{"entry":{"slug":"bg-chapter-06","title":"Bhagavad Gīta Chapter 6 — Dhyāna Yoga","devanagari":"ध्यानयोग","iast":"dhyāna-yoga","type":"bg-chapter","url":"https://thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-06/","codex":"sanatana-dharma","last_verified":"2026-05","confidence":"high"},"chapter":{"number":6,"name":"Dhyāna-yoga","name_translation":"The Yoga of Meditation","verses":47,"speaker_primary":"Kṛṣṇa (throughout); Arjuna (6.33–6.34; 6.37–6.39)","key_verses":["6.5","6.11–6.14","6.16–6.17","6.19","6.29","6.33–6.36","6.41–6.45","6.47"]},"summary":"Primary meditation chapter of the Gīta. BG 6.5: lift the self by the self — the self is its own friend and enemy. Meditation instructions (6.11–6.14): clean spot, erect posture, steady gaze. BG 6.19: the lamp-in-windless-place simile. Temperance is prerequisite (6.16–6.17). Arjuna challenges: the mind is as difficult to control as the wind (6.34). Kṛṣṇa: controlled by practice (abhyāsa) and dispassion (vairāgya) (6.35). The fallen yogī (6.37–6.45): no spiritual effort is lost — reborn in auspicious circumstances to continue practice. BG 6.29–6.32: the self in all beings, all beings in the Self. BG 6.47: the devotee is the supreme yogī.","key_verses_detail":{"BG_6_5":{"devanagari":"उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् / आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः","iast":"uddhared ātmanātmānaṃ nātmānam avasādayet / ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ","translation":"Lift the self by the self; let not the self be depressed. For the self alone is the friend of the self, and the self alone is the enemy of the self.","note":"Śaṅkara: two senses of ātman — lower self (mind/ego) under discipline = friend; undisciplined = enemy. Use the disciplined mind to train the undisciplined mind."},"BG_6_11_14":{"note":"Meditation instructions: clean spot, neither too high nor too low, cloth + deer-skin + kuśa grass. Body/head/neck erect and motionless. Gaze fixed (nasikāgra = tip of nose). Mind serene, fearless, established in brahmacarya. Think of Kṛṣṇa as the highest."},"BG_6_16_17":{"iast":"nātyaśnatas tu yogo 'sti na caikāntam anaśnataḥ","translation":"Yoga is not for one who eats too much or too little, nor for one who sleeps too much or too little. For one whose diet/activity/sleep/waking are regulated, yoga destroys sorrow.","note":"The middle path — neither extreme asceticism nor indulgence."},"BG_6_19":{"devanagari":"यथा दीपो निवातस्थो नेङ्गते सोपमा स्मृता","iast":"yathā dīpo nivāta-stho neṅgate sopamā smṛtā","translation":"As a lamp placed in a windless spot does not flicker — that simile is recalled for the yogī whose mind is controlled.","note":"The lamp image: mind sheltered from the winds of distraction burns with perfect, unwavering steadiness. The goal state of Dhyāna."},"BG_6_34_35":{"iast_34":"cañcalaṃ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa pramāthi balavad dṛḍham / tasyāhaṃ nigrahaṃ manye vāyor iva suduṣkaram","iast_35":"asaṃśayaṃ mahābāho mano durnigrahaṃ calam / abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate","translation":"Arjuna: the mind is restless, obstinate, powerful — as difficult to control as the wind. Kṛṣṇa: undoubtedly the mind is difficult to control; but it is mastered by practice (abhyāsa) and dispassion (vairāgya).","note":"abhyāsa (sustained practice) + vairāgya (dispassion — loosening attachment to mind's objects). Both necessary; neither alone sufficient."},"BG_6_41_45":{"note":"The fallen yogī: reborn in auspicious family or family of wise yogīs; there the wisdom of previous life revives and the person continues from where left off. BG 6.44: even a little of this Dharma delivers from great fear (echoing BG 2.40). No effort is lost."},"BG_6_47":{"iast":"yoginām api sarveṣāṃ mad-gatenāntarātmanā / śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṃ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ","translation":"Of all yogīs, the one who worships Me with faith, with the inner self gone to Me — I consider that one most established in yoga.","note":"Transition to the Bhakti section (Chapters 7–12). Places the devotee above all other practitioners."}},"the_restless_mind":"BG 6.33–6.36: Arjuna's practical challenge — mind is as difficult as the wind. Kṛṣṇa's answer: abhyāsa (practice) + vairāgya (dispassion). The most practically honest section of the chapter.","meditation_vs_yoga_sutras":"BG 6.11–6.14 shares elements with Yoga Sūtras (YS 2.46–2.53) but is less systematic; the Gīta's instructions are embedded in a devotional frame (thinking of Kṛṣṇa as highest), while Patañjali's are more technically precise.","sources":[{"tier":1,"citation":"BG 6.1–6.47 with Śaṅkara Gītābhāṣya · Gambhirananda (Advaita Ashrama, 2006), pp. 251–316"},{"tier":2,"citation":"Zaehner (OUP, 1969), pp. 212–228"},{"tier":2,"citation":"Bryant, Yoga Sūtras (North Point Press, 2009) — YS 2.46–2.53 for context"}],"navigation":{"previous":{"chapter":5,"url":"/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-05/","name":"Karma-Saṃnyāsa Yoga"},"next":{"chapter":7,"url":"/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-07/","name":"Jñāna-Vijñāna Yoga","status":"coming-soon"}},"provenance":{"confidence":"high","last_verified":"2026-05","citation":"\"BG Chapter 6 — Sanātana Dharma Codex\", thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-06/, last updated May 2026."}}