May 5 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 6; Verses 6.07-6.08 (Day 126) Adyatma Yoga, Yoga of Meditation

 May 5 – Day 126

Verse 6.07-6.08

जितात्मनः प्रशान्तस्य परमात्मा समाहितः ।

शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु तथा मानापमानयोः ॥ ६-७॥ 

jitātmanaḥ praśhāntasya paramātmā samāhitaḥ
śhītoṣhṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣhu tathā mānāpamānayoḥ (7) 

ஜிதா¹த்¹மன: ப்¹ரஶான்த¹ஸ்ய ப¹ரமாத்மா ஸமாஹித¹: |
ஶீதோ¹ஷ்ணஸுக²து³:கே²ஷு த¹தா² மானாப¹மானயோ: ||7|| 

7. The Supreme Self of him who is self-controlled and peaceful is balanced in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, as also in honour and dishonour. 

Commentary: The self-controlled Yogi who is rooted in the Self keeps poise amidst the pairs of opposites (Dvandvas) or the alternating waves of cold and heat, pleasure and pain, honour and dishonour.  When the Yogi has subdued his senses, when his mind is balanced and peaceful under all conditions, when he is not in the least influenced by the pairs of opposites, when he has renounced all actions then the Highest Self really becomes his own Self.  He attains to Self-realization.  As he rests in his own Self, he is ever serene or tranquil; he is not affected by the pairs of opposites, and he stands as adamant in the face of the changing conditions of Nature. 

ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा कूटस्थो विजितेन्द्रियः ।

युक्त इत्युच्यते योगी समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः ॥ ६-८॥ 

jñāna-vijñāna-tṛiptātmā kūṭastho vijitendriyaḥ
yukta ityuchyate yogī sama-loṣhṭāśhma-kāñchanaḥ (8) 

ஞானவிஞ்ஞானத்¹ருப்¹தா¹த்¹மா கூ¹ட¹ஸ்தோ² விஜிதே¹ன்த்³ரிய: |
யுக்¹த இத்¹யுச்¹யதே¹ யோகீ³ ஸமலோஷ்டா¹ஶ்மகா¹ஞ்ச¹ன: ||8|| 

8. The Yogi who is satisfied with the knowledge and the wisdom (of the Self), who has conquered the senses, and to whom a clod of earth, a piece of stone and gold are the same, is said to be harmonized (that is, is said to have attained the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi). 

Commentary: Jnana is Paroksha-Jnana or theoretical knowledge from the study of the scriptures.  Vijnana is Visesha Jnana or Aparoksha Jnana, i.e., direct knowledge of the Self through Self-realization (spiritual experience or Anubhava).

Kutastha means changeless like the anvil.  Various kinds of iron pieces are hammered and shaped on the anvil, but the anvil remains unchanged.  Even so the Yogi remains unshaken or unchanged or unaffected though he comes in contact with the sense-objects.  So he is called Kutastha.  Kutastha is another name of Brahman, the silent witness of the mind.  (Cf. V. 18; VI. 18) 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda:

Conquest of the senses does not mean their total inhibition. To be of the same mind does not imply insensibility. It is easy for an idiot to bear insult and injury. One who suffers from the disease known as syringomyelia does not feel heat and cold. Yet, I know from the example of my own Master, that the yogi is extremely sensible (perhaps sensitive too). It is this that enables him to sympathise with others in distress, to feel their need for a blanket in winter, and to desist from hurting their sentiments. My Master showed us that the yogi is far from being a wooden-headed, stone-hearted and insensible creature.

The first verse makes it clear that it is the supreme self that is balanced; the self-controlled yogi does not identify that self with the body undergoing the varied experiences of heat and cold, and the mind experiencing pleasure and pain. He recognises that his abode is subject to the vagaries of the climate; he takes the necessary steps to remedy the situation, without losing his inner balance. The inner balance is lost when there is false identification of the self with the body and the mind.

Concomitant with this wrong identification is the false value that the deluded mind attaches to the objects of the world. The yogi will use a clod of earth to clean his hands, a stone to keep his papers from flying and a piece of gold to feed the hungry – but he has risen above the false sense of values. Each object’s true value is its value in context.

The man who cannot distinguish gold from mud is a madman; one who sees the difference but is not affected by it, is a sage. He knows the true value of every object in God’s nature, and fulfils God’s will in every way. 

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