Verse 6-1.

Krishna spoke :

He who unscath'd by craving's fevered breath.

Doth duty's flower with patient hand unfold.

Nor clings to fruit that whispers tempting death.

A Yogi true a Sannyasi bold!

No hearth's warm glow.

No outward deed alone.

But inward fire.

A spirit keenly sown.

Verse 6-2.

For Sannyasa, a name of solemn sound.

Is Yoga's self, Where fancy's webs are torn.

No dreamer he, on shifting wishes bound.

A Yogi wakes when such desires are mourn.

To quell the heart's unceasing wild unrest.

This is the mark, the deeply cherished test.

Verse 6-3.

Who seeks Yoga's height.

Where rapturous peace doth gleam.

By action's wing must first his soul be borne.

But when that airy summit like a dream.

Is reached at last.

And worldly storms are sworn to silence.

Then Serenity divine.

Shall on his spirit, ceaselessly recline.

Verse 6-4.

When sense no more a silken thread doth bind.

Nor deeds entangle in their mystic maze.

And selfish longings vanish.

Leaving mind as starlit heaven,

On quiet summer days.

Then Yogarudha, bathed in purest light.

Stands firm and free from passion's fading blight.

Verse 6-5.

By thine own soul.

Lift up thy languid gaze.

Lest in the mire thy spirit lose its worth.

For self can prove a sun in life's dark haze.

Or serpent coiling in thy bosom's girth.

Verse 6-6.

The self as friend.

A balm for every smart.

When by the self the wayward self is tamed.

But ah.

To him who fails this crucial art.

The very self.

A foe with fury flamed.

Verse 6-7.

The conquered soul.

where gentle quiet dwells.

In Highest Self a kindred essence spies.

Through summer's blaze and winter's icy spells.

Through praise that lifts and scorn that darkly lies.

Verse 6-8.

With wisdom's draught his spirit doth refine.

Unwavering.

Senses held in soft control.

To him are kin the shard.

The golden shine.

A harmonized and consecrated soul.

Verse 6-9.

To friend.

To foe.

A heart that knows no gall.

To neutral gaze.

To hatred's bitter sting.

To kindly kin.

Where gentle graces fall.

Or wrongful hand.

No varying thoughts take wing.

The equipoised in heart.

A vision pure.

Verse 6-10.

The Yogi seeks the wood's embracing shade.

Alone he sits.

his thoughts his only care.

From longing's ghost.

from worldly wealth unweighed.

On Self he muses.

banishing despair.

Verse 6-11.

Where solitude her quiet banner waves.

A seat prepare.

with reverent.

hushed design.

Nor raised too high where reckless spirit raves.

Nor sunk too low.

where earthly shadows twine.

Of cloth.

deer's hide.

and Kusha's verdant grace.

A tranquil haven in that lonely space.

Verse 6-12.

There.

one-pointed mind.

a steadfast flame.

The senses hushed.

their restless yearnings cease.

From fleeting joys.

from worldly lure and blame.

He turns within.

for self-purification's peace.

Verse 6-13.

Body.

head.

and neck.

in perfect stillness bound.

At nose's tip his gaze doth gently rest.

No wandering glance on outward scenes is found.

Within his soul.

by higher thoughts possessed.

Verse 6-14.

Tranquil of soul.

where fear's cold touch is lost.

In celibacy's bond his strength is kept.

Mind's wild bird tamed.

on Me his thoughts are crossed.

United heart.

where sacred vows are swept.

Verse 6-15.

Thus evermore the self he doth engage.

The Yogi's mind.

by noble purpose led.

He finds the peace of a celestial age.

In Nirvana's clime.

where earthly woes are dead.

Where in My being.

his true haven lies.

Verse 6-16.

Too much of feasting dulls the spirit's eye.

And starves the soul of Yoga's mystic bread.

Nor rigid fast beneath a cheerless sky.

Where vital airs and strength of will are fled.

Sleep's leaden grasp.

or waking's endless strain.

Alike shall thwart the Yogin's holy gain.

Verse 6-17.

But moderation.

like a golden mean.

In food.

in sport.

in action's measured pace.

In slumber soft.

and waking's gentle mien.

Where balanced rhythms find their rightful place.

This Yoga brings a balm for every smart.

And melts the sorrows of the yearning heart.

Verse 6-18.

When mind subdued.

in Self finds sweet repose.

From every wish that earthly bosoms know.

Of worldly want.

where discontentment grows.

The Yogi stands.

where purest currents flow.

Harmonized and free.

a spirit bright.

Verse 6-19.

As lamp that burns where no wild breezes stray.

A simile for Yogi's tranquil might.

Whose mind controlled.

doth cast a steady ray.

To Yoga of the Self.

a guiding light.

Verse 6-20.

Where mind restrained by Yoga's potent art.

Finds stillness deep within its secret keep.

Where Self by Self is known.

a world apart.

And in the Self.

content doth sweetly sleep.

Verse 6-21.

That bliss supreme.

by intellect embraced.

Beyond the senses' fleeting.

fevered fire.

Where.

firmly fixed.

no earthly storm can waste The soul's clear vision.

or its high desire.

Verse 6-22.

Which having found.

no richer boon is craved.

Than this dear treasure.

won with earnest pain.

