Verse 6.17

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 6.17:

युक्ताहार-विहारस्य युक्त-चेष्टस्य कर्मसु युक्त-स्वप्नावबोधस्य योगो भवति दुःख-हा ॥ १७ ॥

yuktāhāra-vihārasya yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu
yukta-svapnāvabodhasya yogo bhavati duḥkha-hā || 17 ||

yukta–appropriate; āhāra–eating; vihārasya–for one whose recrea-tion; yukta–appropriate; ceṣṭasya–whose movements; karmasu–in activities;yukta–appropriate; svapna–and sleeping; avabodhasya–whose waking; yogaḥ–the process of linking with the Supreme Lord; bhavati–becomes; duḥkha-hā–a slayer of material miseries.

For a person who is moderate in eating and recreation, balanced in work and regulated in sleeping and wakefulness, his practice of yoga destroys all material miseries.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

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

A person’s worldly and transcendental activities will lead to success if he is regulated in eating and recreation.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

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

If a person is not moderate in eating and recreation, he faces various miseries that become an obstacle in his practice (sādhana). Similarly, if his mind is flickering and agitated because of various anxieties, it is also not possible for him to attain perfection in his practice (sādhana). Therefore, in a balanced manner, the practitioner should eat food that is easily digestible and nourishing. It is imperative for the practitioner of bhakti to follow the instructions given by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in Śrī Upadeśāmṛta, wherein it is said that only a person who controls the urges of the mind, anger, tongue and genitals can perform sādhana properly. Additionally, one should always keep a distance from the six unfavourable activities: over-eating, over-endeavouring for mundane things, talking unnecessarily, having undue attachment to or disregard for rules and regulations, taking bad association and maintaining a desire to follow a false philosophy.

In this verse, the words yukta-svapnāvabodhasya mean ‘regulated sleep and regulated wakefulness’.