Verses 6.11-12

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verses 6.11-12:

शुचौ देशे प्रतिष्ठाप्य स्थिरम् आसनम् आत्मनः ।
नात्युच्छ्रितं नातिनीचं चैलाजिन-कुशोत्तरम् ॥ ११ ॥
तत्रैकाग्रं मनः कृत्वा यत-चित्तेन्द्रिय-क्रियः ।
उपविश्यासने युञ्ज्याद् योगम् आत्म-विशुद्धये ॥ १२ ॥

śucau deśe pratiṣṭhāpya sthiram āsanam ātmanaḥ |
nātyucchritaṃ nātinīcaṃ cailājina-kuśottaram || 11 ||
tatraikāgraṃ manaḥ kṛtvā yata-cittendriya-kriyaḥ |
upaviśyāsane yuñjyād yogam ātma-viśuddhaye || 12 ||

śucau deśe–in a clean place; pratiṣṭhāpya–establishing; sthiram–steadfast; āsanam–seat; ātmanaḥ–his; na ati-ucchritam–neither too high; na ati-nīcam–nor too low; caila–and a cloth; ajina–a deerskin; kuśa–a mat of kuśa grass; uttaram–in sequence; tatra–there; eka-agram–one-pointedly; manaḥ–his mind; kṛtvā–having fixed; yata–controlling; citta–of his mind; indriya–and senses; kriyaḥ–the activities; upaviśya–sitting; āsane–on the seat; yuñjyāt yogam–he should practise yoga; ātma-viśuddhaye–for the purification of his mind.

In a sanctified place, one should make a secure sitting place by placing kuśa grass, deerskin and then cloth on the ground. It should be neither too high nor too low. Sitting on that, one should practise yoga to purify the mind with one-pointed concentration, and control all of his thoughts and activities.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

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

Pratiṣṭhāpya means ‘after establishing’. Cailājina-kuśottaram indicates that one should put deerskin on a mat made from kuśa and on top of that a seat made of cloth. Ātmā means that in order to obtain the capacity to see brahma directly, the yogī, becoming free from distractions so as to achieve mental purity and extreme subtlety, should concentrate his intelligence on a single point. It is said in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.3.12) “dṛśyate tv agryayā buddhyā–one with single-pointed intelligence can see brahma.”