Verse 6.1

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 6.1:

श्री भगवान् उवाच–
अनाश्रितः कर्म-फलं कार्यं कर्म करोति यः ।
स सन्न्यासी च योगी च न निरग्निर् न चाक्रियः ॥ १ ॥

śrī bhagavān uvāca–
anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṃ kāryaṃ karma karoti yaḥ |
sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca na niragnir na cākriyaḥ || 1 ||

śrī bhagavān uvāca–Śrī Bhagavān said; anāśritaḥ–without expectation; karma-phalam–the fruit of his action; kāryam–that which should necessarily be done; karma–work; karoti–performs; yaḥ–who; saḥ–he; sannyāsī–in the renounced order; ca–and; yogī–one who is connected; ca–and; na–not; niragniḥ–one who ceases activities such as the practice of fire sacrifices; na–not; ca–and; akriyaḥ–one who performs no bodily work.

Śrī Bhagavān said: Those who perform their prescribed activities without desiring the results of their actions are actual sannyāsīs and yogīs. Those who simply cease performing fire sacrifices such as the agni-hotra-yajña are not sannyāsīs, and those who merely give up all bodily activities are not yogīs.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

This Sixth Chapter deals with the various types of yoga performed by yogīs whose minds are self-controlled. It also explains the means to control the flickering mind.

A person who is engaged in the practice of aṣṭāṅga-yoga (the eightfold yoga system) should not suddenly give up niṣkāma-karma (selflessly performed prescribed duties). For this reason Śrī Bhagavān says, “Those who perform their scripturally prescribed duties, knowing them to be obligatory, without desiring the results, are actual sannyāsīs because they have renounced the fruit of their actions. Since their minds are free from desires for sense enjoyment, such persons are also called yogīs.” Niragni means that a person is not called a sannyāsī simply because he has abandoned all karma (religious duties) such as the performance of fire sacrifice (agni-hotra-yajña). Akriyaḥ means that a person is not called a yogī simply because he has given up all bodily activities and sits motionless with his eyes half-closed.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Aṣṭāṅga-yoga was described in a condensed form in three verses at the end of the Fifth Chapter. In this Sixth Chapter, the subject of these three verses is explained in detail.

The word agni-hotra mentioned in the commentary is a special type of Vedic fire sacrifice, or yajña, performed to satisfy Agni, the presiding deity of fire. According to this procedure, at the end of a marriage ceremony, brāhmaṇas should perform a yajña by establishing a fire and chanting Vedic mantras prescribed for the spring season. At that time, one makes a determined vow to perform the sacrifice with a particular substance (such as ghee). After that, the sacrifice should be performed with that substance for the rest of one’s life. On the dark-moon night, one must personally perform the sacrifice with barley water. On other days, there will be no fault even if there is some variation.

After one has performed one hundred sacrifices, one must perform a sacrifice to the sun in the morning and to the fire at twilight. It is imperative to commence daśa-paurṇamāsa-yāga while meditating on the fire on the first full-moon day. Besides that, one has to perform three sacrifices on the full-moon day and three on the dark-moon night. Furthermore, one must perform these six sacrifices for the rest of one’s life. The Vedas give detailed accounts of the results obtained by performing this yajña.