Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 in English IAST: Ātma Saṃyama Yoga

oṃ tatsaditi śrīmadbhagavadgītāsūpaniṣatsu brahmavidyāyāṃ yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṃvāde ātmasaṃyamayogo nāma ṣaṣṭho’dhyāyaḥ ||

---

About Atma Samyama Yoga

The sixth chapter expands the yoga of meditation outlined in the last two verses of the fifth. Many editions also call it Dhyana Yoga. The first six-chapter section of the Gita ends here.

The chapter moves step by step from the outer preparations for meditation to inner steadiness: place, seat, posture, moderation in food and sleep, and a mind as still as a lamp in a windless place. But it does not end in a cave. It ends in seeing the joys and sorrows of others as one’s own, and in devotion with faith.

How the chapter moves

• Verses 1 to 4: The one who does his duty without depending on its fruit is both renunciate and yogi. For one who wishes to climb to yoga, action is the means; for one who has climbed, calm.
• Verses 5 to 9: Lifting oneself by oneself, the self as its own friend and enemy, the evenness of a conquered mind, and an even mind towards every kind of person.
• Verses 10 to 17: Practical instructions for meditation: solitude, seat, upright posture, a calm and fearless mind, and moderation in food, sleep and work.
• Verses 18 to 28: The state of accomplished yoga: the lamp in a windless place, yoga as release from union with sorrow, and bringing the wandering mind back, slowly, again and again.
• Verses 29 to 32: The vision of the self in all beings and all beings in the self, and the highest yogi, who sees the joys and sorrows of others as his own.
• Verses 33 to 36: Arjuna’s honest objection that the mind is like the wind, and the answer of practice and dispassion.
• Verses 37 to 45: The destiny of the seeker who slips halfway. No one who does good comes to a bad end; effort is not lost.
• Verses 46 and 47: The call ‘be a yogi’, and the last word, that the one who worships the Lord with faith is the most steadfast.

The self in all: three readings

The acharyas read the vision of verse twenty-nine, ‘the self in all beings’, in different ways. For Shankara it is the vision of oneness: one’s own self is the one Brahman in all. For Ramanuja it is the vision of sameness: selves freed from prakriti are all alike in being knowledge. For Madhva the self here is the Supreme Lord, and seeing him in all and all in him is the meditation.

These pages do not decide between the readings. Wherever the acharyas part, each position is recorded in its own terms.

Meditation and health

On the verse pages, the chapter’s instructions on seat, posture, fasting and sleep are read alongside present-day medical understanding. Those with knee or back problems, diabetes, pregnancy, severe anxiety or depression would do well to take their doctor’s advice before starting a new practice.

Sources: several.

ಪಾಠದಲ್ಲಿ ತಪ್ಪೋ ಬೇರೆ ಪಾಠಾಂತರವೋ ಕಂಡಿತೇ? ನಮಗೆ ತಿಳಿಸಿ.
Noticed a mistake or a different reading? Tell us.