddhyā dhṛtigṛhītayā
ātmasaṃsthaṃ manaḥ kṛtvā na kiṃcid api cintayet
6.25

yato yato niścarati manaś cañcalam asthiram
tatas tato niyamyaitad ātmany eva vaśaṃ nayet 6.26

praśāntamanasaṃ hy enaṃ yoginaṃ sukham uttamam
upaiti śāntarajasaṃ brahmabhūtam akalmaṣam 6.27

yuñjann evaṃ sadātmānaṃ yogī vigatakalmaṣaḥ
sukhena brahmasaṃsparśam atyantaṃ sukham aśnute
6.28