Yoga in Bhagavad Gita

Meditationtime Forum Post

Date:  Posted 5 years before Apr 03, 2018

MiBeloved 5 years ago

Email Correspondence:

I picked up your translation of the Bhagavad Gita and i have a few questions.

when Lord krisna mentions yoga

is he talking about the exercise ? upward dog downward dog.

or is he just saying on meditation?

lord krisna says the proper way to do yoga is with your eyes slightly closed gazing at the tip of your nose, i find that uncomfortable to my eyes, am i doing it properly?

if so how would a person who does not know a thing about yoga learn it?

would Lord Krisna manifest himself to teach?

MiBeloved’s Response:

Yoga practice is described in chapter 6 of Bhagavad Gita. It includes asana postures, breath infusion and the psychological practices which yoga involves.

The details of the process of bare yoga is given by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras, as being ashtanga or eighth parts of a system of disciplines, some which are physical, some emotional, some mental and some psychological.

The instruction in the Bhagavad Gita about yoga with eyes slightly closed gazing at the tip of your nose is for advanced yogis. Beginners do not do this. One has to have mastered the 5th stage of yoga which is pratyahar sensual energy withdrawal before one can put that instruction into practice.

In relation to learning yoga, of course Lord Krishna can teach it. Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva are accepted as the greatest of the masters of yoga, and as the original instructors who taught the ancient yogis. However that does not mean that because Krishna can teach it, that he will do so in anyone’s case today.

You can learn it from any teacher who has mastered either the complete system or parts of it. Your task is to find a teacher and then learn it from that person. You can also use books as a subsidiary learning process.

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Here is a part of the Uddhava Gita Explained which is Krishna’s instruction to Uddhava. Chapter 6 of Bhagavad Gita is Krishna’s instruction to Arjuna.

Uddhava Gita Explained Chapter 8

अप्रमत्तो ऽनुयुञ्जीत

मनो मय्य् अर्पयञ् छनैः ।

अनिर्विण्णो यथा-कालं

जित-श्वासो जितासनः ॥८.१३॥

apramatto 'nuyuñjīta

mano mayy arpayañ chanaiḥ

anirviṇṇo yathā-kālaṁ

jita-śvāso jitāsanaḥ (8.13)

apramatto = apramattah — attentive; 'nuyuñjīta = anuyuñjīta — one should focus; mano = manaḥ — the mind; mayy = mayi — on Me; arpayan — placing; chanaiḥ = śanaiḥ — methodically; anirviṇṇo = anirviṇṇah — without being depressed; yathā-kālam = yathā – as, regular + kālam — time; jita-svāso = jita — mastering + śvāso (śvāsah) — breath; jitāsanaḥ = jita — mastering + āsanaḥ — sitting postures.

Translation:

Being attentive, one should focus methodically, placing the mind on Me, without being depressed and at the regular time and having mastered the breath and sitting postures. (8.13)

Commentary:

This is the method used in kriyā yoga for shifting the mind from the passionate level to the clarifying plane. When the mind is stationed in the clarifying energy, being saturated with it, the yogi can control and direct it in concentrated focus.

What does it mean to place the mind on Śrī Krishna? The answer to this depends on the level of advancement of the yogin, for if he has not mastered the āsana postures and the breath regulation methods, he will not be able to focus on Śrī Krishna in the ideal way, instead he will focus haphazardly or he will practice lower yoga, which will not allow him to have the proper degree of concentration, nor the ability to penetrate into the transcendence where Śrī Krishna exists.

This type of focus is not physical Deity worship which is done to the Śrī Krishna Mūrti, the properly installed idol of Śrī Krishna. A yogi must first master his mind by practicing lower yoga. When he learns kriyā yoga sufficiently, he may graduate to higher yoga and learn how to transfer his attention to the sky of consciousness, the chit ākāśa. From there he may properly focus on Śrī Krishna.

एतावान् योग आदिष्टो

मच्-छिष्यैः सनकादिभिः ।

सर्वतो मन आकृष्य

मय्य् अद्धावेश्यते यथा ॥८.१४॥

etāvān yoga ādiṣṭo

mac-chiṣyaiḥ sanakādibhiḥ

sarvato mana ākṛṣya

mayy addhāveśyate yathā (8.14)

etāvān = etāvāt— thus, so far, to such a degree; yoga = yogah — yoga process; ādiṣṭo = ādiṣṭaḥ — taught; mac-chiṣyaiḥ = mat-śiṣyaiḥ = mat — by me + śiṣyaiḥ – students; sanakādibhiḥ = sanaka – Sanaka + ādibhiḥ — by other students; sarvato = sarvatah — from everything; mana = manah — mind; ākṛṣya — withdrawing; mayy = mayi — in me; addhāveśyate = addhā — truly + āveśyate — is absorbed; yathā — as, accordingly.

Translation:

Thus the yoga process was taught by My students, Sanaka and others, for withdrawing the mind from everything so that it is absorbed in Me. (8.14)

Commentary:

The yoga process taught to Sanaka and others, is the same process taught today as the așţanga yoga, which is defined by Śrī Patañjali Maharshi. It is also called kriyā yoga, and it has other names. Sometimes, parts of the whole yoga process are given under the names of rāja yoga, kundalini yoga, or brahma yoga. It does not change from era to era. The primary purpose of it is self-purification as described in the Bhagavad Gītā (6.12).

One must withdraw one’s interest from the world. This is known nowadays as pratyāhar or the 5th stage of yoga, given in this talk to Uddhava as ākŗșya. To accomplish that one must master āsana postures and breath recharge methods, along with developing a disinterest in the material world, just as the ascetic brahmin exhibited to King Yadu.

श्री-उद्धव उवाच

यदा त्वं सनकादिभ्यो

येन रूपेण केशव ।

योगम् आदिष्टवान् एतद्

रूपम् इच्छामि वेदितुम् ॥८.१५॥

śrī-uddhava uvāca

yadā tvaṁ sanakādibhyo

yena rūpeṇa keśava

yogam ādiṣṭavān etad

rūpam icchāmi veditum (8.15)

śrī-uddhava – the deserving Uddhva; uvāca — said; yadā — when; tvam — you; sanakādibhyo = sanakādibhyah = sanaka — Sanaka + ādibhiyaḥ - and the others; yena — by which; rūpeṇa — by form; keśava — O Keśava Krishna; yogam — yoga process; ādiṣṭavān — taught; etad = etat — that; rūpam — form; icchāmi — I wish; veditum — to know.

Translation:

The deserving Uddhava said: When, by which form, O Keshava Krishna, was the yoga process taught to Sanaka and the others. I wish to know. (8.15)