Bhagavad Gita : Chapter 6

He who does his duties without depending on results is a real sanyasin as well as a yogi; not someone who forgoes all actions, be it religious or otherwise.

You must know that what is called sanyas is actually yoga, Arjuna. Without giving up contemplation of desired objects, there can be no yoga of any kind.

For one who is on the path of yoga, action is the means. For him who has attained yoga, the means is cessation of work.

When one is not attached to sensual activities, and his fancies do not roam over them,he can be called an accomplished yogi.

Everyone should try to raise himself by his one's own efforts, never weaken oneself. Your self can be your friend, and also your enemy.

The self is your friend, if you are its master; otherwise it would behave as an enemy.

A person who is master of himself and is free of passions will not be swerved in the midst of pain or pleasure, cold or heat, honour or dishonour.

Rich in learning and experience, firm, and master of senses, he is called a true yogi, for whom, log, stone and gold are the same.

The best is he who has the same attitude to all, whether it is well-wisher or friend, foe, indifferent, or impartial, enemy or cousin, sinner or saint.

Sitting alone in solitude, the yogi, controlling self and mind, without thought of possessions or wants, should engage in meditation.

Making a steady seat for himself, in a clean place, not too high, not too low, covered with cloth and deerskin, the aspirant, restraining the mind and senses from wandering, must sit and practise meditation with full concentration in order to purify himself.

Maintaining still in a straight line, body neck and head, directing your eyes towards the tip of nose, and not looking around, remain in control of mind, calm, fearless, committed to brahmacharya, and repose your mind in full trust on ME.

Thus practising yoga with concentration, the yogi attains the highest state of peace and becomes one with ME.

Yoga is not for those who indulge in eating too much, nor for those who abstain completely. Nor is it for those who are in the habit of sleeping too much or remaining awake too long.

Yoga will banish all the sorrows of a man who is moderate in food and rest, moderate in the performance of actions, moderate in sleep and wakefulness.

When the controlled mind finds its repose in self, and when no sense-object cause any longing in him, only then can one be called a yogi.

The analogy of a yogi, who has controlled his mind and sits in meditation absorbed in the supreme soul, is that of a still flame in a wind-sheltered place.

Where the mind bridled by the practice of yoga finally comes to rest, Where the self, seeing itself in the universal soul, is happy in itself,

Where the supreme happiness is realized which is beyond senses and felt only in the mind, Where once arrived no one would swerve from truth, And having attained which, no other thing will be considered more desirable, And where you will not be shaken by the heaviest blow, That state of complete eradication of even a trace of sorrow is what is called yoga.

This yoga should be steadfastly followed without any hesitation.

Giving up all desires born of fancy, restraining all the senses through will, slowly slowly you must withdraw the mind into your self with determination, and think of nothing.

Where ever where ever the mind, fickle and never still, wanders into; from there from there it should be stopped and brought back into self. The greatest happiness comes to such a yogi who has quietened his mind of all turbulence and impurities, and become one with Brahma.

A yogi, free from all blemishes, and always practising yoga in this manner, will easily enjoy unlimited happiness and merge in Brahma. Matured by practice of yoga, he sees himself in all beings and all beings in himself, considering all as equal.

Whoever sees ME everywhere, and all things in ME, I will never fail him, or he ME.

He, who views ME abiding in all beings, will always be with ME, whatever he does a complete yogi, according to me, is one who considers all the same as himself, in joy or sorrow.

Arjuna:
Regarding this yoga, Krishna, which you are teaching as complete equanimity, I do not find any stability for it, because of the wandering nature of the mind. The mind is known to be very fickle and volatile. To hold it is as difficult as to catch a wind.

Krishna:
No doubt, Arjuna, mind is never still and is difficult to catch. But it is possible to check it, by practice and by detachment from diversionary desires. My opinion is that yoga is impossible without mind-control. With mind-control, it is possible by effort.

Arjuna:
What will happen to a man, who sincerely tries, but fails in controlling the mind before succeeding in attaining yoga? Will he not perish, like a wind-scattered cloud, having lost both
and with no support base, directionless on the path to Brahma? Please clear this doubt of mine. I find nobody else who can do it.

Krishna:
Arjuna, neither here nor in the next world will such a person perish. My friend, be assured, anybody doing a good thing will never suffer.

The fallen from yoga will go to the worlds of the good, and after staying there for a long time, would be reborn in a pious prosperous family. Or he may be born in the family of realized yogis.

Such a birth is indeed more difficult to get in this world. And there he, retaining the memory of the previous birth, tries still harder to succeed.

Involuntarily would he be drawn by the latent force of his old practice, and would long to learn yoga, mastering all literature on it.

Putting more effort into the practice of yoga, and getting rid of all faults, he, in the course of several births, will succeed and attain the highest state.

To ME a yogi is superior to those who do penance, superior to the learned; he is superior to those who do the holy rites.

Therefore be a yogi, Arjuna. Among all the yogis, I consider him the best, who devotes himself to ME in full faith, and remembers me always.