Bhagavad Gita · 6.4 · Path of Meditation·4 of 47
यदा हि नेन्द्रियार्थेषु न कर्मस्वनुषज्जते।सर्वसङ्कल्पसंन्यासी योगारूढस्तदोच्यते ॥
yadā hi nendriyārtheṣhu na karmasv-anuṣhajjate
sarva-saṅkalpa-sannyāsī yogārūḍhas tadochyate
Sanskrit recitation
Who is truly a yogi · 6.1–6.9 · Teaching
Translation
When a person is not attached to the sense-objects or to actions, having renounced all thoughts, then they are said to have attained Yoga.
Meaning
Yogarudha he who is enthroned or established in Yoga. When a Yogi, by keeping the mind ite steady, by withdrawing it from the objects of the senses, has attachment neither for sensual objects such as sound, nor for the actions (Karmas, Cf. notes to V.13), knowing that they are of no use to him when he has renounced all thoughts which generate various sorts of desires for the objects of this world and of the next, then he is said to have become a Yogarudha.Do not think of senseobjects. The desires will die by themselves. How can you free yourself from thinking of the objects Think of God or the Self. Then you can avoid thinking of the objects. Then you can free yourself from thinking of the objects of the senses.Renunciation of thoughts implies that all desires and all actions should be renounced, because all desires are born of thoughts. You think first and then act (strive) afterwards to possess the objects of your desire for enjoyment.Whatever a man desires, that he willsAnd whatever he wills, that he does. -- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 4.4.5Renunciation of all actions necessarily follows from the renunciation of all desires.O desire I know where thy root lies. Thou art born of Sankalpa (thought). I will not think of thee and thou shalt cease to exist along with the root
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→
- hi
- certainly
- na
- not
- tadā
- at that time
- yadā
- when
- karmasu
- to actions
- uchyate
- is said
- sanyāsī
- renouncer
- anuṣhajjate
- is attachment
- sarva-saṅkalpa
- all desires for the fruits of actions
- indriya-artheṣhu
- for sense-objects
- yoga-ārūḍhaḥ
- elevated in the science of Yog
Related verses
- 2.71That person attains peace who, abandoning all desires, moves about without longing,…
- 6.24Abandoning unreservedly all desires born of Sankalpa (thought and imagination) and…
- 1.23For I desire to observe those who are assembled here to fight, wishing to please in battle…
- 1.33Those for whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyments, and pleasures stand here in battle,…