"Persons learned in the Vedas, who utter oṁkāra and who are great sages in the renounced order, enter into Brahman. Desiring such perfection, one practices celibacy. I shall now explain to you this process by which one may attain salvation. The yogic situation is that of detachment from all sensual engagements. Closing all the doors of the senses and fixing the mind on the heart and the life air at the top of the head, one establishes himself in yoga." (Bg. 8.11-12) In the yoga system this process is called pratyāhāra, which means, in technical language, "the opposite." Now the eyes are engaged in seeing worldly beauty, so one has to withdraw them from enjoying that beauty and concentrate on seeing beauty inside. That is called pratyāhāra. Similarly, one has to hear the oṁkāra sound from within.
Pratyahara
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
Unless one is transcendentally situated, it is not possible to cease from sense enjoyment. The process of restriction from sense enjoyment by rules and regulations is something like restricting a diseased person from certain types of eatables. The patient, however, neither likes such restrictions nor loses his taste for eatables. Similarly, sense restriction by some spiritual process like aṣṭāṅga-yoga, in the matter of yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna, etc., is recommended for less intelligent persons who have no better knowledge. But one who has tasted the beauty of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, in the course of his advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, no longer has a taste for dead, material things. Therefore, restrictions are there for the less intelligent neophytes in the spiritual advancement of life, but such restrictions are only good until one actually has a taste for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When one is actually Kṛṣṇa conscious, he automatically loses his taste for pale things.
After explaining the above principles of liberation in the Supreme, the Lord gives instruction to Arjuna as to how one can come to that position by the practice of the mysticism or yoga known as aṣṭāṅga-yoga, which is divisible into an eightfold procedure called yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. In the Sixth Chapter the subject of yoga is explicitly detailed, and at the end of the Fifth it is only preliminarily explained. One has to drive out the sense objects such as sound, touch, form, taste and smell by the pratyāhāra process in yoga, and then keep the vision of the eyes between the two eyebrows and concentrate on the tip of the nose with half-closed lids. There is no benefit in closing the eyes altogether, because then there is every chance of falling asleep. Nor is there benefit in opening the eyes completely, because then there is the hazard of being attracted by sense objects. The breathing movement is restrained within the nostrils by neutralizing the up-moving and down-moving air within the body. By practice of such yoga one is able to gain control over the senses, refrain from outward sense objects, and thus prepare oneself for liberation in the Supreme.
Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however, brings one into spiritual life even while one is within the jurisdiction of matter, for it is an arousing of spiritual existence by practice in the material world. The more one is advanced, the more he is freed from the clutches of matter. The Lord is not partial toward anyone. Everything depends on one's practical performance of duties in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which helps one control the senses in every respect and conquer the influence of desire and anger. And one who stands fast in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, controlling the abovementioned passions, remains factually in the transcendental stage, or brahma-nirvāṇa. The eightfold yoga mysticism is automatically practiced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness because the ultimate purpose is served. There is a gradual process of elevation in the practice of yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. But these only preface perfection by devotional service, which alone can award peace to the human being. It is the highest perfection of life.
By proper conviction and intelligence one should gradually cease sense activities. This is called pratyāhāra. The mind, being controlled by conviction, meditation, and cessation from the senses, should be situated in trance, or samādhi. At that time there is no longer any danger of becoming engaged in the material conception of life. In other words, although one is involved with matter as long as the material body exists, one should not think about sense gratification. One should think of no pleasure aside from the pleasure of the Supreme Self. This state is easily attained by directly practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
BG Chapters 7 - 12
To practice yoga as suggested here, one first has to close the doors of all sense enjoyment. This practice is called pratyāhāra, or withdrawing the senses from the sense objects. The sense organs for acquiring knowledge—the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and touch—should be fully controlled and should not be allowed to engage in self-gratification. In this way the mind focuses on the Supersoul in the heart, and the life force is raised to the top of the head. In the Sixth Chapter this process is described in detail. But as mentioned before, this practice is not practical in this age. The best process is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If one is always able to fix his mind on Kṛṣṇa in devotional service, it is very easy for him to remain in an undisturbed transcendental trance, or in samādhi.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
The preliminary activities of the way of yoga are āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, etc. Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra was to attain success in those preliminary actions because he was seated in a sanctified place and was concentrating upon one objective, namely the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Hari). Thus all his senses were being engaged in the service of the Lord. This process directly helps the devotee to get freedom from the contaminations of the three material modes of nature. Even the highest mode, the material mode of goodness, is also a cause of material bondage, and what to speak of the other qualities, namely passion and ignorance. Passion and ignorance increase the material propensities of hankering for material enjoyment, and a strong sense of lust provokes the accumulation of wealth and power. One who has conquered these two base mentalities and has raised himself to the platform of goodness, which is full of knowledge and morality, cannot also control the senses, namely the eyes, the tongue, the nose, the ear and touch. But one who has surrendered himself unto the lotus feet of Lord Hari, as above mentioned, can transcend all influences of the modes of material nature and be fixed in the service of the Lord. The bhakti-yoga process, therefore, directly applies the senses to the loving service of the Lord. This prohibits the performer from engaging in material activities. This process of turning the senses from material attachment to the loving transcendental service of the Lord is called pratyāhāra, and the very process is called prāṇāyāma, ultimately ending in samādhi, or absorption in pleasing the Supreme Lord Hari by all means.
