UB: सङ्कल्पप्रभवान्कामांस्त्यक्त्वा सर्वानशेषतः।मनसैवेन्द्रियग्रामं विनियम्य समन्ततः।।6.24।।
6.24 By totally eschewing all काम which arise from सङ्कल्प, and restraining with the मन itself all the organs from every side;
शनैः शनैरुपरमेद् बुद्ध्या धृतिगृहीतया।आत्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किञ्चिदपिचिन्तयेत् ।।6.25।।
6.25 Little by little one should withdraw oneself from the objects other than the self with the help of the बुद्धि held by धृति (firm resolution); and then one should think of nothing else, having fixed the mind upon the आत्मा.
यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम्।ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशंनयेत्।।6.26।।
6.26 Wherever the चञ्चलम् and अस्थिरम् मन wanders, he should subdue it then and there bring it back under the control of the आत्मा alone.
UB: 6:24/26 – The practice of योग needs to be done शनै शनै (little by little). One cannot at once achieve highest concentration – no short cuts are possible. Mind goes out of various organs – if one closes eyes, mind goes out of ears; if one closes mouth, mind goes out of nose, etc. So if सङ्कल्प is itself cut, काम will not get generated and senses will stop troubling the mind. So first use the मन which is सूक्ष्म than senses to restrain them. Next, use बुद्धि which is सूक्ष्म and a more powerful force than the मन to use its reasoning ability to focus on the आत्मा. बुद्धि is currently working in an inverted manner focussed externally on मन & इन्द्रियाँ instead of looking internally. Turn it back towards its source, the आत्मा, and align three with the आत्मा. This is tough though but do not worry. This whole process needs to be done शनै शनै and if you are straying, just get back to meditation once you become conscious of the deviation – that is all.
UB: प्रशान्तमनसं ह्येनं योगिनं सुखमुत्तमम्।उपैतिशान्तरजसं ब्रह्मभूतमकल्मषम्।।6.27।।
6.27 When a योगी develops प्रशांत चेतस्, who is free of कल्मषम् (impurities), from whom the रजस् has departed and who has identified with ब्रह्म, then he obtains उत्तमम् सुखम् as an outcome.
युञ्जन्नेवं सदाऽऽत्मानं योगी विगतकल्मषः।सुखेन ब्रह्मसंस्पर्शमत्यन्तं सुखमश्नुते।।6.28।।
6.28 Thus devoting himself to the योग of the आत्मा, freed from कल्मषम्, the योगी easily attains the अत्यन्तम् सुखम् from experience of ब्रह्म स्पर्श.
UB: 6:27/28 – When one has ब्रह्म स्पर्श (Touch of the Divine), one will gain immense सुखम्. To gain this, fulfill four conditions; this needs to be seen as a reiteration –
1) Gain प्रशांत चेतस् – By avoiding or not getting affected by external sensual longings, one’s mind becomes प्रशांत.
2) Remove कल्मष – कल्मष mainly gathers on account of तमस् (laziness, sloth, etc). One with तमस् cannot develop विवेक and अध्यात्म practices like नित्यकर्म, जप, ध्यान, etc help to lessen the supremacy of तमस्.
3) Get rid of रजस् viz senseless activity orientation which can get regulated through कर्मयोग
4) Identify with ब्रह्म – This can come through gain of ज्ञान about ब्रह्म; ज्ञानयोग / सांख्ययोग
PA: Wonderful 👍🙏🏻
UB: सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि।ईक्षतेयोगयुक्तात्मा सर्वत्र समदर्शनः।।6.29।।
6.29 One who has his mind Self-absorbed through योग and who has the vision of समदर्शनः every-where, see this आत्मा existing in सर्वभूत and सर्वभूत in his आत्मा.
यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र सर्वं च मयि पश्यति।तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि स च मे न प्रणश्यति।।6.30।।
6.30 One who sees Me सर्वत्र, ie., everywhere and sees all things in Me, I do not go out of his vision, and he also is not lost to My vision.
सर्वभूतस्थितं यो मां भजत्येकत्वमास्थितः।सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि स योगी मयिवर्तते।।6.31।
6.31 That योगी who being established in unity, adores Me as existing in सर्वभूतम्, he exists in Me in whatever condition he may be.
