Dhyana Yoga: Shlokas 24 to 30

If you have not already done so, I would request you to review the Chapter 5, Karma Sanyasa Yoga before studying chapter 6 as that would help set the right context.

You can find the explanation of the previous set of shlokas, 18 to 23 of chapter 6 here. Please go through that to get a better understand and maintain continuity in your learning.

You can also listen to all the episodes through my Spotify Portal.

Verses 6.24 to 6.30

 

सङ्कल्पप्रभवान्कामांस्त्यक्त्वा सर्वानशेषत: |
मनसैवेन्द्रियग्रामं विनियम्य समन्तत: || 24||
शनै: शनैरुपरमेद्बुद्ध्या धृतिगृहीतया |
आत्मसंस्थं मन: कृत्वा न किञ्चिदपि चिन्तयेत् || 25||

saṅkalpa-prabhavān kāmāns tyaktvā sarvān aśheṣhataḥ
manasaivendriya-grāmaṁ viniyamya samantataḥ
śhanaiḥ śhanair uparamed buddhyā dhṛiti-gṛihītayā
ātma-sansthaṁ manaḥ kṛitvā na kiñchid api chintayet

सङ्कल्पप्रभवान् (Saṅkalpaprabhavān) – born of imagination or will; कामांस्त्यक्त्वा (kāmāṃstyaktvā) – abandoning desires; सर्वान् (sarvān) – all; अशेषत: (aśeṣataḥ) – completely; मनसैव (manasaiva) – by the mind alone; इन्द्रियग्रामं (indriyagrāmaṃ) – the group of senses; विनियम्य (viniyamya) – having controlled; समन्तत: (samantataḥ) – from all sides;

शनै: (śanaiḥ) – gradually; शनैरुपरमेत् (śanairuparamet) – gradually withdraw; बुद्ध्या (buddhyā) – with intelligence; धृतिगृहीतया (dhṛtigṛhītayā) – grasped by firmness; आत्मसंस्थं (ātmasaṃsthaṃ) – established in the self; मन: (manaḥ) – the mind; कृत्वा (kṛtvā) – having made; न (na) – not; किञ्चिदपि (kiñcidapi) – anything; चिन्तयेत् (cintayet) – think;

Let go of all desires that come from worldly thoughts and use your mind to control your senses from every direction. Gradually and with firm belief, focus your mind solely on God. In time, your thoughts will be occupied with nothing but the divine.

यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम् |
ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत् || 26||

yato yato niśhcharati manaśh chañchalam asthiram
tatas tato niyamyaitad ātmanyeva vaśhaṁ nayet

यतो (yato) – whenever; यतो (yato) – wherever; निश्चरति (niścarati) – moves; मन: (manaḥ) – mind; चञ्चलम् (cañcalam) – fickle; अस्थिरम् (asthiram) – unsteady; ततस्ततो (tatastato) – from that to that; नियम्य (niyamya) – having controlled; एतत् (etat) – this; आत्मन्येव (ātmanyeva) – in the self only; वशं (vaśaṃ) – under control; नयेत् (nayet) – bring;

Whenever and wherever the restless and unsteady mind wanders, one should bring it back and continually focus it on Bhagawan.

प्रशान्तमनसं ह्येनं योगिनं सुखमुत्तमम् |
उपैति शान्तरजसं ब्रह्मभूतमकल्मषम् || 27||

praśhānta-manasaṁ hyenaṁ yoginaṁ sukham uttamam
upaiti śhānta-rajasaṁ brahma-bhūtam akalmaṣham

प्रशान्तमनसं (praśāntamanasaṃ) – tranquil mind; ह्येनं (hyenaṃ) – this; योगिनं (yoginaṃ) – yogi; सुखमुत्तमम् (sukhamuttamam) – supreme happiness; उपैति (upaiti) – obtains; शान्तरजसं (śāntarajasaṃ) – whose passion is calmed; ब्रह्मभूतम् (brahmabhūtam) – become Brahman; अकल्मषम् (akalmaṣam) – sinless;

The highest bliss and happiness comes to the yogi whose mind is calm, whose passions are subdued, who is without sin, and who sees everything in connection with God.

