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The Blessed Lord spoke:
A true renunciant and yogi is one who performs his duties without attachment to the results, not merely one who has renounced fire rituals or is inactive.
The state which is called renunciation, understand that as yoga, O Pandava. Without giving up desires, no one can become a true yogi.
For the sage who wishes to ascend in yoga, action is the means. However, for one who has already attained yoga, tranquility is the sole means.
When one is not attached to sensory objects or actions and has renounced all desires, then such a person is considered to have attained the state of yoga.
One must elevate, not degrade, oneself by one's own efforts. For the self is one's own friend as well as one's own enemy.
For one who has mastered himself, the self acts as a friend. However, for one who lacks self-control, the self behaves like an enemy.
For one who has mastered the mind and is serene, the Supreme Soul is well-established, remaining balanced in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, as well as in honor and dishonor.
A yogi, whose soul is content with knowledge and wisdom, who is steadfast and has conquered his senses, is said to be united, viewing a clod, stone, and gold as the same.
A person who maintains an equal mind towards friends, companions, enemies, neutrals, mediators, those who are hateful, relatives, the virtuous, and even the sinful, stands out as exceptional.
A yogi should constantly engage in meditation, remaining in solitude, alone, with a controlled mind and self, free from desires and possessions.
In a clean place, one should establish a firm seat of their own, which is neither too high nor too low, and should be covered with cloth, deer skin, and kusha grass.
There, with a focused mind and controlled senses, one should sit on the seat and practice yoga for self-purification.
One should hold the body, head, and neck erect and still, gaze steadily at the tip of the nose, and not look around in other directions.
The one who has a peaceful mind, is fearless, follows the vow of celibacy, controls the mind, focuses on Me, and is engaged in devotion, should be dedicated to Me.
By constantly engaging the self in this manner, the yogi with a disciplined mind attains peace, which is the supreme state of liberation, and is established in Me.
O Arjuna, yoga is not possible for those who eat too much or too little, nor for those who sleep too much or too little.
For one who is balanced in eating, recreation, working, sleeping, and waking, yoga becomes the path to dispel sorrow.
"When one's mind is fully controlled and remains steadfast in the self, free from all desires, then one is said to be in perfect union."
"Just as a lamp in a windless place remains steady, so is the mind of the yogi who is absorbed in meditation on the self."
In that state where the mind is controlled through yoga practice, it comes to rest; and where one sees the self by the self and finds satisfaction within the self.
The ultimate happiness, which can be grasped by the intellect and is beyond the senses, is realized where one remains steadfast and does not waver from the truth.
Upon attaining this state, one does not consider any other gain superior to it. Being established in this state, one is not disturbed even by the greatest of sorrows.
Yoga is the process of separating oneself from the bonds of sorrow. It should be practiced with firm resolve and a mind free from despair.
By completely giving up all desires born of imagination, and by controlling all the senses with the mind from every direction, one achieves tranquility.
Gradually, step by step, with a firm resolve, one should withdraw the mind and fix it on the self alone, without thinking of anything else.
Wherever the restless and unsteady mind wanders, one should restrain it and bring it back under the control of the self.
The yogi, whose mind is tranquil, who has subdued passions, and who is one with Brahman, indeed attains supreme happiness, free from all impurities.
The yogi, who constantly engages the self in this manner and is free from sin, effortlessly attains the ultimate bliss through union with the divine essence.
The yogi who is united with the self sees the self abiding in all beings and all beings in the self, and he sees with an equal vision everywhere.
"He who sees me everywhere and sees everything in me, I am never lost to him, nor is he ever lost to me."
The yogi who worships me, seeing me in all beings and established in oneness, lives in me regardless of his way of life.
O Arjuna, one who sees all with an equal eye, comparing everything with oneself, whether in happiness or distress, is considered the supreme yogi.
Arjuna said:
O Madhusudana, the yoga you have described with equanimity, I cannot perceive a steady state of it due to its restlessness.
O Krishna, the mind is restless, turbulent, strong, and unyielding. I find it as difficult to control as the wind.
The Blessed Lord spoke:
O mighty-armed, undoubtedly the mind is restless and difficult to control. However, with practice and detachment, O son of Kunti, it can be controlled.
In my opinion, yoga is difficult to attain with an unrestrained mind. However, with a controlled mind and effort, it is possible to achieve through the right means.
Arjuna said:
O Krishna, what is the fate of a person who, though endowed with faith, is not self-controlled and whose mind has deviated from yoga without attaining perfection in yoga?
O mighty-armed, is he not deviated from both, like a cloud cut off, perishing without foundation, bewildered on the spiritual path?
Krishna, you are the only one who can completely dispel my doubt. No one else is capable of doing so.
The Blessed Lord said:
O Arjuna, there is no destruction for the righteous either in this world or the next. Indeed, my dear, one who performs good deeds never falls into misfortune.
After reaching the worlds of the virtuous and residing there for countless years, a person who has fallen from yoga is reborn in a family of purity and wealth.
Then, or he is born in the family of wise yogis; such a birth is indeed very rare in this world.
In that place, he regains the connection with the wisdom from his past life and endeavors once more to achieve perfection, O descendant of Kuru.
Due to the influence of previous practice, he is carried away helplessly. Even a seeker of yoga transcends the sound form of Brahman.
The yogi, through persistent effort and purification from sins over many lifetimes, ultimately reaches the highest state of spiritual realization.
A yogi is considered superior to ascetics, the wise, and those engaged in action. Therefore, Arjuna, you should strive to be a yogi.
Among all yogis, the one who worships Me with unwavering faith and whose mind is fully absorbed in Me is considered by Me to be the most devoted.