UB: 6:29/31 (1) – Beyond the message of समदर्शन, भगवान् makes an intriguing point here. He says that the highest दृष्टि of a योगी is to see परम् in सर्वभूत (all beings) and simultaneously सर्वभत in परम्. सर्वभूत includes us too. Is such a दृष्टि conceivable? Such a दृष्टि is given to अर्जुन later in the Gita. Using logic, such a दृष्टि can be seen at lower levels too – we can see air in सर्वभत and सर्वभत in air. We can see space in सर्वभत and सर्वभत in space. Since परम् is subtler than air & space, possibility of परम् in सर्वभूत & सर्वभूत in परम् does exist. Since space outside us exists eternally, space within us also exists eternally. Similarly, the परम् within us also has the same trait of eternality. So what perishes? Our conditioning of ascribing limitedness to the परम् within us perishes just like a pot perishes but space within the pot (घटाकाश) exists eternally as it merges with space outside the pot (चिदाकाश).
UB: 6:29/31 (2) – If we are akin to a cell and our body as the परम्, we can say that we are within परम् but we can also say that परम् is within us. Thus, the day we realize our existence as within the Divine, we live in tune with the Will of the Divine (who is within us) but if we live without connection with the Divine Will, we suffer from the disease of limitedness. This disease gets cured when we eventually achieve oneness with परम्. One of the finest expressions of seeing all in परम् and seeing परम् in all are found in verses attributed to प्रह्लाद describing this state to हिरण्यकश्यप in the श्रीमद्भागवतम् (events highlighted within the पुराण will thus make sense ONLY if we have some ज्ञान of the ideas in the Gita; else they will be seen as pop fables).
PA: Seeing the unity behind all and accepting and reminding oneself continuously as the Only truth and that the apparent differences and separation to all sentient beings around is actually a illusion and a lie. Wonderful verse! What’s really interesting is that to be born inn the planet earth in human form is the only possibility of liberation and even advanced yogis have to take rebirth on earth to achieve moksha. I was reading yesterday that there are estimated a billion trillion stars and even if one takes a probability of 1 in billion (of other civilizations. ) we have can a trillion civilizations that may be existing. Out of all that earth is the only place where one could be liberated from is mind boggling and puts up all sort of doubts. However for sure there have been references to other astral planets where one lives joyfully but after living there one again comes to the earth for a possibility of getting liberated is just incredible and again reminds one self of the preciousness of human life.
UB: Yes PA – there is a mention of 14 Lokas or planes with each plane having a different way of life but after living on any plane, one has to return to the Earth plane and that too as a human life sounds fascinating. But there is no way to validate all this
PA: Well I believe that people who have had the experience of the divine and are able to stay at will in those states have certainly the capability of transporting themselves to this realms and back. The golden questions for me are always:
- Why do we seem to be working more when faced with pressure situation and slip back to relaxation and lower activity when the pressure is gone?
- How much faster should we run and how much should We slow down in case of no pressure?
- How much should we achieve; are we really doing what is expected of us – living our dharma?
- How much should we indulge in satisfying the innate sense desires? Where to draw the line? Who decides that?
PA: Definitely not a mind space of a karma yogi.. I know that 😊
UB: I will respond to your golden questions by going into a golden silence 😀😀😀
PA: 😃😇😇. Well the questions just personal observations of myself I am sure everybody must be having other observations for oneself. Of course I have to find the answers also myself
UB: आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन।सुखंवा यदि वा दुःखं सः योगी परमो मतः।।6.32।।
6.32 O अर्जुन, that योगी is considered the best who judges what is सुखम् & दु:खम् in all beings by the same standard as he would apply to himself.
(How can Gita miss this line?)
VG: this is super shloka, is this word to word translation or explanation?
UB: अर्जुन उवाच
योऽयं योगस्त्वया प्रोक्तः साम्येन मधुसूदन।एतस्याहं न पश्यामि चञ्चलत्वात् स्थितिंस्थिराम्।।6.33।।
6.33 अर्जुन said – This योग of समत्वम्, which has been declared by You, O श्रीकृष्ण, I do not see that it can be steady because the मन is चञ्चल.
चञ्चलं हि मनः कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवद्दृढम्।तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिवसुदुष्करम्।।6.34।।
6.34 For the mind is चञ्चल, O श्रीकृष्ण, impetuous, powerful and stubborn. I think that निग्रहं (restraint) of it is as difficult as that of the wind.
