Bhagavad Gita · 6.1 · Path of Meditation·1 of 47
श्री भगवानुवाच अनाश्रितः कर्मफलं कार्यं कर्म करोति यः।स संन्यासी च योगी च न निरग्निर्न चाक्रियः ॥
śhrī bhagavān uvācha anāśhritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma
karoti yaḥ sa sannyāsī cha yogī cha na niragnir na chākriyaḥ
Sanskrit recitation
Who is truly a yogi · 6.1–6.9 · Teaching
Translation
The Blessed Lord said: He who performs his bounden duty without depending on the fruits of his actions—he is a sannyasi and a yogi, not he who is without fire and without action.
Meaning
Actions such as Agnihotra, etc., performed without the expectation of their fruits purify the mind and become the means to Dhyana Yoga or the Yoga of Meditation.Karyam Karma bounden duty.Niragnih without fire. He who has renounced the daily rituals like Agnihotra, which are performed with the help of fire.Akriya without action. He who has renounced austerities and other meritorious acts like building resthouses, charitable dispensaries, digging wells, feeding the poor, etc.Sannyasi he who has renounced the fruits of his actions.Yogi he who has a steady mind. These two terms are applied to him in a secondary sense only. They are not used to denote that he is in reality a Sannyasi and a Yogi.The Sannyasi performs neither Agnihotra nor other ceremonies. But simply to omit these without genuine renunciation will not make one a real Sannyasi. (Cf.V.3)
After Swami Sivananda
Who is truly a yogi· 6.1–6.9→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
6.1The Blessed Lord said: He who performs his bounden duty without depending on the fruits of his actions—he is a sannyasi and a yogi, not he who is without fire and without action.
- 6.2Do you, O Arjuna, know that Yoga is what they call renunciation; no one indeed becomes a Yogi who has not renounced their thoughts.
- 6.3For a sage who wishes to attain to Yoga, action is said to be the means; for the same sage who has attained Yoga, inaction is said to be the means.
- 6.4When a person is not attached to the sense-objects or to actions, having renounced all thoughts, then they are said to have attained Yoga.
- 6.5One should raise oneself by one's own self alone; let not one lower oneself; for the self alone is one's own friend, and the self alone is one's own enemy.
- 6.6The Self is the friend of the self of him by whom the Self has been conquered; but to the unconquered self, this Self stands in the position of an enemy, like an external foe.
- 6.7The Supreme Self of him who is self-controlled and peaceful remains balanced in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, as well as in honor and dishonor.
- 6.8The Yogi who is satisfied with the knowledge and wisdom of the Self, who has conquered the senses, and to whom a clod of earth, a piece of stone, and gold are all the same, is said to have attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi.
- 6.9He who is of the same mind towards the good-hearted, friends, enemies, the indifferent, the neutral, the hateful, the relatives, the righteous, and the unrighteous, excels.
Word-by-word→
- na
- not
- cha
- also
- karma
- work
- niḥ
- without
- saḥ
- that person
- yaḥ
- one who
- yogī
- yogi
- karoti
- perform
- agniḥ
- fire
- kāryam
- obligatory
- akriyaḥ
- without activity
- sanyāsī
- in the renounced order
- karma-phalam
- results of actions
- anāśhritaḥ
- not desiring
- śhrī-bhagavān uvācha
- the Supreme Lord said
Related verses
- 2.6I can hardly tell which would be better, that we should conquer them or that they should…
- 2.11The Blessed Lord said, "You have grieved for those who should not be grieved for; yet, you…
- 2.42The unwise, taking pleasure in the eulogizing words of the Vedas, utter flowery speech,…
- 3.18For him, there is no interest whatsoever in what is done or not done; nor does he depend…