SB Canto 3
Yoga is practiced in eight different stages: yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. Yama and niyama mean practicing the controlling process by following strict regulations, and āsana refers to the sitting postures. These help raise one to the standard of faithfulness in devotional service. The practice of yoga by physical exercise is not the ultimate goal; the real end is to concentrate and to control the mind and train oneself to be situated in faithful devotional service.
It is stated here that by following the system of yoga one can become joyful. Lord Kapila, the Personality of Godhead, who is the highest authority on yoga, here explains the yoga system known as aṣṭāṅga-yoga, which comprises eight different practices, namely yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. By all these stages of practice one must realize Lord Viṣṇu, who is the target of all yoga. There are so-called yoga practices in which one concentrates the mind on voidness or on the impersonal, but this is not approved by the authorized yoga system as explained by Kapiladeva. Even Patañjali explains that the target of all yoga is Viṣṇu. Aṣṭāṅga-yoga is therefore part of Vaiṣṇava practice because its ultimate goal is realization of Viṣṇu. The achievement of success in yoga is not acquisition of mystic power, which is condemned in the previous chapter, but, rather, freedom from all material designations and situation in one's constitutional position. That is the ultimate achievement in yoga practice.
There are three kinds of yoga, namely bhakti-yoga, jñāna-yoga and aṣṭāṅga-yoga. Devotees, jñānīs and yogīs all try to get out of the material entanglement. The jñānīs try to detach their sensual activities from material engagement. The jñāna-yogī thinks that matter is false and that Brahman is truth; he tries, therefore, by cultivation of knowledge, to detach the senses from material enjoyment. The aṣṭāṅga-yogīs also try to control the senses. The devotees, however, try to engage the senses in the service of the Lord. Therefore it appears that the activities of the bhaktas, devotees, are better than those of the jñānīs and yogīs. The mystic yogīs simply try to control the senses by practicing the eight divisions of yoga-yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, etc.—and the jñānīs try by mental reasoning to understand that sense enjoyment is false. But the easiest and most direct process is to engage the senses in the service of the Lord.
Devahūti, the mother of Kapila, instead of prolonging her prayers, summarized that Lord Kapila was none other than Viṣṇu and that since she was a woman it was not possible for her to worship Him properly simply by prayer. It was her intention that the Lord be satisfied. The word pratyak is significant. In yogic practice, the eight divisions are yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. Pratyāhāra means to wind up the activities of the senses. The level of realization of the Supreme Lord evidenced by Devahūti is possible when one is able to withdraw the senses from material activities. When one is engaged in devotional service, there is no scope for his senses to be engaged otherwise. In such full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can understand the Supreme Lord as He is.
SB Canto 4
The process by which we give up our thoughts of material things is called pratyāhāra, which entails being freed from all material thoughts and engagements. The word abhidhyāyet, which is used in this verse, indicates that unless one's mind is fixed, one cannot meditate. The conclusion, therefore, is that meditation means thinking of the Lord within. Whether one comes to that stage by the aṣṭāṅga-yoga system or by the method recommended in the śāstras especially for this present age—to constantly chant the holy name of the Lord—the goal is to meditate on the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
As far as the inhabitants of Siddhaloka are concerned, they are endowed with all mystic powers. The yogīs in this planet practice the eightfold yogic mysticism—namely yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. By regularly practicing the yogic processes one after another, the yogīs attain various perfections; they can become smaller than the smallest, heavier than the heaviest, etc. They can even manufacture a planet, get whatever they like and control whatever man they want. All the residents of Siddhaloka are naturally endowed with these mystic yogic powers. It is certainly a very wonderful thing if we see a person on this planet flying in the sky without a vehicle, but in Vidyādhara-loka such flying is as commonplace as a bird's flying in the sky. Similarly, in Siddhaloka all the inhabitants are great yogīs, perfect in mystic powers.