UB: 6:33/34 – Sensible question. Best conversation between two (or more) people happens only if 3 conditions are met:
1) Both have deep respect for one another
2) Both are ज्ञानी to convey or capability to receive the ज्ञान on the विषय being conveyed
3) Both have पूर्ण श्रद्धा on the विषय being conversed
अर्जुन & श्रीकृष्ण have deep respect for one another; अर्जुन has ज्ञान (capability or पात्रता) to receive ब्रह्मज्ञान; श्रीकृष्ण is ब्रह्मज्ञानी Himself. अर्जुन has पूर्ण श्रद्धा on the worth of ब्रह्मज्ञान which is why he keeps questioning again & again till the very end. अर्जुन thus rightly questioned the impossibility of the high standard set by मधुसूदन. Can we restrain the wind? Just like wind, the स्वभाव of our मन is fickle – how can one restrain it? Is it even possible?
PS: I miss the old format of individual word translations from संस्कृत to English. That helped immensely in understanding the श्लोक and looking for subtly different interpretations. e.g. In 6.34, what are the words for impetuous, powerful, and stubborn; could they imply something else; is it stubborn or determined – further implying relative openness to change, and a level of commitment (to अकर्म?) etc… 🙏🏼🙏🏼
UB: You are right PS. Unfortunately, the source I had been using earlier did this type of translation only till 6:20 and despite doing a lot of search, I could not find another that uses the same approach. Let me however try this on my own using a secondary source.
UB: Four words have been used for मन – चञ्चल meaning fickle, प्रमाथि meaning turbulent or troublesome, बलवत् meaning strong and दृढम् which means stubborn. चञ्चल makes the mind unreliable causing turbulence in its conduct forcing us to take wrong decisions. Worse, it is बलवत् and therefore its wrong decisions ends up getting implemented. Lastly, it is दृढम् making it stick to its habitual orientation and causing challenges in reorienting it towards higher aspects.
आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन।सुखंवा यदि वा दुःखं सः योगी परमो मतः।।6.32।।
6.32 O अर्जुन, the only who (य:) sees everywhere (सर्वत्र) पश्यति) whether pleasant or unpleasant (यदि सुखम् वा दु:खम् वा) in the same way (समं) as compared with oneself (आत्म-औपम्येन), such a Yogi (स: योगी) is regarded as the most exalted (परमो मत:).
UB: श्री भगवानुवाच
असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलं।अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण चगृह्यते।।6.35।।
6.35 भगवान् said – O महाबाहो! Undoubtedly, (असंशयं) the मन is difficult to master (दुर्निग्रहं) and restless (चलं). But, O कौन्तेय ! it is brought under control (गृह्यते) through अभ्यास & वैराग्य.
असंयतात्मना योगो दुष्प्राप इति मे मतिः।वश्यात्मना तु यतताशक्योऽवाप्तुमुपायतः।।6.36।।
6.36 In my opinion (इति मे मति:), योग is hard to attain (दुष्प्राप) by a person of unrestrained mind (अ-संयत-अात्मना). However (तु), it can be attained (अवाप्तुम्) through right means (उपायतः) by him, who strives for it (यतता) and has a mind that is under control (वश्य-आत्मना).
UB: 6:35/36 (1) – By now, it is evident that following the Gita way of life is not a joke. Many may say – why bother? Is it worth it? I am happy with my life – why even bother restraining the मन? At best, i will do भजन once in a year or fold hands in front of deity for half a second and spend rest of the day in भोग. Gita is not for such weak minded and non-ambitious people. However, अर्जुन is not such a person. He is a धीर. He has पूर्ण श्रद्धा in the words of श्रीकृष्ण. He thus asks प्रश्न with sincerity and उत्साह so that he can actually work towards implementation. So what is the answer of श्रीकृष्ण to the question raised by अर्जुन? Be a वश्य आत्मना; bring the mind under your control and not the other way around. An अ-संयत-आत्मना has no chance of सिद्धि. How does one become a वश्य आत्मना?
UB: 6:35/36 (2) – Do अभ्यास. Habits die hard. मन is चञ्चल, प्रमथा, etc., because of the embedded chip a habitual behavioural orientation cultivated over many lives. So one has to overwrite the old habit with a new habit. As they say, it is easy to draw an image on a blank paper but not on a paper which already has many images – one has to erase earlier images before which one cannot draw a new image. Such अभ्यास has to be निरंतर (again & again). Also practice वैराग्य. Once one is set on a goal, वैराग्य or giving up of other non-essential pursuits is automatic. When one is climbing Everest, thoughts on family life, work-life balance, stress of work, etc do not come into one’s mind even once – one is free to cultivate such thoughts also but then the effort in climbing Everest may get difficult. Do अभ्यास and practice वैराग्य and चञ्चलत्वम् of your मन is conquered.