Here anchored fast.

no grief can be engraved Upon the heart.

though sorrows rise like rain.

Verse 6-23.

Know this as Yoga.

severing all ties To sorrow's gloom.

where heavy fetters cling.

With steadfast will.

where true endeavor lies.

With undaunted soul.

let hope forever spring.

Verse 6-24.

All cravings born of phantom.

fleeting grace.

Discard them now.

as dreams of night are flown.

The senses' lure.

with mind's commanding space.

Restrain them all.

and claim them for thine own.

Verse 6-25.

Slowly ascend.

where gentle currents glide.

By intellect.

thy truest guide and friend.

The mind on Self shall peacefully abide.

No vagrant thought its sacred calm shall rend.

Verse 6-26.

From whence the restless mind doth wildly veer.

Unstable as a leaf upon the breeze.

From thence recall its wandering.

wayward fear.

And to the Self.

restore its wonted ease.

Verse 6-27.

For Yogi's heart.

where tranquil waters gleam.

Whose passions sleep.

no earthly stain to find.

Brahma-become.

a pure and holy dream.

Attains to bliss.

for spirit refined.

Verse 6-28.

Thus evermore the self he doth engage.

The Yogi.

freed from sin's oppressive weight.

With gentle ease.

the bliss of Brahman's age.

He tastes.

a joy no words can articulate.

Verse 6-29.

He sees the Self in every fragile form.

And every creature in Self's boundless sea.

Equally seeing.

through life's sun and storm.

The Yogi's soul.

in sweet serenity.

Verse 6-30.

Who sees Me ever with a loving eye.

And all in Me.

through darkness and through day.

He ne'er shall fade where shadows softly lie.

Nor shall I vanish from his spirit's way.

Verse 6-31.

Who.

fixed in oneness.

worships Me alone.

In every being that doth draw its breath.

In whatsoever course his life is thrown.

That Yogi dwells with Me.

untouched by death.

Verse 6-32.

Who views with equal gaze.

O friend most dear.

All beings' joy.

all beings' silent tear.

As in his own deep heart.

made crystal clear.

That Yogi holds the highest station here.

Verse 6-33.

Arjuna spake: O Madhusudana bright.

This Yoga.

of mind's steady.

constant stay.

Its firmest hold I cannot bring to sight.

So prone to restlessness is mortal clay.

Verse 6-34.

For mind's a thing of fickle.

fluttering flight.

Tumultuous.

strong.

defying gentle sway.

To curb its course seems task beyond all might.

As bridling winds that through the heavens play.

Verse 6-35.

The Blessed Lord replied: 'Tis truth thou say'st.

O mighty-armed.

the mind doth wander free.

Yet practice firm.

where steadfast will is placed.

And disenchantment's soothing remedy.

Shall bind its flights.

and bring its wildness tame.

Verse 6-36.

For uncontrolled.

Yoga's ascent is steep.

My wisdom this doth evermore declare.

But self-controlled.

whose watch doth never sleep.

By patient means.

shall reach the realms so fair.

Verse 6-37.

Arjuna spake: Who lacks the faith to soar.

Though noble spirit feels no final blight.

Yet mind astray.

from Yoga's longed-for shore Doth sadly drift into the shadowed night.

What fate befalls.

O Krishna.

gently tell.

If perfection's crown he cannot win so well?

Verse 6-38.

Like scattered cloud.

across the void he's swept.

From both realms lost.

no anchor can he find.

Unrooted soul.

where troubled thoughts are kept.

From Brahman's path.

a spirit left behind.

Verse 6-39.

This doubt of mine.

O Krishna.

grant release.

Let understanding shine with radiant art.

For none but You can bring my spirit peace.

And clarity bestow upon my heart.

Verse 6-40.

The Blessed Lord declared: No darkening fate.

O Partha.

waits in this terrestrial sphere.

Nor in the realms beyond life's narrow gate.

For one who strives with purpose true and clear.

Verse 6-41.

The lands of pure and virtuous he gains.

And dwells there long in bliss that knows no end.

Then falls from Yoga's high and sacred fanes.

In homes of wealth and goodness to descend.

Verse 6-42.

Or born within a Yogi's hallowed line.

Where wisdom's lamp with steady radiance burns.

Such birth.

indeed.

a treasure most divine.

For those whose persevering spirit yearns.

Verse 6-43.

There he recalls that intellect's bright flame.

Of former lives.

a memory held deep.

And strives anew to reach perfection's name.

His steadfast vows with fervent zeal to keep.

Verse 6-44.

By that past practice.

drawn with gentle might.

Irresistibly.

to wisdom's beckoning call.

Even the seeker.

guided by the light.

Beyond mere ritual's shallow lessons fall.

Verse 6-45.

But Yogi striving.

with a spirit clean.

Through countless births shall play his destined part.

Perfected thus.

where no dark clouds convene.

He reaches highest goal.

with tranquil heart.

Verse 6-46.

The Yogi greater than the austere sage.

Than those whose wisdom seeks a narrow bound.

Than those whose deeds life's fleeting joys engage.

Therefore.

O Arjuna.

be a Yogi crowned.

Verse 6-47.

And of all Yogis.

him I hold most dear.

Whose inmost soul on Me doth softly lean.

With faith profound.

who worships without fear.

Most perfectly in Yoga.

his true mien