SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
asaṁyatātmanā yogo
duṣprāpa iti me matiḥ
vaśyātmanā tu yatatā
śakyo ’vāptum upāyataḥ
‘My belief is that yoga[4. Yoga means here the queiscent state into which by practice &c., the mind is disciplined. It is the state of mind freed from all thoughts or trains of consciousness relating to worldly concerns. This state of mind functioning purely on the spiritual plane is called samādhi, when all conscious-ness of body and self are withdrawn for the time being. It is the state of trance, or spiritual ecstasy, (vide, my Lectures on Inspiration, Intuition and Ecstasy in 3 Parts).], is hard to be won by him of ungoverned mind; but can be won by him of mind mastered, using (proper) means (therefor).’
That it is difficult to arrest the mind, which by nature is of a roaming character, is beyond denial. But the possibility of taming it anyhow depends upon generating in the mind a love (or liking) for ātma by accustoming it to reflect on its (ātma’s excellences), and an aversion (or dislike) for objects other than ātma, by presenting before its imagination the inherent imperfections of those objects.
By him who has not subjugated the mind, yoga[5. Yoga means here the queiscent state into which by practice &c., the mind is disciplined. It is the state of mind freed from all thoughts or trains of consciousness relating to worldly concerns. This state of mind functioning purely on the spiritual plane is called samādhi, when all conscious-ness of body and self are withdrawn for the time being. It is the state of trance, or spiritual ecstasy, (vide, my Lectures on Inspiration, Intuition and Ecstasy in 3 Parts).] is certainly difficult to achieve, but it (i.e., yoga of spiritual equality, or the cognizing sameness of spirit everywhere), is feasible to him who gains control over mind, by using proper methods.
Mind-control is attainable by the performance of the already described Wisdom-based Karma-Yoga, —which is worshipping Me—.
Arjuna asks again, in order to understand well, the greatness (or virtue) of (Karma-)yoga, he had already heard about, in the verse:
‘In this there is no loss of effort’ &c., (II-40).
The greatness of Karma-yoga there described is certainly that which embodies ātma-wisdom (or that which involves ātma-wisdom) within it, and culminating in yoga (meditation or ātma-union by meditation). That greatness of yoga itself[6. The meaning is that the nature of Karma-yoga declared in Lecture III should not be considered as in any way differing from what is taught here; for Karma-yoga is that which has calm ātma-meditation for its culmination, previous to ātma-revealment.], (is what Arjuna now asks :)—
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