युञ्जन्नेवं सदात्मानं योगी विगतकल्मष: |
सुखेन ब्रह्मसंस्पर्शमत्यन्तं सुखमश्नुते || 28||

yuñjann evaṁ sadātmānaṁ yogī vigata-kalmaṣhaḥ
sukhena brahma-sansparśham atyantaṁ sukham aśhnute

युञ्जन्नेवं (yuñjannevaṃ) – thus practicing yoga; सदात्मानं (sadātmānaṃ) – always in the self; योगी (yogī) – the yogi; विगतकल्मष: (vigatakalmashaḥ) – free from sin; सुखेन (sukhena) – with ease; ब्रह्मसंस्पर्शम् (brahmasaṃsparśam) – touch of Brahman; अत्यन्तं (atyantaṃ) – ultimate; सुखम् (sukham) – happiness; अश्नुते (aśnute) – enjoys;

Such a self-controlled yogi, always focused on the atman, becomes free from material contamination, and being in constant touch with the Supreme, achieves the highest state of bliss and happiness.

सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि |
ईक्षते योगयुक्तात्मा सर्वत्र समदर्शन: || 29||

sarva-bhūta-stham ātmānaṁ sarva-bhūtāni chātmani
īkṣhate yoga-yuktātmā sarvatra sama-darśhanaḥ

सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं (sarvabhūtasthamātmānaṃ) – the self residing in all beings; सर्वभूतानि (sarvabhūtāni) – all beings; च (ca) – and; आत्मनि (ātmani) – in the self; ईक्षते (īkṣate) – sees; योगयुक्तात्मा (yogayuktātmā) – the soul united with yoga; सर्वत्र (sarvatra) – everywhere; समदर्शन: (samadarśanaḥ) – sees equally;

The true yogis, who are self-realized, see with equal eyes, the presence of the supreme in everyone and everything (Samadharshinah).

यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र सर्वं च मयि पश्यति |
तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि स च मे न प्रणश्यति || 30||

yo māṁ paśhyati sarvatra sarvaṁ cha mayi paśhyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśhyāmi sa cha me na praṇaśhyati

यो (yo) – who; मां (māṃ) – me; पश्यति (paśyati) – sees; सर्वत्र (sarvatra) – everywhere; सर्वं (sarvaṃ) – all; च (ca) – and; मयि (mayi) – in me; पश्यति (paśyati) – sees; तस्य (tasya) – for him; अहं (ahaṃ) – I; न (na) – not; प्रणश्यामि (praṇaśyāmi) – perish; स (sa) – he; च (ca) – and; मे (me) – to me; न (na) – not; प्रणश्यति (praṇaśyati) – perishes;

For those who see Me everywhere and see all things in Me, I am never lost, nor are they ever lost to Me.

Understanding the nature of Brahman

In the previous set of shlokas, we discussed the nature of Maya and how it helps create the illusion of separation from the Supreme. Now let us try to understand the nature of the Supreme and how we can learn to see oneness and beat this illusion of separateness.

In Vedanta, the word Brahman is used to refer to the Supreme. Brahman means swell or expand. If we translate it into English it will mean ‘vast’. Not He or She, just vast. Vast what? even that is not qualified. It is just vast without anything attached to it. The word just preceding the word Brahman is Anantam, which means no limit. So it is Anantam Brahman. That is what is meant by being infinite, without any limit. 

Desha, Kala and Vastu

Antam means limit, Anantam means no limit, unlimited. What is meant by ‘limit’? Vedanta describes 3 kinds of limits. Desha, Kala and Vastu. Space, Time and Object. Limits in Space, limits in Time and limits in Object. Desha means something can exist only in one location at any given time. If someone is in the USA they cannot be in India at the same time. That is the limitation of space. Something that is not limited in space then that entity can exist anywhere and everywhere at the same time. Or, there is no location in space where they are not. That is the meaning of being Omnipresent.

