Shrimad Bhagavad Gita · 47 verses
Chapter 6: The Yoga of Meditation
The practice of meditation: solitude, the right posture and control of the mind. The mind is both friend and enemy, and is mastered through practice and detachment.
All verses, with meaning
6.1True renunciate and yogiKrishna says: One who does the work that ought to be done without depending on its fruit i…6.2Renunciation is yogaWhat people call renunciation, know that to be yoga, Arjuna. No one becomes a yogi without…6.3Climbing to yogaFor the seeker who wishes to climb to yoga, action is said to be the means. For one who ha…6.4Sign of one established in yogaWhen a person is attached neither to sense objects nor to actions, and has given up all se…6.5Your mind is your friend and your enemyLift yourself by your own effort and do not let yourself sink; your own mind is your frien…6.6Mind as friend or foeFor one who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best friend. For one who has not, that…6.7Same in honour and insultFor one who has mastered himself and is at peace, the mind stays fixed on the Supreme in c…6.8Earth and gold alikeThe yogi content with knowledge and realisation, unshakeable, master of the senses, to who…6.9Even-minded towards allOne who has an equal mind towards well-wishers, friends, enemies, the neutral, mediators, …6.10Practice in solitudeA yogi should constantly unite the mind with the Self, staying alone in a quiet place, wit…6.11The meditation seatIn a clean place he should set up a firm seat for himself, neither too high nor too low, c…6.12One-pointed mindSitting on that seat, making the mind one-pointed and controlling the workings of mind and…6.13Straight and stillHolding body, head and neck straight and still, he should gaze at the tip of his nose with…6.14Mind fixed on GodCalm and fearless, firm in the vow of self-restraint, controlling the mind, he should sit …6.15Supreme peaceConstantly uniting himself in this way, with a disciplined mind, the yogi reaches the supr…6.16Avoid extremesYoga is not for one who eats too much or does not eat at all, Arjuna, nor for one who slee…6.17The balanced lifeFor one who is balanced in eating and recreation, measured in work, and regular in sleep a…6.18Mind resting in the SelfWhen the disciplined mind rests in the Self alone, free from craving for any desire, then …6.19Lamp in a windless placeAs a lamp in a windless place does not flicker — that is the image used for the controlled…6.20Content in the SelfWhen the mind, restrained by the practice of yoga, becomes still, and one sees the Self by…6.21Joy beyond the senses— where he knows that boundless joy, beyond the senses and grasped by the pure intellect, …6.22The greatest gain— having gained which he thinks no other gain greater, and established in which he is not …6.23Yoga is freedom from sorrow— know that to be yoga: freedom from all contact with sorrow. This yoga should be practise…6.24Letting go of desiresGiving up completely all desires born of mental intentions, and restraining the whole grou…6.25Stillness, step by step— little by little, with an intellect held by patience, he should become still. Settling t…6.26Bringing the mind backWherever the restless, unsteady mind wanders, he should draw it back from there and bring …6.27The highest joySupreme joy comes to the yogi whose mind is fully calm, whose restlessness has settled, wh…6.28Touch of BrahmanConstantly practising in this way, the yogi free of sin easily enjoys the boundless joy of…6.29One Self in allOne united in yoga, seeing equally everywhere, sees the Self in all beings and all beings …6.30Never apart from GodOne who sees me everywhere and sees everything in me — I am never lost to him, and he is n…6.31Worshipping God in allThe yogi who, rooted in oneness, worships me as dwelling in all beings, lives in me, howev…6.32Others' pain as one's ownArjuna, the yogi who judges the joy and sorrow of all by comparing them to his own is cons…6.33Arjuna's doubtArjuna says: Krishna, this yoga of evenness you have taught — I don't see how it can last,…6.34Mind like the windThe mind is restless, Krishna — turbulent, strong and stubborn. Controlling it seems to me…6.35Practice and detachmentKrishna says: No doubt, mighty-armed one, the mind is restless and hard to control. But it…6.36Yoga by right effortIn my view, yoga is hard to reach for one whose mind is uncontrolled. But one who controls…6.37What of the unfinished seeker?Arjuna asks: Krishna, what becomes of one who has faith but does not strive enough, whose …6.38Like a scattered cloud?Fallen from both sides, without support and lost on the path to Brahman, does he not peris…6.39Remove my doubtKrishna, please remove this doubt of mine completely. No one but you can dispel it.6.40No loss for the goodKrishna says: Partha, there is no ruin for him, neither in this world nor the next. For no…6.41Born in a good homeThe one who fell from yoga reaches the worlds of the virtuous, lives there for countless y…6.42Born among yogisOr he is born in a family of wise yogis. Such a birth is very rare in this world.6.43Past progress returnsThere he regains the understanding gained in his previous body, and strives even harder fo…6.44Pulled by past practiceBy that earlier practice he is drawn on, almost in spite of himself. Even one who merely s…6.45Perfection over many livesThe yogi who strives with diligence, cleansed of sin and perfected over many births, final…6.46Be a yogiThe yogi is greater than ascetics, greater than the merely learned, and greater than those…6.47The devotee is the best yogiOf all yogis, the one who worships me with faith, his inner self absorbed in me, I conside…