Chapter 6, Verse 10
योगी युञ्जीत सततमात्मानं रहसि स्थितः | एकाकी यतचित्तात्मा निराशीरपरिग्रहः ||६-१०||
yogī yuñjīta satatamātmānaṃ rahasi sthitaḥ . ekākī yatacittātmā nirāśīraparigrahaḥ ||6-10||
Meaning
6.10 Let the Yogi try constantly to keep the mind steady, remaining in solitude, alone, with the mind and the body controlled, and free from hope and covetousness.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Now Krishna turns from describing the realized yogi to the practical discipline of meditation. The first conditions are inner and outer solitude: rahasi, in a secluded place, and ekaki, alone — withdrawn from the constant stimulation and validation of company. In stillness the mind can finally be observed and gathered. The practice is to be satatam, constant; meditation is not an occasional mood but a steady cultivation.
Two subtler conditions complete the prescription. Nirashi — free from hope and craving for results — keeps the practice from becoming another arena of ambition. Aparigraha — non-possessiveness — frees the heart from the weight of accumulation and the anxieties that cling to it. Yatachitta-atma, the mind and body brought under gentle control, makes the inner space quiet enough for union to dawn. Solitude, restraint, desirelessness, and simplicity: these are the soil in which meditation takes root.
💡 Key Takeaway
Meditation flourishes in solitude and simplicity, with a mind free of craving and the urge to possess.
Related Verses
यं संन्यासमिति प्राहुर्योगं तं विद्धि पाण्डव | न ह्यसंन्यस्तसङ्कल्पो योगी भवति कश्चन ||६-२||
yaṃ saṃnyāsamiti prāhuryogaṃ taṃ viddhi pāṇḍava . na hyasaṃnyastasaṅkalpo yogī bhavati kaścana ||6-2||
6.2 Do thou, O Arjuna, know Yoga to be that which they call renunciation; no one verily becomes a Yogi who has not renounced thoughts.
आरुरुक्षोर्मुनेर्योगं कर्म कारणमुच्यते | योगारूढस्य तस्यैव शमः कारणमुच्यते ||६-३||
ārurukṣormuneryogaṃ karma kāraṇamucyate . yogārūḍhasya tasyaiva śamaḥ kāraṇamucyate ||6-3||
6.3 For a sage who wishes to attain to Yoga, action is said to be the means; for the same sage who has attained to Yoga, inaction (iescence) is said to be the means.
बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः | अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत् ||६-६||
bandhurātmātmanastasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ . anātmanastu śatrutve vartetātmaiva śatruvat ||6-6||
6.6 The Self is the friend of the self of him by whom the self has been conered by the Self, but to the unconered self, this Self stands in the position of an enemy, like an (external) foe.