SB Canto 8
The material world is an illusory energy to deviate the living entities from the path of self-realization. Anyone who is in this material world is extremely anxious to get more and more things for sense gratification. Actually, however, the purpose of life is not sense gratification but self-realization. Therefore, those who are too addicted to sense gratification are advised to practice the mystic yoga system, or aṣṭāṅga-yoga system, consisting of yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra and so on. In this way, one can control the senses. The purpose of controlling the senses is to stop one's implication in the cycle of birth and death.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Easy Journey to Other Planets
Light of the Bhagavata
The internal energy and the marginal energy are of the same superior quality, but the external energy is inferior in quality. That is the information we have from Bhagavad-gītā. Because the living entity is classified as marginal energy and is of the same quality as the internal energy, it is quite natural for him to cooperate with the internal energy. But when the living entity prefers to cooperate with the external energy, he is put into difficulty. By the process called pratyāhāra (diversion), yoga diverts our energies from the external to the internal.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
These are eight items of yoga practice. Yama means controlling the senses; niyama—following the rules and regulation; āsana—practicing the sitting posture; pratyāhāra—controlling the senses from sense enjoyment; dhyāna—then thinking of Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu; dhāraṇā—fixed up; prāṇāyāma—breathing exercise; and samādhi—being absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So this is yoga practice. So if one is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness from the very beginning, all these eight items are automatically done. One does not require to practice them separately.
So detraction from God means sense enjoyment. Those who are too much addicted to sense enjoyment, they are not, I mean to say, eligible for yoga system. Yoga system is not that, that you go on doing all nonsense in sense gratification and simply sit down meditation. This is simply colossal hoax. It has no meaning. Yoga system first is to sense, controlling the sense, yama, niyama. There are eight different stages of practicing yoga. Yama, niyama, āsana, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, samādhi. So in the beginning first of all we shall speak in this chapter, Lord Kṛṣṇa will teach you what is yoga system. Therefore in the beginning Kṛṣṇa says that no one can become a yogi unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification. So anyone who is indulging in sense gratification, he's a nonsense. He's not a yogi. He cannot be a yogi. Yoga system is strictly celibacy, no sex life. That is yoga system. No one can become a yogi if he indulges in sex life. The so-called yogis come to your country and say, "Yes, whatever you like you can do. You meditate, I give you some mantra." These are all nonsense. Here is authoritative statement that no one can become a yogi unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification. This is the first condition.
When Kṛṣṇa recommended the yoga system, aṣṭāṅga-yoga system... Aṣṭāṅga means eightfolded different states of elevation: yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, samādhi, like that. Dhyāna, dhāraṇā. So the first step of yoga system, as recommended by Kṛṣṇa, the supreme authority, is one has to select a very secluded place and sacred place. The aṣṭāṅga-yoga meditation cannot be performed in a fashionable city. It is not possible. One has to first of all select a nice place, sacred place. In India, therefore, those who are very serious to practice yoga system, they go to Himalaya, Haridwar. That is also Himalaya. Very secluded place. They remain there alone, and very restricted process of eating, sleeping. There is no question of mating. So those rules and regulations are very strict, and unless you follow, simply if you make a show of gymnastic, that is not perfection of yoga. Yoga means indriya-saṁyama, to control the senses. If you allow your senses unrestrictedly and if you make a show of yoga practice, that is not successful. It will never be successful.
So Bhagavad-gītā is describing what should we do at the, at the point of our death, when we are giving up this body, this present body. So for the yogis, dhyāna-yogis, this prescription is recited here, sarva-dvārāṇi saṁyamya mano hṛdi-nirudhya ca. Sarva-dvārāṇi means... This system is called pratyāhāra. In the technical language of yogic system it is called pratyāhāra. Pratyāhāra means "just the opposite." Now, the senses, my eye, my eyes are engaged in seeing the worldly beauty. Now I have to retract from enjoying that beauty, and I have to see inside the beauty. That is called pratyāhāra. Similarly, I have to hear the oṁkāra sound from within. So all the senses are to be stopped in their external activities—that is the perfection of yoga—and concentrate the mind on Viṣṇu-mūrti. Mano hṛdi. The mind is very agitating, so it has to be fixed up on the heart. Mano hṛdi-nirudhya. Nirudhya means just arresting the mind within the heart. Mūrdhni, mūrdhny ādhāyātmanaḥ prāṇam āsthito yoga-dhāraṇām. And in this way, when we transfer the air—life on the top of our head, that is the perfection of yoga. And a perfect yogi, then he fixes up where he shall go. There are innumerable planets, and beyond the planets, there are spiritual world.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Because big, big jñānīs, yogis, they are trying to become detached from the attachment of this material world. Yoga system means yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ. They are practicing yama niyama āsana dhyāna dhāraṇā prāṇāyāma, all these, pratyāhāra. This yogic system, mystic yoga system, what is the meaning? Meaning: detachment, not other. Nowadays it has been taken, yoga practice means to become healthy. But actually, yoga practice is not for that purpose. Yoga means to connect with the Supreme. That is yoga. So there are different types of yoga, but in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said,
- yoginām api sarveṣāṁ
- mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā
- śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ
- sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
- (BG 6.47)
The first-class yogi, who is? Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā: "Who is always thinking of Me, Hare Kṛṣṇa." Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and you always think if Kṛṣṇa. Smaraṇam. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam (SB 7.5.23). This is bhakti-yoga, the simple practice, that if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, tongue, your tongue is locked up and your hearing process is locked up. That is samādhi, immediately, absorbed in the thought of Kṛṣṇa. Samādhi.
