Chapter 6

The Way of Meditation

The Restless Mind

Your own friend or your own enemy

Krishna turns now to seated meditation — and opens with a warning about the self. "Lift yourself by your own effort," he says, "and do not let yourself sink. The self is a person's own greatest ally — and their own greatest enemy."

For the one who has brought the self under control, it works like a friend. For the one who has not, that same self turns into a hostile stranger within, working against them from the inside.

The seat and the measure

The instructions are entirely practical. Choose a clean, quiet place. Set a steady seat, neither too high nor too low. Hold the body, head and neck upright and still, and let the gaze settle rather than wander.

Maintain moderation in everything — "this yoga is not for the one who eats too much or fasts too hard," Krishna says, "who oversleeps or forces themselves to stay awake. For the one who is measured in food, rest, work and sleep, this discipline puts an end to sorrow."

The steady flame

The mind of a yogi deep in absorption, Krishna says, is like the flame of a lamp in a windless place — it never wavers, never flickers.

In that stillness rises a joy the senses could never supply — and once a person has truly touched it, no other gain looks greater, and not even heavy sorrow can move them from it. "That state," he says, "should be sought with a mind that refuses to give up."

The restless mind

Arjuna raises a plain objection. "The mind is restless," he says, "turbulent, wilful and strong — holding it feels as hard as holding the wind."

Krishna does not deny it. "The mind is hard to restrain, true," he agrees, "but it is done — through two things: steady practice, kept up over time, and dispassion." And nothing sincere is ever wasted — a person who takes up this path and does not finish it is not destroyed. They are reborn into a good home, or a wise one, and pick up exactly where they left off.

The highest yogi

Krishna places the yogi above the ascetic, above the person of mere learning, above the ritual performer, and tells Arjuna to become one.

"And among all yogis," he adds, "the highest of all is the one who turns inwardly to me with faith and devotion." That person, of everyone, is the most closely joined.

Note: The meditation discipline here overlaps with later yoga, but it is not Patanjali's eight-limbed system set out as such. The fear that spiritual failure wastes a whole life is raised by Arjuna and directly denied by Krishna: no one who does good comes to a bad end. The chapter's alternative title is Atma-samyama-yoga, "the yoga of self-restraint."

Source: Mahabharata — Bhishma Parva, The Way of Meditation

Now — how much stayed with you?

Fact

What does Krishna warn about the self?

  • That the self is always a friend
  • That the self does not exist
  • That the self is a person's own ally, and also their own enemy
  • That only a teacher can bring the self under control
Read the whole story — Your own friend or your own enemy

Krishna says: lift yourself by your own effort, and do not let yourself sink.

For the one who has brought the self under control, it works as a friend.

For the one who has not, it behaves like a hostile stranger, working against them from the inside.

Fact

Who does Krishna say this yoga is not for?

  • The one who eats too much or fasts too hard, who oversleeps or forces themselves to stay awake
  • The one who is a householder
  • The one who fights
  • The one who worships another deity
Read the whole story — The seat and the measure

The instructions are plain: a clean, quiet place; a steady seat, neither too high nor too low; the body, head and neck upright and still; the gaze settled.

And a measure in everything — in food, rest, work and sleep.

For the one who is measured, Krishna says, this discipline puts an end to sorrow.

Riddle

I am an image: the mind of a yogi in deep absorption is like me — I am a place where no wind reaches. What am I?

  • A gem strung on a thread
  • A lotus leaf on water
  • An upside-down tree
  • The flame of a lamp in a place where no wind reaches
Read the whole story — The steady flame

In that stillness a joy rises that the senses cannot supply.

Once a person has truly touched it, they judge no other gain greater and are not moved from it even by heavy sorrow.

That state, Krishna says, should be pursued with a mind that does not give up.

Who said it?

"The mind is restless, turbulent, wilful and strong; holding it seems as hard as holding the wind" — who says this?

