May 20 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 6; Verses 6.35-6.36 (Day 141) Adhyatma Yoga, Yoga of Meditation

 May 20– Day 141

Verse 6.35-6.36

श्रीभगवानुवाच ।

असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम् ।

अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ॥ ६-३५॥ 

Śhrī Bhagavān uvācha
asanśhayaṁ mahā-bāho mano durnigrahaṁ chalam
abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa cha gṛihyate  (35) 

ஶ்ரீப⁴கவானுவாச¹ |
அஸந்ஶயம் மஹாபா³ஹோ மனோ து³ர்னிக்³ரஹம் ச¹லம் |
அப்⁴யாஸேன து¹ கௌ¹ன்தே¹ய வைராக்³யேண ச¹ க்³ருஹ்யதே¹ ||35|| 

The Blessed Lord said:

35. Undoubtedly, O mighty-armed Arjuna, the mind is difficult to control and restless; but, by practice and by dispassion it may be restrained! 

Commentary: The constant or repeated effort to keep the wandering mind steady by constant meditation on the Lakshya (center, ideal, goal or object of meditation) is Abhyasa or practice. The same idea or thought of the Self or God is constantly repeated.  This constant repetition destroys Vikshepa or the vacillation of the mind and desires, and makes it steady and one-pointed.

Vairagya is dispassion or indifference to sense-objects in this world or in the other, here or hereafter, seen or unseen, heard or unheard, achieved through constantly looking into the evil in them (Dosha-Drishti).  You will have to train the mind by constant reflection on the immortal, all-blissful Self.  You must make the mind realise the transitory nature of the worldly enjoyments.  You must suggest to the mid to look for its enjoyment not in the perishable and changing external objects but in the immortal, changeless Self within.  Gradually the mind will be withdrawn from the external objects.

 

असंयतात्मना योगो दुष्प्राप इति मे मतिः ।

वश्यात्मना तु यतता शक्योऽवाप्तुमुपायतः ॥ ६-३६॥ 

asaṅyatātmanā yogo duṣhprāpa iti me matiḥ
vaśhyātmanā tu yatatā śhakyo ’vāptum upāyataḥ (36) 

அஸந்யதா¹த்¹மனா யோகோ³ து³ஷ்ப்¹ராப¹ இதி¹ மே மதி¹: |
வஶ்யாத்¹மனா து¹ யத¹தா¹ ஶக்¹யோ‌வாப்¹து¹முபா¹யத¹: ||36|| 

36. I think that Yoga is hard to be attained by one of uncontrolled self, but the self-controlled and striving one attains to it by the (proper) means. 

Commentary: Uncontrolled self:  he who has not controlled the senses and the mind by the constant practice of dispassion and meditation.  Self-controlled: he who has controlled the mind by constant practice of dispassion and meditation.  He can attain Self-realisation by the right means and constant endeavour. 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda (verses 35-36): 

The greatest aid to control of mind is the realisation that the uncontrolled mind is our worst foe and sooner or later it must be controlled (and will be) before we can reach the goal. Well then, why not now?

Practice makes everything perfect. No one achieves proficiency in anything without persistent practice with ever-increasing intensity. If two slices of bread do not appease our hunger, we ask for more, but if two hours’ meditation is not enough to still our mind, we do not prolong and intensify it, but abandon meditation altogether! Why this illogical approach?

In the word ‘practice’ are included several allied practices like yoga postures (āsana), prāṇāyāma (breathing), study of scriptures, repetition of holy names and singing hymns. ‘Practice’ should not be merely repetitive and dull. Practice is alertness, constant vigilance.

However, practice alone will not do. Practice without vairāgya (dispassion) only helps us to master the technique of mind control, but not to control the mind. If we are strongly attached to the pleasures of the senses while ‘practising’ to free ourselves from them, we labour aimlessly and vainly, like drunken men who row a boat the whole night without first loosening the chain that binds it to the shore! We might develop our muscles but we will not reach our destination.

Vairāgya is inner absence of infatuated desire or craving. It is not ‘running away’ but ‘turning away’ from worldly pleasures. Even with wide open eyes, while moving about in the world, the gaze is turned within; and the yogi thus perceives the Lord in and through the world. He neither shuns the world nor clings to it, but pierces the veil and perceives the Lord. That is true vairāgya or dispassion. 

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