The Blessed Lord said: He who performs duty without dependence on fruits is the true renunciate and yogi—not one who merely abandons rites.

Let the yogi constantly unite the self in seclusion, alone, with disciplined mind—free from expectation and possession.

In a clean place, establish a firm seat—neither too high nor too low—covered with cloth, deer-skin and kusa grass.

There, making the mind one-pointed and controlling the functions of mind and senses, sit and practice Yoga for self-purification.

Holding body, head and neck erect and still, gazing steadily at the tip of the nose, not looking around.

Peaceful, fearless, established in brahmacharya, with controlled mind, meditate on Me, devoted to Me.

Thus uniting the self, the yogi of controlled mind attains peace—the supreme nirvana abiding in Me.

Yoga is not for one who overeats or fasts excessively, nor for one who oversleeps or never rests.

For one balanced in food, recreation, activity, sleep and wakefulness, Yoga becomes a destroyer of sorrow.

When the regulated mind rests in the Self alone, free from all desires—then one is called united.

Like a lamp in a windless place that does not flicker—such is the simile for the yogi of controlled mind in meditation.

What is called renunciation, know that to be Yoga; none becomes a yogi without giving up selfish resolves.

Where the mind, restrained by yoga, becomes still; where seeing the Self by the Self, one is satisfied in the Self.

There he knows supreme happiness, grasped by the intellect yet beyond the senses; established therein, he does not waver.

Having obtained which, one thinks no gain greater; established in which, one is not shaken even by heavy sorrow.

Know that as Yoga which is disconnection from union with sorrow; practice it with firm resolve and undepressed mind.

Abandoning entirely desires born of imagination, and by mind restraining the aggregate of senses on all sides…

Little by little, let him attain quietude with the intellect held by firmness; making the mind abide in the Self, think of nothing else.

From wherever the restless, unsteady mind wanders, restrain it and bring it under the control of the Self.

Supreme happiness comes to the yogi of peaceful mind, with passions pacified, stainless, become Brahman.

Practicing thus, the sinless yogi easily enjoys the boundless joy of contact with Brahman.

The yogi of union, with even vision, sees the Self in all beings and all beings in the Self.

For the beginner, action is the means; for the established, tranquility is the means.

He who sees Me everywhere and everything in Me—I am not lost to him, nor is he lost to Me.

He who worships Me as abiding in all beings, established in oneness—that yogi dwells in Me whatever he does.

He who, by comparison with oneself, sees the same everywhere—others’ joy and sorrow as one’s own—is the supreme yogi.

Arjuna said: This Yoga of equanimity You declare, O Madhusudana—I do not see its steady establishment due to the mind’s restlessness.

For the mind is indeed restless, turbulent, strong and obstinate; I deem control of it as hard as the wind.

The Blessed Lord said: Undoubtedly the mind is hard to control, O mighty-armed; yet by practice and dispassion it is restrained.

Yoga is hard to attain by one of uncontrolled self; but by the disciplined self it is attainable by proper means.

Arjuna said: If a man, though faithful, with mind deflected from Yoga, fails to attain perfection—what is his fate, O Krishna?

Does he not perish like a riven cloud, fallen from both, without support and deluded on the path to Brahman?

This doubt of mine, O Krishna, please cut completely; none but You can dispel it.

When not attached to sense-objects or actions, having renounced cravings, one is established in Yoga.

The Blessed Lord said: Neither here nor hereafter is there destruction for him; one who does good, my son, never comes to grief.

Having attained the worlds of the meritorious and dwelt there for long, the fallen yogi is born in a pure and prosperous family.

Or he is born in a family of wise yogis—such a birth is indeed very rare in this world.

There he regains the connection with intelligence from the previous body, and strives again for perfection.

By that former practice he is carried forward even involuntarily; the seeker of Yoga transcends mere scriptural sound.

Striving with effort, the yogi, purified of sin, perfected through many births, reaches the highest goal.

The yogi is greater than ascetics, greater even than men of knowledge, and greater than ritualists; therefore be a yogi.

Of all yogis, he who worships Me with faith, with his inner Self absorbed in Me—he is deemed the most united.

Lift yourself by yourself; do not let yourself fall. The self is your friend and also your enemy.

For one who has conquered the self, the self is a friend; for the uncontrolled, it behaves like an enemy.

In one self-controlled and peaceful, the Supreme is well established—amid heat and cold, pleasure and pain, honor and dishonor.

Content in knowledge and wisdom, unchanged, sense-mastered—the yogi is said to be united, seeing clod, stone and gold as the same.

Toward friend, companion, foe, neutral, hateful, relative, saint or sinner—the yogi’s even-mindedness excels.