Then pratyāhāra. Pratyāhāra means that your senses have been withdrawn from material engagement. The example is just like the tortoise. The tortoise can wind up all these parts of the limbs of the body within immediately. And when it is required, he can expand. So pratyāhāra means that you have to withdraw the sensual activities inside. When you withdraw your senses for inside activities, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You have to think of always how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam (CC Madhya 19.170). Therefore hṛṣīka, hṛṣīka means the senses, and hṛṣīkeśa means the master of the senses. Kṛṣṇa is the master of the senses. I am possessing my hand, but actually the owner of the hand is Kṛṣṇa. These things are very nicely explained in Bhagavad-gītā. Mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca (BG 15.15). Suppose you are writing with your hands. So your memory must be acting; otherwise you cannot write. If your memory, if your brain, does not act, how you can write? Suppose you are typing. If memory does not act, then what is the use of this hand or your leg? Then Bhagavad-gītā says, Kṛṣṇa says, sarvasya cāham hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ: "I am sitting in everyone's heart." Mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam: "The knowledge and memory is from Me." Therefore, when Kṛṣṇa gives you memorization, gives you knowledge, then you can write or do something.
Actually yoga meditation means to see the form of the Lord, four-handed viṣṇu-mūrti within the heart. That is real meditation. Now these rascals, they have manufactured so-called meditation. That is not meditation. Meditation means to see the form of the Lord within your heart. Because in, in the heart there is the Lord. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). So by controlling all the senses. The senses are very restless. They are going this way and that way, this way and that way. Mind is going this way, that way. So by this aṣṭāṅga-yoga system, by sitting posture, by controlling the breathing, by modes of different posture of seeing, so many things there are. The real thing is to control the mind and concentrate it on the form of Viṣṇu. That is the real thing. That is called samādhi. Pratyāhāra samādhi. So aṣṭāṅga-yoga means to come to this point of smaraṇam, smaraṇam, arcanam. This is arcanam.
Either you chant, sit down in the Deity room in front of the Deity, see how āratrika is going on, how Deity is nicely dressed with flower, ornaments, so if you constantly be engaged in thinking of the Deity, that is first-class meditation, not artificially going to That is not possible at the present moment, that, as it is recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā, you have to select a very solitary place and you have to sit down under certain posture, looking half-opened eyes on the tip of the nose so that you may not sleep in the name of meditation. There are so many. And you have to follow brahmacārya. All these rules and regulations are there: dhyāna, dhāraṅā, āsana, prāṇāyāma. Prāṇāyāma. Then? What is called? Pratyāhāra. Pratyāhāra means you have to completely withdraw the senses from sense gratification. That is called pratyāhāra. Then there is samādhi. So this yoga system is recommended, but that it is very, very difficult. Five thousand years ago, when Kṛṣṇa explained this haṭha-yoga system in the Sixth Chapter to Arjuna Arjuna was honest man. He flatly denied, "Kṛṣṇa, these things cannot be done by me." Because in those days, especially a person like Arjuna, why he should speak lies? This meditation is not possible. It was only possible in the Satya-yuga when people were very peaceful, long duration of life, there was no artificial necessities of life. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum. At that time, to meditate upon Viṣṇu and for years Just like Vālmīki Muni. He practiced meditation for sixty thousands of years. Then he got perfection. At that time people used to live for 100,000.
