:: Chapter 6 :: Dhyana-yoga

Text 1

sri-bhagavan uvaca
anasritah karma-phalam
karyam karma karoti yah
sa sannyasi ca yogi ca
na niragnir na cakriyah

Synonyms

sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Lord said; anasritah--without taking shelter; karma-phalam--of the result of work; karyam--obligatory; karma--work; karoti--performs; yah--one who; sah--he; sannyasi--in the renounced order; ca--also; yogi--mystic; ca--also; na--not; nih--without; agnih--fire; na--nor; ca--also; akriyah--without duty.

Translation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic, not he who lights no fire and performs no duty.

Purport

In this chapter the Lord explains that the process of the eightfold yoga system is a means to control the mind and the senses. However, this is very difficult for people in general to perform, especially in the Age of Kali. Although the eightfold yoga system is recommended in this chapter, the Lord emphasizes that the process of karma-yoga, or acting in Krisna consciousness, is better. Everyone acts in this world to maintain his family and their paraphernalia, but no one is working without some self-interest, some personal gratification, be it concentrated or extended. The criterion of perfection is to act in Krisna consciousness, and not with a view to enjoying the fruits of work. To act in Krisna consciousness is the duty of every living entity because all are constitutionally parts and parcels of the Supreme. The parts of the body work for the satisfaction of the whole body. The limbs of the body do not act for self-satisfaction but for the satisfaction of the complete whole. Similarly, the living entity who acts for satisfaction of the supreme whole and not for personal satisfaction is the perfect sannyasi, the perfect yogi.

The sannyasis sometimes artificially think that they have become liberated from all material duties, and therefore they cease to perform agnihotra yajnas (fire sacrifices), but actually they are self-interested because their goal is to become one with the impersonal Brahman. Such a desire is greater than any material desire, but it is not without self-interest. Similarly, the mystic yogi who practices the yoga system with half-open eyes, ceasing all material activities, desires some satisfaction for his personal self. But a person acting in Krisna consciousness works for the satisfaction of the whole, without self-interest. A Krisna conscious person has no desire for self-satisfaction. His criterion of success is the satisfaction of Krisna, and thus he is the perfect sannyasi, or perfect yogi. Lord Caitanya, the highest perfect ional symbol of renunciation, prays in this way:

na dhanam najanam na sundarim
kavitam vajagad-isa kamaye
mama janmanijanmanisvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

"O Almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor to enjoy beautiful women. Nor do I want any number of followers. What I want only is the causeless mercy of Your devotional service in my life, birth after birth."

Text 2

yam sannyasam iti prahur
yogam tam viddhi pandava
na hy asannyasta-sankalpo
yogi bhavati kascana

Synonyms

yam--what; sannyasam--renunciation; iti--thus; prahuh--they say; yogam--linking with the Supreme; tam--that; viddhi--you must know; pandava--O son of Pandu; na--never; hi--certainly; asannyasta--without giving up; sankalpah--desire for self-satisfaction; yogi--a mystic transcendentalist; bhavati--becomes; kascana--anyone.

Translation

What is called renunciation you should know to be the same as yoga, or linking oneself with the Supreme, O son of Pandu, for one can never become a yogi unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification.

Purport

Real sannyasa-yoga or bhakti means that one should know his constitutional position as the living entity, and act accordingly. The living entity has no separate independent identity. He is the marginal energy of the Supreme. When he is entrapped by material energy, he is conditioned, and when he is Krisna conscious, or aware of the spiritual energy, then he is in his real and natural state of life. Therefore, when one is in complete knowledge, one ceases all material sense gratification, or renounces all kinds of sense gratificatory activities. This is practiced by the yogis who restrain the senses from material attachment. But a person in Krisna consciousness has no opportunity to engage his senses in anything which is not for the purpose of Krisna. Therefore, a Krisna conscious person is simultaneously a sannyasi and a yogi. The purpose of knowledge and of restraining the senses, as prescribed in the jnana and yoga processes, is automatically served in Krisna consciousness. If one is unable to give up the activities of his selfish nature, then jnana and yoga are of no avail. The real aim is for a living entity to give up all selfish satisfaction and to be prepared to satisfy the Supreme. A Krisna conscious person has no desire for any kind of self-enjoyment. He is always engaged for the enjoyment of the Supreme. One who has no information of the Supreme must therefore be engaged in self-satisfaction, because no one can stand on the platform of inactivity. All purposes are perfectly served by the practice of Krisna consciousness.