Kala, the limit in time means something exists after creation and before destruction. We all exist after birth and before death. All material things we see exist after they were created and until they are destroyed. in 2.27 Shri Krishna says:

जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च |
तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि || 27||

jātasya hi dhruvo mṛityur dhruvaṁ janma mṛitasya cha
tasmād aparihārye ’rthe na tvaṁ śhochitum arhasi

Death is certain for one who has been born, and rebirth is inevitable for one who has died. Therefore, you should not lament over the inevitable.

Brahman is beyond this and was never created and will never be destroyed. Brahman always existed and will always continue to exist. The third limit is Vastu. Limitation of Object. This is a very interesting concept. It means everything is itself and nothing else. For example, a stone is just a stone. It cannot be a flower and a stone at the same time. If I am krsnadaasa then I cannot also be someone else at the same time. Every object has an identity that makes it different from everything else in the Universe. 

Advaitam or true Non-duality

Suppose something does not have such a limitation? We cannot even comprehend it. There is nothing in the Universe which is different from it. There is nothing in the Universe which is separate from or apart from Brahman because Brahman is everything at the same time. That is what is the core of Advaita Vedanta. Non-duality.

Brahman is non-dual. Thus, Brahman is Anantam implies Brahman is Sarvabhyapi (all-pervading), Nityam (eternal) and Advaitam (non-dual). All of these qualities are packed into the single word Anantam. Now we can understand what the term ‘Aham Brahmasmi‘ actually means. It means that we cannot be separate from Brahman. Brahman is also described as Ekam-Evam-Advaitam. One-Only-Non-dual. Although we continue to suffer the illusion of separation until we achieve self-realization leading to God-realization.

Something eternal, all pervading and non-dual is not easy to comprehend. Because by this definition, Brahman has to be right here, right now, in anything that we choose to see. We should be able to see Brahman everywhere and in everything.

This may explain what Shri Krishna meant by ‘sama-darśhanaḥ‘. 

विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि |
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिता: समदर्शिन: ||5.18||

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini
śhuni chaiva śhva-pāke cha paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśhinaḥ

The truly learned, with the eyes of divine knowledge, see with equal vision a Brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater.

The Upanishads take great efforts to show us this eternal, all-pervading, non-dual nature of Brahman. The Sanskrit word Satyam stands for reality, for truth and for existence. The Upanishads prods us to introspect upon reality. Look around, what do you consider as real? You can say well, I consider my body to be real, this mobile phone to be real, all the people in this satsang session as real.

Now the Upanishads says, apply the definition. If it is real, it must be Brahman, God. Brahman is not bound by limitations of Desha, Kala Vastu. So, if anything is real, it should be Brahman. But here is where the challenge arises. Take any object that you consider to be real and ask ‘is this limited in time and space and object‘? Yes of course! Take the phone you are using for example, it is bound by all three limitations discussed earlier. Then how can it be Brahman? This seems to be contradictory!

The perceived contradiction

This is where students begin to struggle with their comprehension. What is real has to be Brahman. Anything they can point to has to be Brahman. And Brahman is supposed to be without any limits. But whatever they are pointing to is limited. So how can these limited things be Brahman? Do you see the contradiction or confusion here? Everything that we can see, touch, smell or perceive are limited in all three aspects (space, time and object). So how can we see Brahman who is beyond all limitations in these limited entities?

The Vedas and Upanishads do not say contradictory things ever. They don’t speak nonsense either. Then, how do we comprehend what they are saying about Brahman? One of the rules to keep in mind when reading the Vedantic texts is that, whenever you find a seemingly contradictory statement, we should take the implied meaning. Let me try to explain this further. The Upanishads say make a list of things you see around that you call as reality. How do you experience these realities?

