Chapter 6, Verse 20
यत्रोपरमते चित्तं निरुद्धं योगसेवया | यत्र चैवात्मनात्मानं पश्यन्नात्मनि तुष्यति ||६-२०||
yatroparamate cittaṃ niruddhaṃ yogasevayā . yatra caivātmanātmānaṃ paśyannātmani tuṣyati ||6-20||
Meaning
6.20 When the mind, restrained by the practice of Yoga attains to quietude and when seeing the Self by the self, he is satisfied in his own Self.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
This verse begins a flowing sequence (through verse 23) describing the supreme experience of samadhi. When the mind, stilled and restrained through yoga-seva — the steady service of practice — comes to rest, something extraordinary happens: atmana atmanam pashyan, the seeker beholds the Self by the self. The instrument of seeing, the seer, and the seen become one.
And in that seeing he finds atmani tushyati — complete satisfaction within the Self alone. This is contentment that needs nothing from outside, the end of the endless search. The phrase 'seeing the Self by the self' points to a knowing beyond ordinary perception, where the pure consciousness recognizes its own nature directly. All the disciplined effort of the chapter culminates here, in this self-luminous fulfillment. The restless seeking that drives every life finally comes to rest, not in any object, but in the discovery of what we have always been.
💡 Key Takeaway
When practice quiets the mind, you behold the Self by the Self and find complete fulfillment within.
Related Verses
ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा कूटस्थो विजितेन्द्रियः | युक्त इत्युच्यते योगी समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः ||६-८||
jñānavijñānatṛptātmā kūṭastho vijitendriyaḥ . yukta ityucyate yogī samaloṣṭāśmakāñcanaḥ ||6-8||
6.8 The Yogi who is satisfied with the knowledge and the wisdom (of the Self), who has conered the senses, and to whom a clod of earth, a piece of stone and gold are the same, is said to be harmonied (i.e., is said to have attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi).
योगी युञ्जीत सततमात्मानं रहसि स्थितः | एकाकी यतचित्तात्मा निराशीरपरिग्रहः ||६-१०||
yogī yuñjīta satatamātmānaṃ rahasi sthitaḥ . ekākī yatacittātmā nirāśīraparigrahaḥ ||6-10||
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.
शुचौ देशे प्रतिष्ठाप्य स्थिरमासनमात्मनः | नात्युच्छ्रितं नातिनीचं चैलाजिनकुशोत्तरम् ||६-११||
śucau deśe pratiṣṭhāpya sthiramāsanamātmanaḥ . nātyucchritaṃ nātinīcaṃ cailājinakuśottaram ||6-11||
6.11 In a clean spot, having established a firm seat of his own, neither too high nor too low, made of a cloth, a skin and Kusa-grass, one over the other.