:: Chapter 6 :: Dhyana-yoga

Text 3

aruruksor muner yogam
karma karanam ucyate
yogarudhasya tasyaiva
samah karanam ucyate

Synonyms

aruruksoh--who has just begun yoga; muneh--of the sage; yogam--the eightfold yoga system; karma--work; karanam--the means; ucyate--is said to be; yoga--eightfold yoga; arudhasya--of one who has attained; tasya--his; eva--certainly; samah--cessation of all material activities; karanam--the means; ucyate--is said to be.

Translation

For one who is a neophyte in the eightfold yoga system, work is said to be the means; and for one who is already elevated in yoga, cessation of all material activities is said to be the means.

Purport

The process of linking oneself with the Supreme is called yoga. It may be compared to a ladder for attaining the topmost spiritual realization. This ladder begins from the lowest material condition of the living entity and rises up to perfect self-realization in pure spiritual life. According to various elevations, different parts of the ladder are known by different names. But all in all, the complete ladder is called yoga and may be divided into three parts, namely jnana-yoga, dhyana-yoga and bhakti-yoga. The beginning of the ladder is called the yogaruruksu stage, and the highest rung is called yogarudha.

Concerning the eightfold yoga system, attempts in the beginning to enter into meditation through regulative principles of life and practice of different sitting postures (which are more or less bodily exercises) are considered fruitive material activities. All such activities lead to achieving perfect mental equilibrium to control the senses. When one is accomplished in the practice of meditation, he ceases all disturbing mental activities.

A Krisna conscious person, however, is situated from the beginning on the platform of meditation because he always thinks of Krisna. And, being constantly engaged in the service of Krisna, he is considered to have ceased all material activities.

Text 4

yada hi nendriyarthesu
na karmasv anusajiate
sarva-sankalpa-sannyasi
yogarudhas tadocyate

Synonyms

yada--when; hi--certainly; na--not; indriya-arthesu--in sense gratification; na--never; karmasu--in fruitive activities; anusaj-jate--one necessarily engages; sarva-sankalpa--of all material desires; sannyasi--renouncer; yoga-arudhah--elevated in yoga; tada--at that time; ucyate--is said to be.

Translation

A person is said to be elevated in yoga when, having renounced all material desires, he neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in fruitive activities.

Purport

When a person is fully engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he is pleased in himself, and thus he is no longer engaged in sense gratification or in fruitive activities. Otherwise, one must be engaged in sense gratification, since one cannot live without engagement. Without Krisna consciousness, one must be always seeking self-centered or extended selfish activities. But a Krisna conscious person can do everything for the satisfaction of Krisna and thereby be perfectly detached from sense gratification. One who has no such realization must mechanically try to escape material desires before being elevated to the top rung of the yoga ladder.

Text 5

uddhared atmanatmanam
natmanam avasadayet
atmaiva hy atmano bandhur
atmaiva ripur atmanah

Synonyms

uddharet--one must deliver; atmana--by the mind; atmanam--the conditioned soul; na--never; atmanam--the conditioned soul; avasadayet--put into degradation; atma--mind; eva--certainly; hi--indeed; atmanah--of the conditioned soul; bandhuh--friend; atma--mind; eva--certainly; riouh--enemy; atmanah--of the conditioned soul.

Translation

One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.

Purport

The word atma denotes body, mind and soul--depending upon different circumstances. In the yoga system, the mind and the conditioned soul are especially important. Since the mind is the central point of yoga practice, atma refers here to the mind. The purpose of the yoga system is to control the mind and to draw it away from attachment to sense objects. It is stressed herein that the mind must be so trained that it can deliver the conditioned soul from the mire of nescience. In material existence one is subjected to the influence of the mind and the senses. In fact, the pure soul is entangled in the material world because the mind is involved with the false ego, which desires to lord it over material nature. Therefore, the mind should be trained so that it will not be attracted by the glitter of material nature, and in this way the conditioned soul may be saved. One should not degrade oneself by attraction to sense objects. The more one is attracted by sense objects, the more one becomes entangled in material existence. The best way to disentangle oneself is to always engage the mind in Krisna consciousness. The word hi is used for emphasizing this point, i.e., that one must do this. It is also said:

mana eva manusyanam
karanam bandha-moksayon
bandhaya visayasango
muktyai nirvisayam manah

"For man, mind is the cause of bondage and mind is the cause of liberation. Mind absorbed in sense objects is the cause of bondage, and mind detached from the sense objects is the cause of liberation." (Amrta-bindu Upanisad 2) Therefore, the mind which is always engaged in Krisna consciousness is the cause of supreme liberation.