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Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 6
Dhyana Yoga
The Yoga of Meditation
The Gita's meditation manual: the self as friend or enemy, the lamp in a windless place, the restless mind and its two tamers — practice and letting go of cravings — and the consoling doctrine that no effort on this path is ever lost.
All 47 verses
Each verse links to its full Sanskrit text, transliteration, plain-English meaning, key learning and practical application.
Gita 6.1anāśritaḥ karmaphalaṃ kāryaṃ karma karoti yaḥ | sa saṃnyāsī ca yogī ca na niragn…The Blessed Lord said: One who performs the duty that ought to be done without depending on its fruit, that one is a san…Gita 6.2yaṃ saṃnyāsamiti prāhuryogaṃ taṃ viddhi pāṇḍava | na hyasaṃnyastasaṅkalpo yogī b…What they call renunciation, know that to be yoga, O Pandava; for no one becomes a yogi without renouncing selfish inten…Gita 6.3-4ārurukṣormuneryogaṃ karma kāraṇamucyate | yogārūḍhasya tasyaiva śamaḥ kāraṇamucy…For the sage who wishes to ascend to yoga, action is said to be the means; for one who has ascended, serenity is said to…Gita 6.5uddharedātmanātmānaṃ nātmānamavasādayet | ātmaiva hyātmano bandhurātmaiva ripurā…Let one lift oneself by the self; let one not degrade oneself. The self alone is the friend of the self, and the self al…Gita 6.6bandhurātmātmanastasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ | anātmanastu śatrutve vartetātmaiv…For one who has conquered the self by the self, the self is a friend; but for the unconquered self, the self remains hos…Gita 6.7-8jitātmanaḥ praśāntasya paramātmā samāhitaḥ | śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkheṣu tathā mānāpamā…Of the self-conquered and serene, the higher Self is steadfast in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, honour and dishonour…Gita 6.9suhṛnmitrāryudāsīnamadhyasthadveṣyabandhuṣu | sādhuṣvapi ca pāpeṣu samabuddhirvi…One who regards well-wishers, friends, enemies, the indifferent, mediators, the hateful, relatives, the righteous and th…Gita 6.10yogī yuñjīta satatamātmānaṃ rahasi sthitaḥ | ekākī yatacittātmā nirāśīraparigrah…Let the yogi constantly discipline the self, remaining in solitude, alone, with mind and body controlled, free from long…Gita 6.11-12śucau deśe pratiṣṭhāpya sthiramāsanamātmanaḥ | nātyucchritaṃ nātinīcaṃ cailājina…In a clean place, having established a firm seat for oneself, neither too high nor too low, with cloth, deerskin, and ku…Gita 6.13-14samaṃ kāyaśirogrīvaṃ dhārayannacalaṃ sthiraḥ | samprekṣya nāsikāgraṃ svaṃ diśaśc…Holding body, head, and neck erect, still, and steady, gazing at the tip of the nose without looking around; serene of s…Gita 6.15yuñjannevaṃ sadātmānaṃ yogī niyatamānasaḥ | śāntiṃ nirvāṇaparamāṃ matsaṃsthāmadh…Thus always disciplining the self, the yogi of controlled mind attains the peace that culminates in nirvana and abides i…Gita 6.16-17nātyaśnatastu yogo'sti na caikāntamanaśnataḥ | na cātisvapnaśīlasya jāgrato naiv…Yoga is not for one who eats too much, nor for one who does not eat at all; not for one given to too much sleep, nor for…Gita 6.18yadā viniyataṃ cittamātmanyevāvatiṣṭhate | niḥspṛhaḥ sarvakāmebhyo yukta ityucya…When the disciplined mind rests in the Self alone, free from longing for all desires, then one is said to be harmonised.Gita 6.19yathā dīpo nivātastho neṅgate sopamā smṛtā | yogino yatacittasya yuñjato yogamāt…As a lamp in a windless place does not flicker, this is the simile recorded for the yogi of controlled mind, practising …Gita 6.20-23yatroparamate cittaṃ niruddhaṃ yogasevayā | yatra caivātmanātmānaṃ paśyannātmani…When the mind, restrained by the practice of yoga, becomes still, and when, seeing the Self by the self, one is content …Gita 6.24-25saṅkalpaprabhavānkāmāṃstyaktvā sarvānaśeṣataḥ | manasaivendriyagrāmaṃ viniyamya …Abandoning entirely all desires born of selfish intent, restraining the host of senses on every side by the mind alone, …Gita 6.26yato yato niścarati manaścañcalamasthiram | tatastato niyamyaitadātmanyeva vaśaṃ…Wherever the restless and unsteady mind wanders away, from there restraining it, let one bring it back under the control…Gita 6.27-28praśāntamanasaṃ hyenaṃ yoginaṃ sukhamuttamam | upaiti śāntarajasaṃ brahmabhūtama…Supreme bliss comes to the yogi whose mind is at peace, whose passion is stilled, who has become Brahman, free of taint.