Bhagavad Gita Summary - Book 6- Dhyana Yoga or The Yoga of Meditation

Chapter 6 deals with meditation practice, and consistent with the previous chapters,  it stresses that formal meditation alone, is not a central practice per se if there isn't a full integration of action, detachment, devotion and renunciation, fully internalized at a deep level. Certain commentaries divide the Gita into 3 parts, six chapters each; the first part being considered to be the essence of the teachings. Sometime in the future, we will have posts on the next two parts.

1- What is Yoga? (1-9)

Renunciation in action (Verses 1-2) 

1. He who, without depending on the fruits of action, performs his bounden duty, he is a Sannyasin and a Yogin : not he who is without fire and without action. 

Action is a stepping-stone to Dhyana-Yoga. (3)

3. For a devotee who wishes to attain to Yoga, action is said to be the means. For the same (devotee), when he has attained to Yoga, quiescence (sama) is said to be the means.

For a Brahmana there is no wealth equal to this, viz., (knowledge of) oneness and homogeneity (of Brahman in all creatures), truthfulness, character, steadiness, harmlessness, straightforwardness, and renunciation of the several actions."—(Santiparva, 175-38). (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901) 

Shastras have stated that a Sanyasi is a yogi because it is only when the desire goes that the essence of yoga is obtained. (Dnyaneshwari; 6:52-53, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

Duty and the final imperative — the "what ought I to do" — comes in here and becomes a part of the process. The actions to be performed are not any and every one. We are not to go on heedlessly and indiscriminately doing everything that is suggested. We must discover what actions ought to be performed by us and do them for that reason and not because of some result we expect to follow. The fact that we may be perfectly certain of the result is no reason for allowing our interest to fasten upon that. Here again is where certain theosophists think they have a great difficulty. They say that knowing the result one is sure to become interested in it. But this is the very task to be essayed — to so hold one's mind and desires as not to be attached to the result.

By pursuing this practice true meditation is begun and will soon become permanent. For one who watches his thoughts and acts, so as to perform those that ought to be done, will acquire a concentration in time which will increase the power of real meditation. It is not meditation to stare at a spot on the wall for a fixed period, or to remain for another space of time in a perfectly vacuous mental state which soon runs into sleep. All those things are merely forms which in the end will do no lasting good. But many students have run after these follies, ignoring the true way. The truth is that the right method is not easy; it requires thought and mental effort, with persistency and faith. Staring at spots and such miscalled occult practices are very easy in comparison with the former. (William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, 6, 3)

Who is a Yogin ? (4-9) 

4. When a man, renouncing all thoughts, is not attached to sense-objects and actions, then he is said to have attained to Yoga. 

When a Yogin, keeping the mind steadfast, feels no attachment for the objects of the senses such as sound, nor thinks that he has to do any action,—whether nitya (obligatory) or vaimittika (obligatory and incidental) or kamya (done with a motive) or pratishiddha (forbidden by law), — regarding it as of no use to him; and when he has learned to habitually renounce all thoughts which give rise to desires for objects of this world and of the next, then he is said to have become a Yogagriha, to be one who has attained to Yoga.—The words " renouncing all thoughts" imply that all desires as well as all actions should be renounced. For, all desires spring from thoughts, as the smrti says : 

" Verily desire springs from thought (samkalpa), and of thought yajnas are born."—(Manu ii. 2). 

" O Desire, I know where thy root lies. Thou art born of thought. I shall not think of thee, and thou shalt cease to exist as well as thy root,"—(Mahabharata, Santiparva, 177-25). (Sankara Commentary) 

5. Let a man raise himself by himself, let him not lower himself; for, he alone is the friend of himself, he alone is the enemy of himself. 

