Chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita, known as Dhyana Yoga (the Yoga of Meditation), provides the most detailed instructions on meditation in the entire Gita. Verses 20-23 represent the pinnacle of this teaching - they describe what actually happens when meditation reaches its ultimate fruition.
These four verses are extraordinary because they attempt to describe the indescribable: the state of samadhi, where the individual consciousness merges with universal consciousness. While all spiritual traditions speak of such states, few texts describe them with the precision and poetry that Krishna employs here.
Understanding these verses is essential for anyone serious about meditation practice. They serve as both a map and an inspiration - showing where the journey leads while motivating continued practice.
Before these verses, Krishna has given detailed instructions on meditation posture, location, and initial techniques (verses 10-19). He has described how to sit, where to focus the gaze, and how to begin calming the mind. Verses 20-23 describe what happens when these practices reach their culmination.
This verse describes two simultaneous achievements in meditation:
1. Cessation of Mental Activity: The word "uparamate" (comes to rest) indicates a complete settling of mental fluctuations. This is not suppression but natural quieting - the waves of thought simply subside.
2. Self-Perception: When thought ceases, what remains is pure awareness - the Self seeing itself. This is described by the phrase "atmanatmanam pashyan" - the Self perceiving the Self through itself.
The verse emphasizes that this isn't achieved by force but by practice (yoga-sevaya). Regular, dedicated practice gradually refines the mind until it naturally settles. The satisfaction (tushyati) that arises is not ordinary pleasure - it's the recognition of one's true nature.
Krishna describes this bliss (sukha) with three qualifications:
1. Atyantikam (Infinite/Ultimate): This is not ordinary pleasure that comes and goes. The prefix "ati" means "beyond" or "ultimate" - this bliss has no limit, no end, no diminishment.
2. Buddhi-grahyam (Grasped by Intelligence): Unlike sensory pleasures, this bliss is apprehended by the purified intellect. It's known directly, not through the medium of senses.
3. Atindriyam (Beyond the Senses): The senses cannot access this realm. It transcends all sensory experience, which is why external pleasure can never truly satisfy - it's operating in the wrong dimension.
Meditators who have touched this state describe it as:
The second line is crucial: "sthitash chalati tattvatah na" - once established in this truth, one does not waver. This indicates that contact with ultimate reality creates permanent transformation. The yogi may return to ordinary consciousness but is never again lost in illusion in the same way.
This verse makes an extraordinary claim: having attained this state, the yogi considers nothing else to be of greater value. Not wealth, not fame, not power, not even long life - nothing compares.
Why? Because all other gains are temporary and conditional. Wealth can be lost, health declines, relationships end, even life itself is finite. But self-realization - knowing who you truly are - cannot be taken away. It's the one gain that is permanent.
Even more remarkable is the second claim: the yogi is not shaken (vichalyate na) even by great sorrow (duhkhena guruna). This doesn't mean the yogi doesn't feel pain or sadness. Rather, their fundamental center remains stable even as emotional waves pass through.
"Contacts with their objects, O son of Kunti, give rise to cold and heat, pleasure and pain. They come and go; they are impermanent. Endure them bravely, O Bharata."
This echoes the earlier teaching. The difference is that in samadhi, this equanimity becomes natural rather than practiced. The yogi doesn't need to remind themselves - they simply abide in a space that sorrow cannot touch.
Here Krishna offers a definition of yoga that cuts through all complexity: yoga is "duhkha-samyoga-viyogam" - the disconnection from connection with sorrow. In essence, yoga is the end of suffering.
This aligns the Gita's teaching with the fundamental goal of all Indian spiritual traditions - liberation from the cycle of suffering. But the Gita's approach is distinctive in its practicality and its integration of action with meditation.
The verse ends with two crucial requirements for practice:
1. Nishchayena (With Determination): This isn't casual dabbling. The yogi needs firm resolve, a commitment that doesn't waver with initial difficulties or slow progress.
2. Anirvinna-chetasa (With Unwearied Mind): "Nirvinna" means dejected or discouraged. The yogi must maintain enthusiasm even when progress seems slow, when meditation is difficult, when distractions overwhelm. Patience and persistence are essential.
