12.232
Vyāsa said.
O noble son, in response to your inquiry, I have declared this here exactly as it is, in reality, combined with the logic of Sāṅkhya.
But now I will explain to you the entire practice of yoga; listen to this. The complete unity of intellect, mind, and senses—this is the highest knowledge of the self for the meditator, O dear one.
This should be understood by one who is calm, self-restrained, devoted to self-discipline, delights in the Self, wise, and pure in action.
The wise, having eradicated the defects of yoga, recognize five obstacles: desire, anger, greed, fear, and, as the fifth, sleep.
One conquers anger through tranquility, desire by abandoning resolve; by cultivating purity, the wise can overcome sleep.
With firmness, one should control the generative organ and belly; guard hands and feet with the eye; the eye with the ears and mind; the mind, and speech with action.
By being vigilant, one should give up fear; by associating with the wise, one should abandon greed. In this way, one should always overcome these defects in practice with tireless effort.
One should worship the fires and Brāhmaṇas, bow to the deities, and avoid angry, violent, and impulsive speech.
The Absolute, composed of brilliance and purity, is the essence of all this. Of the one being, the existence is twofold: stationary and moving.
Meditation, study, charity, truthfulness, modesty, straightforwardness, forbearance, purity, purity of food, and restraint of the senses are virtues.
By these means, his brilliance increases and sin is removed. All his objectives are accomplished and knowledge arises for him.
He who is equal to all beings, conducts himself with equanimity in gain and loss, has shaken off sin, is powerful, eats lightly, and has conquered his senses. Having brought desire and anger under control, he should seek the state of Brahman.
Having made the mind and senses one-pointed and concentrated, one should hold the mind by the self before and after night.
For a living being with five senses, whichever one sense organ becomes a hole, from that, wisdom flows out of his firmness, just as water (flows) from a hole in the foot.
But first, the mind should be withdrawn, just as a fisherman draws in tortoises; then the knower of yoga withdraws the ear, then the eye, tongue, and nose.
Then, having restrained these (senses), the ascetic should place them in the mind. Likewise, having removed desires, he should fix the mind in the self.
The ascetic should unite the five senses with knowledge in the mind and establish them there. When these, along with the mind as the sixth, remain steady in the self and become tranquil, then Brahman reveals itself.
Just as a radiant sun without smoke, or a lightning fire in the sky, he perceives the self by the self. There, due to its all-pervading nature, everything is seen everywhere.
He is seen by great-souled brāhmaṇas who are wise, steadfast, greatly wise, and devoted to the welfare of all beings.
Thus, practicing for a limited period, a resolute ascetic, sitting alone in secrecy, should strive to attain union with the imperishable.
There is delusion, confusion, and a whirlpool in the senses of smell, hearing, and sight; wondrous experiences in taste and touch, cold and heat, and the form of wind.
The knower of reality, having included intuition and the prefixes by means of union, should disregard them and withdraw them by his own self.
A disciplined sage should practice yoga three times daily; he should do so on mountain peaks, in sanctuaries, and on the tops of trees.
Having restrained all the senses, just as a person in a cowshed whose mind is fixed on a pot, one should always contemplate with one-pointed focus and should not let the mind be disturbed from yoga.
One should employ whatever means are possible to restrain the restless mind, and having engaged in those means, should practice them without ever deviating from them.
One should, with one-pointed mind, undertake to dwell in empty mountain caves, shrines of deities, and empty houses.
One should not attach oneself to others by speech, action, or even in thought; remaining indifferent and moderate in food, one should maintain equanimity in both gain and loss.
One should not think either good or bad of both the one who praises him and the one who blames him.
One should neither be elated by gains nor be anxious about losses. One should remain equal towards all beings, sharing the same nature as the wind.
Thus, for the one whose whole being is virtuous and who sees equally everywhere, after six months of constant practice, he transcends the Vedic sound (word-Brahman).
Seeing people afflicted by pain, one who regards clod, stone, and gold as equal, and is engaged in this path, should not desist, nor be deluded.
Even a person of lower caste, or a woman, if they desire dharma, both may attain the supreme state by this path.
The unborn, ancient, undecaying, eternal—what the unmoving man perceives by the senses. Subtler than the atom, greater than the great—that, the united and self-possessed one sees by the self.
This is the statement of the great sage, the great soul; having been properly spoken, and after contemplating and considering it with the mind, one should proceed towards the state of harmony with the Supreme Being, which is the state attained by the wise.