However, we are human and weak. As such we require help, for the outer self cannot succeed in the battle. So Krishna points out that the lower self is to be raised up by the help of the higher; that the lower is, as it were, the enemy of the higher, and we must not allow the worse to prevail. It will all depend upon self-mastery. The self below will continually drag down the man who is not self-conquered. This is because that lower one is so near the thick darkness that hangs about the lower rungs of evolution's ladder it is partly devil. Like a heavy weight it will drag into the depths the one who does not try to conquer himself. But on its other side the self is near to divinity, and when conquered it becomes the friend and helper of the conqueror. The Sufis, the Mohammedan mystical sect, symbolize this in their poetry relating to the beautiful woman who appears but for a moment at the window and then disappears. She refuses to open the door to her lover as long as he refers to their being separate; but when he recognizes their unity then she becomes his firm friend. (William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, 6, 5)

2- Directions for the practice of Yoga. (10-17)

11. Having in a cleanly spot established a firm seat, neither too high nor too low, with cloth, skin, and kusa grass thereon;

12. Making the mind one-pointed, with the actions of the mind and the senses controlled, let him, seated there on the seat, practise Yoga for the purification of the self.

13. Holding erect and still the body, head, and neck, firm, gazing on the tip of his nose, without looking around;

If, on the other hand, the very act of gazing on the tip of his nose were meant here, then the mind would be fixed only there, not on the Self. As a matter of fact, the Yogin is to concentrate his mind on the Self, as will be taught in vi. 25, ' Making the mind dwell in the Self.' Wherefore the words ' as it were ' being understood, ' gazing 'means here ' the fixing of the eye-sight within.' (Sankara Commentary) 

16. "Half (the stomach) for food and condiments, the third ((quarter) for water, and the fourth should be reserved for free motion of air." 

Arjuna, one rule of the yoga practice is that he who does not perform prescribed actions does not become worthy. One who is a slave to the pleasures of the tongue and of sleep does not have the right to practice yoga. Also, one who, out of obstinacy reduces his diet by suppressing his hunger and thirst and does not sleep properly cannot control his body. How can such a person succeed in yoga? Therefore one should not pamper the sense-pleasures but at the same time one should not totally abandon them also.

One should eat but it should be proper and in moderation. One should undertake only a limited number of tasks. One should talk only what is necessary, walk within limits and sleep at proper times only. Even if one has to stay awake for any reason, it should not be beyond some specific limit. By such regular routine the essential constituents of the body remain in balance. And when the senses are satisfied in proper proportions the mind also remains satisfied.  Once the external organs become regulated the internal happiness increases and the yoga is achieved even without practice. One who practices yoga by remaining regular and controlled in his habits experiences the Self. A person whose mind becomes steady and remains so until death, may be called a person who has achieved yoga. In this stage his mind may be compared to a flame in windless air. (Dnyaneshwari; 6:344-358, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

3- Being established in the Self (18-26) 

18. When the well-restrained thought is established in the Self only, without longing for any of the objects of desire, then he is said to be a Saint.

19. 'As a lamp in a sheltered spot does not flicker,'—this has been thought as the simile of a Yogin of subdued thought, practising Yoga in the Self.

25. Little by little let him withdraw, by reason (buddhi) held in firmness; keeping the mind established in the Self, let him not think of anything. 

He should make the mind constantly abide in the Self, bearing in mind that the Self is all and that nothing else exists. This ' is the highest form of Yoga. (Sankara Commentary) 

4- The effect of Dhyana-Yoga. (27-36)

29. The Self abiding in all beings, and all beings (abiding) in the Self, sees he whose self has been made steadfast by Yoga, who everywhere sees the same. 

He sees all beings—from Brahma, the Creator, down to a clump of grass—as one with the Self ; and in all the different beings—from Brahma, the Creator, down to inanimate objects—he sees the same ; i. e., he sees that the Self and Brahman (the Absolute) are one. (Sankara Commentary) 

30. He who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, to him I vanish not, nor to Me does he vanish. 

He who sees Me, Vasudeva, the Self of all, in all beings, and who sees Brahma, the Creator, and all other beings, in Me, the Self of all ;— when he has thus seen the unity of the Self, I—who am the Isvara—never leave his presence, nor does that wise man leave My presence ; for his Self and Mine are one, and one's own Self cannot but be manifest to oneself. (Sankara Commentary) 

32. Whoso, by comparison with himself, sees the same everywhere, O Arjuna, be it pleasure or pain, he is deemed the highest Yogin. 