UB: अर्जुन उवाच
अयतिः श्रद्धयोपेतो योगाच्चलितमानसः।अप्राप्य योगसंसिद्धिं कां गतिं कृष्णगच्छति।।6.37।।
6.37 अर्जुन said O श्रीकृष्ण! failing to achieve (अप्राप्य) perfection in योग ( योगसंसिद्धिं), what outcome (कां गतिं) does one attain (गच्छति)who, though possessed of (उपेत:) faith/or conviction (श्रद्धया) (but) is not diligent (अयतिः) and whose mind becomes distracted (चलित-मानसः) from योग?
कच्चिन्नोभयविभ्रष्टश्छिन्नाभ्रमिव नश्यति।अप्रतिष्ठो महाबाहो विमूढो ब्रह्मणःपथि।।6.38।।
6.38 O महाबाहो! Fallen from both (उभय-विभ्रष्ट:) (both means कर्मयोग & ज्ञानयोग), without support (अ-प्रतिष्ठ:), deluded (विमूढो) on the path to ब्रह्म (ब्रह्मणःपथि), I hope that (कच्-चिद्) he does not get ruined (न नश्यति) like a scattered cloud (छिन्न अभ्रम् इव)?
एतन्मे संशयं कृष्ण छेत्तुमर्हस्यशेषतः। त्वदन्यः संशयस्यास्य छेत्ता न ह्युपपद्यते।।6.39।।
6.39 O श्रीकृष्ण ! Eradicate (छेत्तुम् अर्हसि) this doubt (संशय) of mine completely (अ-शेषतः). For (हि), none (न) other than Yourself (त्वद् अन्यः) can be the dispeller (छेत्ता) of this संशय !
UB: 6:37/39 – What if I start very well on कर्म/ज्ञान योग with full श्रद्धा / conviction but leave it midway owing to distractions? What if I start at an old age on this path and die before I attain सिद्धि? A perfectly normal question that is really our question too. Does it mean that all the effort put till the time of distraction and all Gyan gained thus far goes wasted? If this will go wasted, why should I even bother starting? Use of an analogy of an unfulfilled rain cloud seems apt. Who can answer this question? Only one who is a ब्रह्मज्ञानी Himself can answer and hence अर्जुन aks श्रीकृष्ण to remove his संशय. And the answer श्रीकृष्ण gives may be seen as the highlight or high point of Chapter 6.
PK: I am waiting for Krishna’s answer tomorrow to this crucial and existential conundrum
VG: same for me. while they say, well begun is half done, problem is that it’s just half. many a good things, we start but are never able to complete owing to distractions, lack of diligence. Let’s say what UB and Krishna say tomorrow:)
VB: Me too….
PA: PK very very nice 👍 👍 UB great analysis of DL Line 👍👍
UB: श्री भगवानुवाच
पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस्तस्य विद्यते।नहिकल्याणकृत्कश्चिचद्दुर्गतिं तातगच्छति।।6.40।।
6.40 भगवान said O पार्थ ! There is certainly no loss/ fall (विनाश: विद्यते) for him (तस्य) here (न एव इह) or hereafter (न अमुत्र). Because (कश्चिद्), anyone engaged in acts aligned to धर्म (कल्याण कृत्) does not meet (न गच्छति) with a deplorable end (दुर्गतिं)
प्राप्य पुण्यकृतां लोकानुषित्वा शाश्वतीः समाः।शुचीनां श्रीमतां गेहेयोगभ्रष्टोऽभिजायते।।6.41।।
6.41 A योगभ्रष्ट (the man fallen from योग) attains (प्राप्य) the (same) पुण्य लोक (may be taken as heaven or fortunate situations) as by those who do acts aligned to धर्म (पुण्य कृत्) and residing there (उषित्वा) for a long time (शाश्वतीः समाः), then, such a योगभ्रष्ट is reborn (अभिजायते) born in the house (गेहे) of a virtuous (शुचीनां) & fortunate family (श्रीमतां).
अथवा योगिनामेव कुले भवति धीमताम्।एतद्धि दुर्लभतरं लोके जन्मयदीदृशम्।।6.42।।
6.42 Or (अथवा) he is born (भवति) in a कुल of wise (धीमताम्) योगी. Such (ईदृशम्) a birth (जन्म हि) in this world is दिर्लभ (rarer) to get.
