Gita 06.20 – Stop outer obsession to begin inner perception

Thank you from the first verse onwards to the 23rd verse describing the state of samadhi which is the aspiration and perfection of the path of yoga so in the previous verse it is described how the yogis fix their consciousness on the self like a lamp in a windless place and in this way when the mind becomes fixed what is the result? yatra uparama te chittam uparama we have the word viram means to stop, so uparama means to cessation stop uparama te chittam niruddham yoga sevaya yoga sevaya by the practice of yoga niruddham we come to the stage of niruddham so niruddha nirodha, niruddha is a state which is the culmination among the states of consciousness within the framework of yogic analysis so there is mudha, kshitta vikshitta ekagrita and nirudha mudha is deluded, it is dharmasekha then there is the kshitta stage is virajasekha, then there is vikshitta is trying to come towards sattva guna ekagrita is one is situated in sattva guna moving towards transcendence and nirudha is one has come to transcendence in terms of going beyond the mudhas so nirudha essentially means cessation stoppage, end so kshitta vritti nirodha in patanjali yogasutra it is defined that the perfection of yoga is kshitta vritti nirodha to stop the movement of consciousness kshitta vritti as per its inclination the kshitta moves to stop that so Krishna is saying that it is attained yogyatra uparamate kshitta niruddham so kshitta vritti nirodha and uparamate kshitta niruddham so Krishna is practically saying the same thing over here as he stated in patanjali yogasutra so it is clear that this is the state of yogic perfection now the yogic perfection has two aspects where in patanjali focuses on one aspect within it Just like if a person is caught in watching a movie and is completely lost in that, then firstly one has to recognize that the movie is not the reality and I am not a character in the movie.

And one stops letting one's consciousness be entangled in the movie. So one's consciousness is no longer attracted or affected by the movie. That is one stage of disentanglement.

And the second stage is then to take the consciousness into the reality. So now in the yoga path itself, at least as it is given in Patanjali Jyotasutra, there is no explicit mention of who the Ishwara is. Ishwara Pranidhaan is definitely talked about.

That surrender to Ishwara is the goal, is one of the elements of yoga. At the same time, who Ishwara is and what is the ultimate perfection in terms of the relationship with Ishwara, that is not talked about in the Yoga Sutras. When the Yoga Sutras were written, Patanjali assumes that his audience already knows who is Ishwara and his focus is not on revealing the identity or the glory of the Ishwara.

His focus is on giving the methodology of yoga. So Patanjali Yoga Sutra is not a very big book. The sutras are very small.

Of course, commentaries on them have been elaborate. But the book itself is small. So at this stage, Krishna is also talking about the cessation of the negative.

Because even in Bhagavad Gita, he has not introduced himself so directly till now. Yatro paramate chittam uparamate. So bring the consciousness under control.

Chittam, not just under control, but bring it to cessation. Niruddham yoga sevaya. How does that happen? By the consistent practice of yoga.

And then what happens by that? At that stage, it's like when stop being infatuated by the movie, then one can turn around and see what else is there around me. Yatra chaivaatmanatmanam. Yatra chaiva, then therefore within that, Aatmanatmanam.

That one can see with the consciousness purified. Aatmanatmanam. So here the Aatmana can refer to the mind.

Turning towards the self. Basically, we turn our internal eye internally. We have inner eye, which has to connect with the outer eye.

And then there is perception that happens. By inner eye, I am not referring to the organ eye. But I am talking about the subtle faculty of vision.

It's like sometimes when we are looking at something, but if we are absent-minded, if our mind is elsewhere, then although the light rays from that object may fall on our eyes, but still conscious perception of that object doesn't occur in our consciousness. Because the inner eye is, the mind's eye we can say, is elsewhere. So here, the point has been talked about is, that once the outer movement of consciousness has ceased, Chitta is the, we discussed earlier, Chit is the faculty of consciousness of the soul.

And Chitta is that consciousness which is embodied in the, which is in the body, which is rooted to the body and through the body. Just like the person watching a movie, the person's capacity to see the movie theater, the ceiling, the roof, the chair, the neighbor sitting on the seat next to one, that we could call as Chitta. And the spectator's consciousness, when it is rooted into the movie, and whatever gets absorbed in the movie, that is Chitta.

So here, the point that is being made is, that Chit and Chitta, so Chitta has been Narodha, and then the vision turns other ways. Chitta chaiva aatmanaatmanam So with the inner eye, aatmanaatmanam, one sees the aatma. Pashyan aatmanitushyate And one delights in oneself.

Pashyan, on seeing, aatmanitushyate, it's beautiful, aatmanitushyate. Now, actually, to recognize oneself to be indestructible, to recognize oneself to be actually having bliss and consciousness within oneself, that itself is a joyful realization. Just understanding oneself as an indestructible soul is a wonderful thing.

So, of course, the joy when one realizes Krishna is even greater, but even the joy of realizing oneself as aatma far exceeds the joy of the material joys. And one recognizes that as Pashyan aatmanitushyate When we see this, there is aatmanitushyate, there is great joy within the self that comes by the practice of yoga. Or not just by the practice, by the stage of one level of perfection of yoga where one sees the soul.

So what is Krishna saying essentially in this verse? Yoga sevaya, by the practice of yoga, yatra uparamate chittam That the movement of consciousness within the material realm stops and niruddham, niruddham, so one attains the state of nirodha, yogas chittavati nirodha, as it was said. And then, once one stops looking outwards to the world, then one starts looking inwards and perceives oneself. yatra chaiva aatmanatmanam So one perceives oneself.

Now, according to the Yoga Sutra, it is said that the mind acts like a mirror. chitto dharpanamarjanam Just like we see ourselves in a mirror, similarly, the chitta, when it is cleansed of all contamination, then the mind acts like a mirror for the soul, where the soul can perceive oneself. So, paschan aatmanitushyati So, one sees oneself and delights in that sight of oneself.