He sees that whatever is pleasant to himself is pleasant to all creatures, and that whatever is painful to himself is painful to all beings. Thus seeing that what is pleasure or pain to himself is alike pleasure or pain to all beings, he causes pain to no being ; he is harmless. Doing no harm, and devoted to right knowledge, he is regarded as the highest among all Yogins.

If you are not able to do even this then listen further. One should fix the thought in one's mind that "I am in the body of every being and everything is in Me; that this universe and all living beings are interlinked." Needless to say that he who sees my presence in every being with the feeling of equality and does not harbour discrimination in his mind based on outwardly differences between them is undisputedly one with Me. By not being involved with its affairs he reaches my level through his experiencing of the Brahman even while he is in his body. He who has experienced my all-pervasive nature himself becomes all-pervasive. (Dnyaneshwari; 6:390-402, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

34. The mind verily, is, O Krishna, restless, turbulent, strong and obstinate. Thereof the restraint I deem quite as difficult as that of the wind. 

35. Doubtless, O mighty-armed, the mind is hard to restrain and restless ; but by practice, O son of Kunti, and by indifference it may be restrained.

Shri Krishna replied, "What you are saying is true. The mind is mercurial. But if one can turn it towards the practice of yoga observing dispassion, then it will become steady after some time. The mind has one good quality and that is, it develops a liking for a thing towards which gets attracted. Therefore one should make it to like the experience of the Self. Those who are not dispassionate and also do not practice yoga would find it impossible to control the mind. But if we do not at all bother about following the techniques of regulated behaviour (Yama- Niyama) and about dispassion, and instead get immersed in sense pleasures and thus do not conquer the mind then how can it become steady? Therefore let your actions be such as to control the mind and then we shall see how it does not become steady." (Dnyaneshwari; 6:418-424, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

The next few verses in the Gita outline that which is extremely difficult — equal-mindedness, and intentness upon the Supreme Being in heat and cold, pleasure and pain, success and failure. We cannot reach to this easily, perhaps not in many lives, but we can try. Every effort we make in that direction will be preserved in the inner nature and cannot be lost at death. It is a spiritual gain, the riches laid up in heaven to which Jesus referred. To describe the perfection of equal-mindedness is to picture an adept of the highest degree, one who has passed beyond all worldly considerations and lives on higher planes. Gold and stones are the same to him. The objects he seeks to accomplish are not to be reached through gold, and so it and the pebbles have the same value. He is also so calm and free from delusion of mind and soul that he remains the same whether with enemies or friends, with the righteous or the sinners.

This high condition is therefore set before us as an ideal to be slowly but steadfastly striven after so that in the course of time we may come near it. If we never begin we will never accomplish, and it is far better to adopt this high ideal, even though failing constantly, than to have no ideal whatever. But some are likely to make a mistake herein. Indeed they have done so. They set up the ideal, but in a too material and human manner. Then they thought to walk on the chosen path by outward observance, by pretending to regard gold and stones as the same to them, while in their hearts they preferred the gold. Their equal-mindedness they confined to other people's affairs, while they displeased and alarmed all relatives and friends by the manner of riding this hobby and by wrong neglect of obvious duty. Truly they sought for equal-mindedness, but failed to see that it can only be acquired through right performance of duty, and not by selecting the duties and environments that please us. (William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, 6, 27-36)

5- Failures in Yoga and the after-career. (37-47)

40. O Partha, neither in this world nor in the next is there destruction for him ; none, verily, who does good. My son, ever comes to grief. 

44. By that very former practice is he borne on, though unwilling. Even he who merely wishes to know of Yoga rises superior to the Word-Brahman.

The best of the Yogins. 45-47 

45. Verily, a Yogin who strives with assiduity, purified from sins and perfected in the course of many births, then reaches the Supreme Goal.

46. A Yogin is deemed superior to men of austerity, and superior to even men of knowledge he is also superior to men of action ; therefore be thou a Yogin, O Arjuna,

Knowledge of the teachings of the sastra. Action: such as Agnihotra, worship of the sacred fire. (Sankara Commentary) 

47. Of all Yogins, whoso, full of faith, worships Me with his inner self abiding in Me, he is deemed by Me as most devout.