UB: 6:40/42 (1) – There is no loss of any effort of योग put up in अध्यात्म. Even if we die midway or get distracted owing to circumstances, the बुद्धि already gained through योग will remain within us as our संस्कार. When we begin life all over again, we will be born in an ecosystem conducive to pursue this संस्कार within us. WE ARE A योगभ्रष्ट meaning that we WERE on the path of योग but became भ्रष्ट owing to certain distractions that may have come our way. How does a योगभ्रष्ट differ from others? While swapping TV channels, we may come across Gita प्रवचन . If we are a योगभ्रष्ट, we have संस्कार or सुगंध of योग (owing to past effort) in our minds and hence we will stay on with the channel. Or we may buy a book on Gita or may join a Gita सत्संग on Whatapp. For others who have done no योग in the past, even if they happen to read Gita, they will not implement it or may find faults with it or may leave the WhatsApp group. Reward thus comes with hard work only. The house we are born-in is thus predetermined by our own hard work. Even in our day to day life, we start our next day from where we left off in our previous day. What we have gained till yesterday will remain with us while what we did not possess till yesterday will not land up automatically onto our hands on the next day morning. As Master योगी Oogway in the animation movie Kung Fu Panda says – THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS!!!!!! Similarly, अध्यात्म will not recognize an idea of a windfall gain or miracles (either wealth or बुद्धि). If one experiences such a gain, it means he has merely (re)gained what he had already acquired through previous hard work.
UB: 6:40/42 (2) – Some other ideas. There is no concept of luck or miracle access to ब्रह्मज्ञान in वेदान्त. You work hard – you benefit. If you do not, you get nothing. A spiritually incomplete person cannot expect freedom even though he may have been a charitable person. A simplistic summary of कर्म & फल may be –
- सुकर्म = भोग (on भू or स्वर्ग)
- दुष्कर्म = रोग (on भू or नरक)
- निष्काम कर्म = योग + भोग
योग will give योगबल in the form of birth in a fortunate कुल where one has an opportunity to further one’s positive संस्कार; one can either use this ecosystem to deepen one’s संस्कार or remain योगभ्रष्ट in this life too – choice is ours. On the other hand, one who has achieved high level of proficiency in योग but if his body falls down, he/ she will be born in the house of a high योगी and thus will be able to complete the balance journey towards freedom much more quickly – such birth is however rare.
PK: Interesting … so bottom line any effort adds up 🙏 Can you elaborate on statement of spiritually incomplete person? What does that mean? Why does charitable activity by such a person not count? Are we not all spiritually incomplete at this moment stumbling on our way towards brahmagyan?
UB: Charitable activity may be seen as सुकर्म. श्रीकृष्ण used the word द्रव्य यज्ञ towards the end of CH 4 that such acts done without ज्ञान will not deepen one’s संस्कार. These will give you भोग type of benefits but will not give योगबल in the form of expansion. A spiritually complete person is the one who sees ONE in all and all in ONE (as we learnt earlier). Only one who has achieved Unity Consciousness while living will continue in that state post shedding of the body. One who has not achieved so will probably lead a good so-called heavenly life but will need to take birth again to complete his journey towards Unity Consciousness. As they say, some प्रारब्ध कर्म is still left and hence they are born to exhaust this fully. And once this is exhausted, they return to the Source and will not need to return again.
PK: 🙏🙏🙏
UB: Life happens to spiritually incomplete people only. It is an opportunity given to them to complete themselves. Because they have their कर्म to exhaust, they are born. Spiritually complete persons have no reason to take birth. However, if they so, the word used to describe such birth is कारण जन्म or another word used is लीला in that they take birth to help mankind but कर्म is not the cause of their birth since their कर्म stock is zero.
UB: तत्र तं बुद्धिसंयोगं लभते पौर्वदेहिकम्। यतते चततो भूयः संसिद्धौ कुरुनन्दन।।6.43।।
6.43 There (तत्र) he regains (लभते) the connection with an intellect (बुद्धि संयोगं) which he had in his former body (पौर्वदेहिकम्). O कुरु नन्दन ! and from there he strives (यतते) further (भूयः) towards success (संसिद्धौ) .
पूर्वाभ्यासेन तेनैव ह्रियते ह्यवशोऽपि सः।जिज्ञासुरपि योगस्यशब्दब्रह्मातिवर्तते।।6.44।।
6.44 By that (तेन) power of his earlier अभ्यास (पूर्वाभ्यासेन एव), he is carried forward or swept away (ह्रियते हि) even against his own will (अ-वश:अपि). Even though he may approach योग from a curiosity perspective (जिज्ञासुरपि), (owing to अभ्यास done previously), he transcends (अतिवर्तते) the शब्दब्रह्म i.e., प्रकृति (meaning the heaven going sections of the वेद).