When we say something is real, it exists. So, if the phone is real, then it exists. Reality according to us is that which exists. All the objects we see are different from each other. However, what is common across all objects is that they exist. The phone ‘is‘. The table ‘is‘. The teacher ‘is‘.  Now we should change our perspective a bit and think of there being an ocean of existence. And everything that exists are waves in that ocean. The waves are all different from each other and they are all very temporary. But all the waves are part of that same Ocean. Now apply that word ‘infinity‘ to this sense of existence. Infinity means it must not be limited by space. Omnipresent. Focus on this. The sense of existence, is it omnipresent or not?

Yes, whatever we can think of, that exists. Existence without any barrier is omnipresent. The table exists. The chair exists. Both are different from each other. However they are both part of the same existence. 

Just like that, look around you, and focus on the existence instead of the individual objects that exist. Instead of focusing on the temporary waves, learn to focus on the ocean that all the waves belong to.

The eternal always exists

When the entire Universe is destroyed, everything that existed ceases to exist, however existence continues to exist. Everything just goes back to the eternal which always exists. Only the Names and forms disappear. Just like the countless waves that keep appearing and disappearing.

Just like signboards that point to glorious destinations, these countless objects are pointing towards the limitless existence that created them. Just like it is foolish to get attached to the signboard instead of trying to reach the destination it is pointing towards, it is foolish to get attached to these material things and instead we should use them as signboards that help us perceive the absolute reality. When we say Nirguna Nirakar, it is still existing, it just cannot be experienced.

Again, pure existence is not limited by space, time or object. So anything that is apart from existence does not exist 🙂 That is just sheer logic. It is not an abstract philosophy. It is simple logic. It is like saying we can have waves in the Ocean without the Ocean. Just not logical. Just not possible.

All creation points to the existence of the Creator

The existence of the waves is an indication of the existence of the Ocean. When it is stormy, all we see are the waves. However, that does not mean that the Ocean does not exist. Just like we cannot have golden ornaments without gold or wooden furniture without wood. Nothing can exist without existence itself which is Anantam Brahman. To reiterate, Brahman is not limited by space, not limited by time and there is no second thing apart from or separate from Brahman. That is the true meaning of Advaita. There is not one thing in the Universe that is separate from Brahman.  With this understanding, let us see everything around us with a fresh perspective. Let everything and everyone around us help us appreciate the hand of the Creator. 

This kind of perception requires us to calm and focus our minds. Let us now get back to the details about Dhyana Yoga that Lord Shri Krishna is teaching in these verses. Meditation consists of two parts or two steps. First part or step is to ensure that the mind is not distracted by the various disturbances of the world and the second part or step is to then fix or focus the mind on the supreme Lord. Shri Krishna here describes the first part of the process.

Sphurna, Sankalpa and Vikalpa

The mind gets disturbed by thoughts of worldly things when it is attached to the world. Initially, the thoughts are in the form of Sphurṇā (feelings and ideas). When the intellect is weak and when it instructs the mind to focus on the sphurṇā, the mind starts desiring to materialize the sphurṇā and that becomes Saṅkalpa. Thoughts create sphurṇā. When the mind runs in pursuit of sphurṇā, it leads to Saṅkalpa and when the mind tries to run away from sphurṇā, it becomes Vikalpa. 

Attachment to sphurṇā leads to saṅkalpa and aversion to sphurṇā leads to Vikalpa. As discussed earlier, attachment and aversion (liking and disliking) are two sides of the same coin. When we discussed verses 2.28 – 2.30, we discussed how samskaras also have two sides. Likewise, Aversion is the negative side of attachment. 

The need to avoid attachment as well as aversion

If we try to force ourselves to not think about something, it will have the same effect as thinking about that thing. So, don’t be attached to anything and don’t have aversion or hatred towards anything.  

Both Saṅkalpa and Vikalpa create impressions on the mind and deepen our Samskaras which result in compulsive behavior. This prevents us from successfully meditating upon the Supreme Brahman. Another point to note is that our samskaras have a feedback loop. Samskaras make us do certain actions which in turn strengthens the samskaras further, making it harder and harder to focus on Bhagwan and progress on the spiritual path.

