BHAGVAD GITA

SIX: SELF-CONTROL


“Lord Shri Krishna said: He who acts because it is his duty, not thinking of the
consequences, is really spiritual and a true ascetic; and not he who merely observes rituals
or who shuns all action.


O Arjuna! Renunciation is in fact what is called Right Action. No one can become spiritual
who has not renounced all desire.


For the sage who seeks the heights of spiritual meditation, practice is the only method,
and when he has attained them, he must maintain himself there by continual self-control.


When a man renounces even the thought of initiating action, when he is not interested in
sense objects or any results which may flow from his acts, then in truth he understands
spirituality.


Let him seek liberation by the help of his Highest Self, and let him never disgrace his own
Self. For that Self is his only friend; yet it may also be his enemy.


To him who has conquered his lower nature by Its help, the Self is a friend, but to him
who has not done so, It is an enemy.


The Self of him who is self-controlled, and has attained peace is equally unmoved by heat
or cold, pleasure or pain, honour or dishonour.


He who desires nothing but wisdom and spiritual insight, who has conquered his senses
and who looks with the same eye upon a lump of earth, a stone or fine gold, is a real saint.


He looks impartially on all – lover, friend or foe; indifferent or hostile; alien or relative;
virtuous or sinful.


Let the student of spirituality try unceasingly to concentrate his mind; Let him live in
seclusion, absolutely alone, with mind and personality controlled, free from desire and
without possessions.


Having chosen a holy place, let him sit in a firm posture on a seat, neither too high nor too
low, and covered with a grass mat, a deer skin and a cloth.


Seated thus, his mind concentrated, its functions controlled and his senses governed, let
him practise meditation for the purification of his lower nature.


Let him hold body, head and neck erect, motionless and steady; let him look fixedly at the
tip of his nose, turning neither to the right nor to the left.


With peace in his heart and nor fear, observing the vow of celibacy, with mind controlled
and fixed on Me, let the student lose himself in contemplation of Me.


Thus keeping his mind always in communion with Me, and with his thoughts subdued,
he shall attain that Peace which is mine and which will lead him to liberation at last.


Meditation is not for him who eats too much, not for him who eats not at all; not for him
who is overmuch addicted to sleep, not for him who is always awake.