These verses call for serious commitment. The bliss described is real and attainable, but it requires:
These verses imply a specific metaphysics: our true nature is consciousness itself, and that consciousness is inherently blissful. Suffering arises from misidentification with the body-mind complex and from seeking happiness in external objects.
This aligns with the Vedantic tradition, which teaches sat-chit-ananda (existence-consciousness-bliss) as the nature of ultimate reality. The Gita doesn't use this technical term, but the teaching is equivalent.
Verse 6.20's phrase "atmanatmanam pashyan" (the Self seeing the Self) presents an interesting epistemological puzzle: how can the subject become its own object? The answer, according to traditional commentators, is that this isn't ordinary knowledge where subject and object are separate. It's direct recognition - the Self simply is, and knows itself by being itself.
These verses might seem to suggest that yoga is about withdrawal from the world. But Chapter 6 must be read in context of the entire Gita, which equally emphasizes karma yoga (action). The integrated teaching is that meditation purifies the mind, enabling selfless action, while selfless action prepares the mind for deeper meditation.
How does one actually achieve the states described in these verses? The Gita provides a comprehensive path:
The mind cannot become truly still while burdened with guilt, deception, or harm to others. Chapter 16's divine qualities provide the ethical foundation necessary for deep meditation.
Earlier verses in Chapter 6 (specifically 6.16-17) emphasize moderation in eating, sleeping, work, and recreation. Extreme lifestyles disturb the mind and prevent the stillness described here.
The verses themselves emphasize "yoga-sevaya" (service to yoga / practice of yoga). This means daily meditation, ideally at consistent times, gradually building the mind's capacity for stillness.
The mind clings to desires and aversions. As the Gita teaches elsewhere, cultivating vairagya (dispassion) toward sensory pleasures frees attention for the inward journey.
Verse 6.23's emphasis on determination and unwearied effort acknowledges that this is a long-term endeavor. Quick results shouldn't be expected, but progress does occur with consistent practice.
Interestingly, Arjuna raises a concern about this in verse 6.33-34: the mind is so restless, how can it be controlled? Krishna's response is encouraging: through practice (abhyasa) and detachment (vairagya), it can be done. The implication is that everyone, regardless of current mental state, can make progress.
Solution: Don't fight the mind. Use techniques like breath awareness to give it something subtle to focus on. Gradually, thoughts slow down naturally.
Solution: Remember that even small progress has great value. The journey itself purifies and prepares. Trust the process.
Solution: Find a posture you can maintain comfortably. The body should be stable but not tense. Use props if needed.
Solution: Meditate when the mind is alert, not when tired. Keep the spine erect. Open eyes slightly if needed.
Solution: The Gita promises that the devoted practitioner progresses. Trust the teaching. Seek guidance from those further on the path.
BG 6.20 describes the state where the mind, restrained through yoga practice, becomes still. In this state, the yogi perceives the Self through the purified mind and finds satisfaction in the Self alone. It describes samadhi - complete absorption in pure consciousness where the "Self sees the Self" (atmanatmanam pashyan).
In BG 6.21, Krishna says that in the state of samadhi, the yogi experiences infinite bliss (sukham atyantikam) that transcends the senses and is grasped by the purified intellect. This happiness is not dependent on external objects but arises from contact with the Self. Once established here, the yogi is never shaken even by great sorrow.
The Gita describes a progressive path: practice restraining the mind through yoga (abhyasa), develop detachment from sense objects (vairagya), gradually stabilize attention on the Self, and persist through regular practice. BG 6.23 emphasizes practicing with determination (nishchayena) and an unwearied mind (anirvinna-chetasa). This is not achieved quickly but through dedicated, patient effort over time.
BG 6.23 provides a profound definition: yoga is "duhkha-samyoga-viyogam" - the severance of contact with sorrow. This frames yoga not as mere physical exercises or techniques, but as the ultimate freedom from suffering. This goal is achieved through the meditation practices described in Chapter 6.
Yes, fundamentally so. Ordinary happiness (sukha) is conditional, dependent on external circumstances, and temporary. The bliss described here is "atyantikam" (infinite), "atindriyam" (beyond the senses), and permanent once achieved. It's the inherent nature of consciousness itself, revealed when the mind becomes still and the Self is known directly.
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