To summarize, we have to avoid both attachment and aversion and prevent the sphurṇās from becoming sankalpas in order to ensure that the mind is not distracted. 

Shree Krishna then talks about the second part of Dhyana Yoga (focusing on the Supreme). The mind should be made to reside upon the Supreme. Shri Krishna says that this will not happen automatically, but with determined effort, success will come slowly. This determination and conviction in focusing on the Supreme is termed as Dhṛiti.

Dhṛiti comes with conviction and faith in our own intellect. It comes when we internalize the learnings instead of just keeping it as theoretical knowledge. I have personally known a couple of well renowned cardiologists who were chain smokers. They know everything about the heart and they know exactly how smoking destroys the heart however they haven’t been able to internalize their learning. They lack conviction in their own intellect.

Pratyahar and Consistency

One way to strengthen the intellect is by reminding it about the impermanence of the world and the only permanent thing is one’s relationship with the Absolute. Once the intellect is strengthened, it will instruct the mind to stop focusing on sensory objects and sensory pleasures and instead focus on the Supreme. This is called Pratyāhār, or control of the mind and senses from running toward the objects of the senses. In earlier verses Shri Krishna had instructed us about the importance of being consistent in our practice of Yoga. Pratyāhār is a part of yoga and it needs consistent practice. It will not come immediately. 

Shree Krishna has explained the two steps and the importance of Dhṛiti and Pratyāhār.

We often become disappointed saying “I tried so hard to focus upon God, but the mind kept getting distracted by material things and thoughts of sensory pleasures.” Shri Krishna asks us not to feel disappointed. He says that the mind is fickle and it will keep wandering. Whenever that happens, we should repeat steps 1 and 2 as explained above. Krishna says that this is a repetitive process and with consistent practice, the intellect will get stronger and stronger and the mind will get more and more established in Brahman. It is like tightening a big screw. Initially it will feel like it is just rotating endlessly and you are not seeing any effects. However, we should keep rotating it by applying constant force and be assured that with every rotation, it is getting more and more tightly aligned with the object that it is being screwed into. Just like that, with every repetition of steps 1 and 2 above, the mind will get more and more tightly aligned with and focused on the Supreme.

Once the mind is established in the Supreme, the devotee always sees Him and thinks of Him. A great example is the story of the Gopi that we discussed earlier where she was meditating to try and remove the thought of Krishna from her mind because she couldn’t understand why she was seeing Krishna in everything and everywhere. A common question among practitioners of yoga is how they can tell if they are progressing. The answer lies within us. When our mind becomes calmer, when our faith feels stronger than our fears, when we feel an increasing level of inner bliss, we can say that we are progressing.

Shanta-rajasam and Akalmasham

Here, Shri Krishna says that when we are śhānta-rajasaṁ (free from passion) and akalmaṣham (sinless), then we will become brahma-bhūtam (endowed with realization of Brahman). At that stage, we will experience Sukham Uttamam (the highest bliss). A point to note is that Shri Krishna makes a distinction between brahma-bhuta (self realization, realization of Atma) and brahma-samparsa (God realization, realization of Paramatma).

Imagine you have two glasses of water. In one glass you mix rose essence and in the other you mix lemon concentrate. Now the water in the first glass starts calling itself ‘rose water’ while the water in the second glass starts calling itself ‘lemon water’. Brahma-bhuta or self realization for these two bodies of water would be to realize that they are both actually the same water that have been infused with different flavors. This is the vision of knowledge. 

Brahma-samparsa, or realization of Brahman would be for them to realize that they are the same as the absolute source of water on earth which is the Ocean. Once this realization happens, we no longer identify with our limited selves and get a feel of being in union with the divine, supreme, absolute Brahman.

You can find the session on the next set of shlokas, 6.31 to 6.39 over here.

By constant practice, the self-controlled yogi is freed of all sin (vigata-kalmasah), contacts the supreme spirit (brahma-samparsa) and attains supreme bliss.

Hare Krishna.

kṛṣṇadaasa
Servant of Krishna
Aka +Vinayak Raghuvamshi