UB: 6:43/44 – A person who has done अभ्यास of योग earlier is born with a natural disposition towards योग. Even though he may not expressly will towards योग, he will get drawn to it somehow. In fact, he may do योग even though he may will against it (we have examples of atheists/ thieves/ materialists turning towards अध्यात्म) – such a turn is inevitable for such a योगी. He may say that he is reading Gita only for जिज्ञासा; question is – Why did this जिज्ञासा arise in the first place when the world is littered with people who develop no such जिज्ञासा ? Answer is – On account of previous योग. He cannot escape it. And once in, he will continue to acquire the ज्ञान necessary to continue from where he had left it earlier. As they say, even in enmity, कंस/ शिशुपाल/ रावण were only fixated on परम् and this निरंतर मनन on परम् made them eligible for निर्वाण too. Once such people eventually work their way on the path, they will certainly achieve सिद्धि and will go beyond the confines of प्रकृति and become free.
UB: प्रयत्नाद्यतमानस्तु योगी
संशुद्धकिल्बिषः।अनेकजन्मसंसिद्धस्ततो याति परांगतिम्।।6.45।।
6.45 The योगी, who indeed strives (यतमान: तु) with resolve (प्रयत्नात्) until becoming purified from faults (संशुद्ध किल्बिषः) and accomplished (संसिद्ध) after many births (अनेक-जन्म) (through which all obstacles to ज्ञान are overcome) – that one thereupon (तत:) gains (याति) the highest goal or outcome (परांगतिम्)
तपस्विभ्योऽधिको योगी ज्ञानिभ्योऽपिमतोऽधिकः। कर्मिभ्यश्चाधिको योगी तस्माद्योगीभवार्जुन ।।6.46।।
6.46 A योगिन् is superior (अधिक:) to men of तप (तपस्वि); he is also considered superior (अपि अधिक:) to men of ज्ञान (ज्ञानिन्). The योगिन् is also higher than men of कर्म (कर्मिभ्य) Therefore (तस्मात्), O अर्जुन! Do you become (भव) a योगी.
योगिनामपि सर्वेषां मद्गतेनान्तरात्मना।श्रद्धावान्भजते यो मां स मे युक्ततमोमतः।।6.47।।
6.47 Even among (सर्वेषां) all the योगी, he who absorbed in Me (मद् गतेन) with his mind (अन्तर्-आत्मना) and with श्रद्धा (श्रद्धावान्) seeks me (मां भजते), he is considered by Me (मे मत:) to be the best (युक्ततम:) among all the योगिनाम् (योगिनाम् अपि).
UB: 6:45/47 – रावण is a तपस्वि. रावण is a ज्ञानी too. But he is not seen as a योगी unlike हनुमान. हनुमान journey towards Sita within सुंदरकांड in रामायण is likened to a journey of a योगी towards परम्. योगी is superior to a तपस्वि as well as a ज्ञानी. And भगवान् is thus clear in his message to अर्जुन – योगी भव. One may do तपस्या (meaning hard work) as well as acquire ज्ञान and use both to attain सिद्धि in power or wealth or family life or space research or climb Everest. Thus, तपस्या & ज्ञान can be centered on climbing the hill in our backyard, higher hills in Western Ghats or Everest in the Himalayas. However, कैवल्य, निर्वाण, etc., will come only if both तपस्या & ज्ञान are oriented towards the highest peak of all, the मेरु पर्वत viz the ONE. तपस्या & वेदज्ञान acquired for reasons other than कैवल्य (say, to become an आश्रम Head or be a motivation speaker) may make one an आश्रम Head but will not give कैवल्य. Worse, this may boost अहंकार भाव (as one may feel superior talking about terms like गुण, कर्मयोग, आत्मा, etc which others may not know) and bring pride & arrogance (like रावण) even though he may be talking about ब्रह्मज्ञान daily. So the message is – Do तपस्या and acquire ज्ञान for just one purpose – to focus oneself on the तत्, परम्, ब्रह्म, the Reality, the Truth, the सत्-चित्-आनन्द स्वरूप, the परमात्मा, पुरुषोत्तम, नारायण, श्रीमाता, परमशिव and become free (after अनेक जन्म as a योगी).
And thus ends the षट् अध्याय named as ध्यानयोग.
Adhyatma Writings 