श्रीमद्भगवद्गीताShrimad Bhagavad Gita 📖 Read as a flipbook

Bhagavad Gita · Dhyana Yoga (Atma-samyama Yoga)Chapter 6, Shloka 3 (6.3)

Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्

आरुरुक्षोर्मुनेर्योगं कर्म कारणमुच्यते
योगारूढस्य तस्यैव शमः कारणमुच्यते
॥ 6.3 ॥

ārurukṣormuneryogaṃ karma kāraṇamucyate
yogārūḍhasya tasyaiva śamaḥ kāraṇamucyate

Translation

"For the sage who wishes to ascend to yoga, action is said to be the means; and for that same (sage) who has ascended to yoga, calm (śama) is said to be the means."

Interpretation

The picture of a ladder. Ārurukṣu — one who wishes to climb a horse or a mountain; ārūḍha — one who has climbed. Each has a different means.

Shankaracharya. Ārurukṣoḥ … dhyāna-yoge avasthātum aśaktasya — one who is not yet able to stay steady in dhyana yoga; muneḥ karma-phala-saṃnyāsinaḥ — the sage who renounces the fruit; for such a one karma kāraṇaṃ sādhanam. For the one who has climbed, śamaḥ upaśamaḥ sarva-karmabhyo nivṛttiḥ — withdrawal from all actions is the means; yāvad yāvat karmabhyaḥ uparamate tāvat tāvat … cittaṃ samādhīyate — the more one withdraws from action, the more the mind becomes composed. As evidence, the Mahabharata (Śānti 175.37): … tatas tataś coparamaḥ kriyābhyaḥ.

Acharya Ramanuja. Yogam ātmāvalokanaṃ prāptum icchoḥ mumukṣoḥ karma-yoga eva kāraṇam — for the seeker of liberation who wants the yoga that is vision of the self, karma yoga alone is the cause; yogārūḍhasya pratiṣṭhita-yogasya eva śamaḥ karma-nivṛttiḥ kāraṇam. And the main conclusion: yāvad ātmāvalokana-rūpa-mokṣa-prāptiḥ tāvat karma kāryam — until moksha in the form of vision of the self is attained, action is to be done.

The difference: Both hold "action for climbing, śama after climbing". The emphasis differs: Shankara — śama = withdrawal from all action (the direction of renunciation); Ramanuja — action should continue until the goal is reached.

AI-assisted draft translation — under review.

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