May 16 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 6; Verses 6.26-6.28 (Day 137) Adhyatma Yoga, Yoga of Meditation

 May 16– Day 137

Verse 6.26-6.28

यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम् ।

ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत् ॥ ६-२६॥ 

yato yato niśhcharati manaśh chañchalam asthiram
tatas tato niyamyaitad ātmanyeva vaśhaṁ nayet (26) 

யதோ¹ யதோ¹ நிஶ்ச¹ரதி¹ மனஶ்ச¹ஞ்ச¹லமஸ்தி²ரம் |
த¹த¹ஸ்த¹தோ¹ நியம்யைத¹தா³த்¹மன்யேவ வஶம் நயேத்¹ ||26|| 

26. From whatever cause the restless, unsteady mind wanders away, from that let him restrain it and bring it under the control of the Self alone. 

Commentary: In this verse the Lord gives the method to control the mind.  Just as you drag the bull again and again to your house when it runs out, so also you will have to drag your mind to your point or center or Lakshya again and again when it runs towards the external objects.  If you give good cotton seed extract, sugar, plantains, etc., to the bull, it will not run away but will remain in your house.  Even so if you make the mind taste the eternal bliss of the Self within little by little by the practice of concentration, it will gradually abide in the Self only and will not run towards the external objects of the senses.  Sound and the other objects only make the mind restless and unsteady.  By knowing the defects of the objects of sensual pleasure, by understanding their illusory nature, by the cultivation of discrimination between the Real and the unreal and also dispassion, and by making the mind understand the glory and the splendour of the Self you can wean the mind entirely away from sensual objects and fix it firmly on the Self. 

प्रशान्तमनसं ह्येनं योगिनं सुखमुत्तमम् ।

उपैति शान्तरजसं ब्रह्मभूतमकल्मषम् ॥ ६-२७॥ 

praśhānta-manasaṁ hyenaṁ yoginaṁ sukham uttamam
upaiti śhānta-rajasaṁ brahma-bhūtam akalmaṣham (27) 

ப்¹ரஶான்த¹மனஸம் ஹ்யேனம் யோகி³னம் ஸுக²முத்¹த¹மம் |
உபை¹தி ஶான்த¹ரஜஸம் ப்³ரஹ்மபூ⁴த¹மக¹ல்மஷம் ||27|| 

27. Supreme bliss verily comes to this Yogi whose mind is quite peaceful, whose passion is quieted, who has become Brahman, and who is free from sin. 

Commentary: In this verse and in the next also the Lord describes the benefits of Yoga.

Supreme (eternal, unalloyed and uninterrupted( bliss comes to the Yogi whose mind is perfectly serene, who has calmed his passionate nature, who has destroyed all sorts of attachments, who has attained knowledge of the Self and thus become a Jivanmukta or one who is liberated while living, who feels that all is Brahman only, and who is taintless, i.e., who is not affected by Dharma or Adharma (good or evil).

 

युञ्जन्नेवं सदात्मानं योगी विगतकल्मषः ।

सुखेन ब्रह्मसंस्पर्शमत्यन्तं सुखमश्नुते ॥ ६-२८॥ 

yuñjann evaṁ sadātmānaṁ yogī vigata-kalmaṣhaḥ
sukhena brahma-samsparśham atyantaṁ sukham aśhnute (28) 

யுந்ஜன்னேவம் ஸதா³த்¹மானம் யோகீ³ விக³த¹க¹ல்மஷ: |
ஸுகே²ன ப்³ரஹ்மஸந்ஸ்ப¹ர்ஶமத்¹யன்த¹ம் ஸுக²மஶ்னுதே¹ ||28|| 

28. The Yogi, always engaging the mind thus (in the practice of Yoga), freed from sins, easily enjoys the infinite bliss of contact with Brahman (the Eternal). 

Commentary:  By Yogic practices such as the withdrawal of the senses, concentration and meditation he loses contact with the objects of the senses and comes into contact with Brahman or the immortal Self within and thus enjoys the Infinite Bliss of Brahman.

Sensual pleasures are transitory or fleeting but the bliss of Brahman is uninterrupted, undecaying and everlasting.  That is the reason why one should attempt to realise the Self within. 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda (verses 26-28): 

“Detach the mind from the objects, attach it to the Lord”, said my Master, Swami Sivananda. This is not easy, but it is not impossible, and, what is vital to remember, it has got to be done.

The mind, wandering away from the centre of our being, seeking the contact of the objects of this world, is the cause of sin and is itself sin. This, verily, is suffering too. The mind, uprooted from its own centre (the self) wanders in misery, weeping in pain, groping in darkness, desperate in anxiety. Even as a child that has strayed away from its mother is filled with dread, weeps, and is unable to enjoy the carnival, the mind of the worldly man who has lost his contact with God is filled with worries and he is unable to enjoy the omnipresence of God.

When that mind is detached from the contact of worldly objects by constant and persistent practice, and when it is simultaneously attached to Brahman (God), it enables the yogi to enjoy infinite bliss which is his own essential nature.

Once this inner contact is made, the yogi should try to remain in it. It will be easy because the happiness derived from it is incomparably superior to all else and the mind will be ready and eager to drop all other pursuits. The path thenceforth becomes easy and smooth. Remaining firmly established in Brahman, the yogi becomes Brahman, i.e., he realises that Brahman alone is real, and the ‘I’ has never been real. I exist, of course, but not as ‘I’ or ‘me’ or ‘mine’. The ego-sense, the mind, the intellect, the world and matter are there, but as integral, inseparable God. 

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