  • Krishna
  • Arjuna
  • Sanjaya
  • Vyasa
Read the whole story — The restless mind

Krishna agrees the mind is hard to restrain — but it is done, by two things: steady practice, kept up over time, and dispassion.

And nothing sincere is wasted.

A person who takes up this path and does not finish it is not destroyed, but is reborn in a good home, or a wise one, and picks up where they left off.

What happened?

Arjuna fears what will become of the one who leaves this yoga unfinished — what does Krishna answer?

  • That such a person is destroyed forever
  • That such a person is not destroyed
  • That such a person must learn everything again from the start
  • That such a person is reborn as an animal
Read the whole story — The highest yogi

The fear that spiritual failure wastes a whole life is raised by Arjuna and directly denied by Krishna.

Krishna places the yogi above the ascetic, the person of learning and the ritual performer, and tells Arjuna to become a yogi.

And among all yogis, he places highest the one who holds to him with the inner self, full of faith, and loves him.

Who am I?

I am the yogi Krishna places highest — above the ascetic, above the person of learning, above the ritual performer. What do I do?

  • I hold the hardest posture
  • I keep the longest fast
  • I memorise all the Vedas
  • I hold to Krishna with the inner self, full of faith, and I love him
Read the whole story — Even the summit of meditation is devotion

Chapter 6 is about the technique of meditation — the seat, the breath, the measure, the practice.

But its final verse says the most closely joined of all yogis is the one who holds to Krishna with love.

Ramanuja weighs this heavily — meditation ends in devotion to the personal Lord; for Shankara it is a rung on the way to knowledge.

Why is that?

Why does Krishna stress "measure" — not too much, not too little — so heavily in meditation?

  • Because this yoga is not for the one who is excessive in food, sleep or work
  • Because austerity has no value
  • Because yoga is only for kings
  • Because going hungry brings divine sight
Read the whole story — Against the extremes

Verses 6.16–17 reject extremes of eating, fasting, sleeping and wakefulness.

The meditation discipline here overlaps with later yoga, but it is not Patanjali's eight-limbed system set out as such.

Krishna's stress is less on technique than on balance — a measured life, then a steady mind.

The texts disagree

"The Gita teaches Patanjali's eight-limbed yoga here" — is this right?

  • Yes, the eight limbs come in order in this chapter
  • Yes, the Gita cannot be earlier than Patanjali
  • No
  • No
Read the whole story — Overlap, not the same system

Posture, breath, solitude, sense-restraint — these are in Patanjali too, and here.

But the Gita does not present them as a list of eight ordered limbs, nor use the word "ashtanga."

The chapter's alternative title is Atma-samyama-yoga, "the yoga of self-restraint."

Put it in order

In what order does Chapter 6's teaching move?

  • The restless mind → the seat → the self as friend or enemy → the highest yogi
  • The self as its own friend or enemy → the seat and the measure → the mind like a steady flame → Arjuna's "the mind is like the wind" objection → the unfinished yogi is not destroyed → the highest yogi is the one who loves Krishna
  • The seat → the unfinished yogi → the steady flame → the self as friend or enemy
  • Arjuna's objection → the seat → the highest yogi → the self as friend or enemy
Read the whole story — From technique to devotion

The chapter opens on a warning about the self and closes on a statement of devotion.

In between are the most concrete instructions — how to sit, how much to eat, what to do when the mind wanders.

And in answer to Arjuna's objection, Krishna's reassurance: no sincere effort is wasted.

Later tradition

"If you fail spiritually, your whole life is wasted" — does the Gita say this?

  • Yes, Krishna says exactly that
  • Yes, and so one should not begin the yoga at all
  • No
  • No
Read the whole story — The unfinished is not wasted

In verses 6.37–45 Arjuna asks: what of the one who has faith but does not complete the yoga?

Krishna says such a person is reborn in a good or wise home and continues from the prior practice.

"No doer of good comes to a bad end" — the line is explicit.