…Gita 6.29sarvabhūtasthamātmānaṃ sarvabhūtāni cātmani | īkṣate yogayuktātmā sarvatra samad…With the self harmonised by yoga, one sees the Self abiding in all beings and all beings in the Self, seeing the same ev…Gita 6.30yo māṃ paśyati sarvatra sarvaṃ ca mayi paśyati | tasyāhaṃ na praṇaśyāmi sa ca me…One who sees Me everywhere and sees all in Me, to that one I am never lost, nor is that one ever lost to Me.Gita 6.31sarvabhūtasthitaṃ yo māṃ bhajatyekatvamāsthitaḥ | sarvathā vartamāno'pi sa yogī …The yogi established in oneness who worships Me abiding in all beings, in whatever way such a one lives, that one lives …Gita 6.32ātmaupamyena sarvatra samaṃ paśyati yo'rjuna | sukhaṃ vā yadi vā duḥkhaṃ sa yogī…One who, by comparison with oneself, sees the same everywhere, O Arjuna, whether in pleasure or pain, is deemed the high…Gita 6.33-34yo'yaṃ yogastvayā proktaḥ sāmyena madhusūdana | etasyāhaṃ na paśyāmi cañcalatvāt…Arjuna said: This yoga of equanimity which You have declared, O Madhusudana, I do not see its steady continuance, becaus…Gita 6.35asaṃśayaṃ mahābāho mano durnigrahaṃ calam | abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca …The Blessed Lord said: Doubtless, O mighty-armed one, the mind is restless and hard to restrain; but by practice, O son …Gita 6.36asaṃyatātmanā yogo duṣprāpa iti me matiḥ | vaśyātmanā tu yatatā śakyo'vāptumupāy…Yoga is hard to attain for one of unrestrained self, this is My view; but for the self-controlled who strives, it is att…Gita 6.37-39ayatiḥ śraddhayopeto yogāccalitamānasaḥ | aprāpya yogasaṃsiddhiṃ kāṃ gatiṃ kṛṣṇa…Arjuna said: One who has faith but insufficient effort, whose mind falls away from yoga without attaining perfection, wh…Gita 6.40pārtha naiveha nāmutra vināśastasya vidyate | na hi kalyāṇakṛtkaścid durgatiṃ tā…The Blessed Lord said: O Partha, neither in this world nor the next is there destruction for such a one; for no doer of …Gita 6.41-42prāpya puṇyakṛtāṃ lokānuṣitvā śāśvatīḥ samāḥ | śucīnāṃ śrīmatāṃ gehe yogabhraṣṭo…Having attained the worlds of the righteous and dwelt there for countless years, the one fallen from yoga is reborn in t…Gita 6.43-44tatra taṃ buddhisaṃyogaṃ labhate paurvadehikam | yatate ca tato bhūyaḥ saṃsiddha…There one regains the disposition of the former life, and strives onward once more toward perfection, O joy of the Kurus…Gita 6.45prayatnādyatamānastu yogī saṃśuddhakilbiṣaḥ | anekajanmasaṃsiddhastato yāti parā…But the yogi striving with diligence, purified of taints, perfected through many births, thereby reaches the supreme goa…Gita 6.46tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogī jñānibhyo'pi mato'dhikaḥ | karmibhyaścādhiko yogī tasmādy…The yogi is greater than the ascetics, greater even than the men of knowledge, greater than the men of action, therefore…Gita 6.47yogināmapi sarveṣāṃ madgatenāntarātmanā | śraddhāvānbhajate yo māṃ sa me yuktata…And of all yogis, the one who worships Me with faith, with the inner self abiding in Me, that one I deem the most harmon…
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All 18 chapters
1Arjuna Vishada YogaThe Yoga of Arjuna's Despair2Sankhya YogaThe Yoga of Knowledge3Karma YogaThe Yoga of Action4Jnana Karma Sanyasa YogaKnowledge & Renunciation of Action5Karma Sanyasa YogaThe Yoga of Renunciation6Dhyana YogaThe Yoga of Meditation7Jnana Vijnana YogaKnowledge of the Absolute8Akshara Brahma YogaThe Imperishable Absolute9Raja Vidya Raja Guhya YogaThe Royal Knowledge & Royal Secret10Vibhuti YogaThe Yoga of Divine Glories11Vishvarupa Darshana YogaThe Vision of the Universal Form12Bhakti YogaThe Yoga of Devotion13Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga YogaThe Field & the Knower of the Field14Gunatraya Vibhaga YogaThe Three Gunas15Purushottama YogaThe Supreme Person16Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga YogaThe Divine & Demonic Natures17Shraddhatraya Vibhaga YogaThe Three Kinds of Faith18Moksha Sanyasa YogaLiberation through Renunciation