Chapter 127 - Practice of Yoga

The sages said:

1. Now tell us the Yoga which is an antidote for the contact with miseries. On understanding it we shall come in unison with the unchanging Puruṣottama.

Sūta said:

2. On hearing their words, the highly delighted Kṛṣṇa-Dvaipāyana, the Yogin, the most excellent among those who understand Yoga, said thus:

Vyāsa said:

3. O brahmins, listen. I shall recount Yoga that destroys worldly existence. By practising it, a Yogin shall attain liberation which is extremely difficult of access.

4-5. At the outset the devotee shall propitiate the preceptor devoutly and listen to the Yogic scriptural texts. He must then efficiently master Itihāsa, Purāṇa and Vedas. The intelligent one shall fully understand the diet (of a Yogin), the pitfalls during the practice of Yoga, and the proper time and place for the same. He shall be free from the mutually opposed pairs. He shall desist from hoarding possessions and then practise Yoga.

6-9. The following diet is conducive to the steady practice of Yoga: flour of fried grains, rice gruel, butter milk, roots, fruits, milk, barley food, ears of corn and oil cakes.

One shall never practise Yoga when the mind is unhappy, when one is (excited) weary or hungry, when the mutually conflicting pairs are present, when it is very chilly, when it is too hot, when there is too much of wind.

One shall not practise Yoga in a place which is too noisy, too close to water or too near fire. One shall not practise it in a dilapidated cow-pen, in a cross-road, in a place infested by reptiles, in a cremation ground, nor on the banks of a river. Yoga shall not be practised in a monastery, in an anthill, in a dangerous place or near a well. One should not practise it on a heap of dry leaves.

10. If out of foolishness, anyone were to practise Yoga without taking into consideration these restrictions as to places, certain defects are produced and they cause obstacles. I shall describe them.

11. Deafness, sluggishness, loss of memory, dumbness, blindness and fever are produced immediately, Similarly ignorance is caused.

12. Hence (arrangement for) safety should always be made by every means by a person conversant with Yoga, since the physical body is the means of achievement of virtue, wealth, love and liberation.

13-20. Places for the practice of Yoga shall be as follows: a lonely hermitage, a secret (one with privacy) place, a place free from noise, fear and (unnecessary) movements, a clean vacant house and a beautiful secluded temple.

The time for practice of Yoga shall be as follows: the first or last Yāma (a period of three hours) of the night or in the forenoon or at midday.

A devotee shall keep his mind pure and well-concentrated. His diet shall be proper. He shall control his sense-organs.

He shall be seated facing east on a beautiful seat that is comfortable and steady. It shall be neither too raised up nor too much depressed.

The devotee shall be pure, truthful in speech and devoid of desire. He shall observe moderate periods of sleep. He shall subdue anger. He shall be engaged in what is conducive to the welfare of living beings. He shall put up with the inconvenience of suffering the mutually opposed pairs (i.e. excessive heat and chill etc.). He shall be self-possessed. He shall keep his body, legs and head in a steady posture.

He shall place both the hands on the navel. He shall be calm. He shall be seated in the lotus posture. The eyes should be fixed on the tip of the nose. He shall control his vital airs and speech. All the sense organs with the mind shall be withdrawn into the heart. Otherwise silent, he shall utter the Praṇava (Oṃkāra), continuously with the mouth well-covered. He shall be steady.

He shall subdue the activities of Tamas by means of Rajas and those of Rajas by means of Sattva. He shall maintain a pure and quiet posture with the eyes closed. (Thus) the Yogin shall always be in unison with Puruṣottama who is the bestower of salvation, who dwells in the cavity of his lotus-like heart, who is omnipresent and who is unsullied.

21. At the outset he shall fix the sense organs, the organs of action and the elements in his soul. He should unite his soul with the supreme soul. It is then that the devotee performs Yoga.

22. The supreme region is characterized by the hundredth part of the tip of a hair (i.e. it is very subtle). The Yogins who are devoted to meditation see it by the lamp of their mind. The devotee conversant with Yoga is capable of withdrawing the sense organs like a turtle that withdraws its limbs.

23. If the mind of a person is able to find its ultimate end in the supreme soul after abandoning all sensuous objects, his success in Yoga is assured.

24. When the mind is free from sensuous objects as the Yogin is in communion with the supreme Brahman in the course of his ecstatic experience and the mind gets dissolved in the supreme Brahman, he attains the highest place.

25. When the mind of the Yogin is disengaged from every sort of activity after attaining the highest bliss, he attains salvation.

26. By the power of Yoga the Yogin attains the pure Puruṣottama who is termed the “fourth” and who transcends the three states (viz. wakeful, dreaming and slumbering). There is no doubt in this that he is liberated.

27. A Yogin who is free from desires for any object of lust, who is pleasing to look at in any posture whatsoever (or who sees pleasant things everywhere), and who is aware of transience of everything, shall be liberated and not otherwise.

28. He who is conversant with Yoga shall not indulge in the objects of sense. He shall undoubtedly be liberated by absence of attachment and regular practice of Yoga.

29. Yoga is not achieved merely by resorting to the Lotus posture, nor by concentrating on the tip of the nose. The unison of the mind and the sense organs with the soul is called Yoga.

30. Thus, O excellent sages, the Yoga that bestows liberation, that is the cause of release from worldly bondage, has been recounted by me. What else do you wish to hear?

Lomaharṣaṇa said:

31. On hearing his words they said: “Well done, Well done”. After praising and honouring Vyāsa they began to ask him once again.