Gita 06.13 – Physical position is meant to facilitate mental absorption

Presses on in the inner journey thank you this is avi krishna continuing the description of the process of ashtanga yoga that he is focusing on the description of asanas samam kāyā śiro grīvam so samam in a straight line kāyā kāyā is the body śiro is the head grīvam is the neck so it keeps the back the neck and the head in a straight line dhāryan positioning oneself like this achalam sthira being firm being non-moving in fixed sampreksha nāsikāgraṁsvam sampreksha one starts seeing nāsikāgraṁsvam at the tip of the nose nāsikāgraṁsvam diśhas ca navalokayan and diśha diśha is directions cha anavalokayan one doesn't look in various directions so here krishna is describing the body posture and the focus of the eyes so asanas are important preliminary steps for focusing the mind actually if you see in most activities there are postures which are comfortable then we slightly customize for different people for example when a batsman is going to bat every batsman has a particular stance now how the batsman stays how far the batsman keeps the bat from the body or does the bat touch the ground or raised above the ground how much distance to keep between the legs how far to stand from the stumps whatever so there are so many things which are which all which comprise the stance which is like the posture which is in the asana you could say now the principle that there is a particular that there is a comfortable efficient posture for subsequent action that is universal many times when people sit on chairs they often if they find they try to make the chair comfortable so that they can do the work properly whatever work it may be now while this is a crude examples of the role of postures but the point is that the postures do play a role and that role is not to be down played or denigrated or denied acknowledging that role enables us to move forward in our inner journey so here Krishna is not talking about any particular asana there are many different asanas which are there in yoga in the yoga yoga shastras and different asanas serve different purposes now many of the asanas are also meant for facilitating bodily health the purpose of facilitating bodily health is not bodily enjoyment as is widely thought of considered today nowadays many people practice yoga primarily for the purpose of forced for enhancing bodily health but the yogis who want to realize their identity beyond the body even such yogis know that ultimately the body is temporary and ultimately we need to go beyond the body but still they know that as long as the soul is in the body this the body has to be taken care of in the body is the the body is the tool for for perceive for for higher spiritual pursuits the body is settling then one cannot focus on higher spiritual truths although one may strive to and sometimes we may appreciate the sheer determination and the capacity of some advanced devotees or some serious yogis we may appreciate the determination to tolerate and transcend their body limitations beyond that even they have some limit on how much they can tolerate and transcend and they also take treatments and they also take precautions for their body so similarly our level of tolerance or our capacity to tolerate or transcend the body's problems may be much lesser but even for those who have renounced the who have more or less renounced the world and who are focusing on intense or exclusive practice of yoga as are the seekers being talked about here who have gone to the forest to secluded place even for such yogis maintenance of health is important and Krishna will talk about that further again in Yukta few verses later 16 and 17 verses of this chapter but here the Krishna is a broad principle that sit erect so the idea is that if one slouches then actually the the ability to focus also becomes difficult once my mind also starts becoming sluggish and bodily posture is lethargic is conducive to lethargy so the erect sitting now many of many of us and many people today have back problems because of which erect sitting is practically impossible so that is not a insurmountable obstacle as a point of external is not that the we consider the externals to be the ultimate thing and think that without the external nothing is possible the point of externals is to recognize that these externals are conducive and as much as possible we should try to have these externals so as erect as possible so in case it's not exactly possible to keep in a straight vertical line keep the back and neck and head as erect as possible and then some break Shana Sikha Ram Swam so see look at the tip of the nose and I wonder what is is there some mystical energy store the tip of the nose that one should focus on that tip and Krishna says further this is chanava lokayana and don't look here and there don't don't make the exercise of yoga into a sightseeing exercise when I sits in one place but let the eyes wander here and there and then along with it the mind also wanders and the mind is meant to wonder not wander wonder not about what is there out in the material world but wonder about what treasures are hidden deep within and to pursue those treasures so that is of course a long way off for most of us but we can get glimpses of that when we experience some deep peace or some some very special bliss and during our practice of bhakti yoga you understand that there is there is much that is there within which we can seek and gain so here the point of focusing on the tip of the nose should also be understood the there's nothing specifically mystical about the tip of the nose and in fact Krishna has earlier told in 5.27 28 that one should focus on the space between the eyebrows sparshan kritva bahirbhayam chakshush chaiva antare bhruvo chakshush chaiva antare bhruvo that in between this focus and the space between the eyebrows so the point of either that in focusing on the point on that on the space between the eyebrows or at the tip of the nose the point is to have some stable external point for focus by which one does not get distracted and captivated within the changes within the external world changes in the outer circumstances and by having one steady external point one brings one's vision and one's thoughts under control they are ranging around we try to bring them under control and then once they are brought under control then they can be led inwards and that inward journey will be subsequently talked about in the ongoing discussion on this chapter thank you.