Everyone can hear from Kṛṣṇa what is Kṛṣṇa. Where is the difficulty? The difficulty is that we want enjoyment in this material world. That is the difficulty. Therefore it is recommended that akiñcanānāṁ mayi bhakti-bhājām. For a devotee there is no problem. He is not attracted by liberation or by Svargaloka, by yogic perfection. He is not at all interested. Bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmi-sakali 'aśānta'. Because they cannot get śānti because they want something The bhukti, the karmīs, they are working so hard. They want some material profit or go to the Svargaloka to enjoy more. This is bhukti. And mukti, they are also undergoing severe austerities, penance, tapasya, for becoming one. Kaivalya sukham. Kevalādvaita. They are also working. And the yogis, they also work very hard. Yoga practice is not so easy. Dhyāna, dhāraṇā, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, samādhi. It requires And especially in this age it is not so easy. It was easier in the Satya-yuga. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇu (SB 12.3.52). Samādhi, that was possible. And now it is not possible. Our bhakti-yoga is so easy, simply man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65), very simple thing. So we should take to bhakti, devotional service, and reject everything. Niṣkiñcana. That will make your life successful.
Then how brahmacarya can be executed? That is also given here: tapasā brahmacaryeṇa śamena (SB 6.1.13). Śamena means controlling the mind. The yoga system, aṣṭāṅga-yoga system, practicing the āsana, sitting posture, breathing exercise, controlling the senses from outside engagement, pratyāhāra, these are, this yoga system is meant for controlling the mind and controlling the sense. If there is no control of mind and no control of senses, the so-called yoga practice is bogus. It has no meaning. Yoga indriya saṁyama. Yoga means to control the senses. That is the real meaning of yoga. So if one is unable to control the senses... I have seen in some yoga practice institution in New York. They are practicing some, this āsana, and just after finishing, immediately smoking. You see. This much control they learned. So these, these are all bogus. This is not yoga system. Yoga system is not so easy, especially in this age. Yoga system means to control the senses, control the mind; and control the mind means you have to control so many things—your eating, your sleeping, your behaving. These are prescribed in the Bhagavad-gītā, how to practice the aṣṭāṅga-yoga. You have to find out a suitable place, a sacred place, a solitary place. Therefore real yogis, they used to go to Himalaya. Sometimes some young men, here, in your country, they inquire from me how to go to Himalaya, and what you'll do there, going there, Himalaya? So you are not practiced. So instead of practicing yoga in the Himalaya, you practice yoga here. We have come here to help you. Here this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is there. If you are serious about practicing yoga, this, take bhakti-yoga.
Generally, they practice haṭha-yoga, and they're satisfied only by getting into practice the system of āsana. That's all. But there are many other steps: yama, niyama, āsana, praṇāyāma, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, pratyāhāra, samādhi. Say, generally, the so-called yogi class, they simply practice some āsana. And no yama, niyama, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, pratyāhāra. So to practice yoga, it is recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā, first of all, you have to select a secluded place. And that must be very sacred. And you have to sit there alone. Who is going to do that? It is not possible to practice yoga in a fashionable city. It is not possible. Therefore India, those who are actually yogis, they go to the Himalaya, Hardwar, in a secluded place, in a sacred place they sit down tight and practice yoga. That is yoga. Not that in a yoga class you practice some gymnastic and you become a yogi. Yoga system is very difficult system, haṭha-yoga system. But we do not know that. We want everything very cheap. Oh, that is not possible. Because it is not possible, therefore in this age the śāstra recommends, harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). Simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and you will achieve... And see the result. We have thousands of students. They have been called by the newspaper reporter "bright faces." Compare with these students and any yoga class student: how much they know, how do they know? So this haṭha-yoga system is a recommended system. That's all right. But it is not possible in this age. It is very difficult. This practice is very easy.
You have heard the name of yogi. Yogi means that he has no other business. The sannyāsī and yogi is the same because yogi has no other business. He is simply trying to concentrate his mind on the Viṣṇu. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yoginaḥ, not these black yogis. The real yogi. Real yogi means he is always in meditation, dhyānāvasthita. Dhyāna means meditation. Dhyānāvasthita manasā. Where meditation is performed? In the mind. That means concentrating the mind. Dhyānāvasthita manasā. Then what is that concentration? Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yam, whom. That means the Supreme Viṣṇu. One who sees the Supreme Viṣṇu always within his mind by concentration, he is called yogi. Yogi does not mean to show some magical or gymnastic feats. These are This practice of āsana or breathing exercise, that will help you for concentrating, pratyāhāra. There is a term, pratyāhāra. Pratyāhāra means you draw your engagement of the senses from matter, and you engage them in the Viṣṇu. That is yogi.
In the kṛte, means Satya-yuga, when people used to live for one hundred thousands of years, at that time it was possible. Just like Valmiki Muni meditated for sixty thousands of years. So actually this meditation, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, the yogic system, it is recommended in the śāstras, the Bhagavad-gītā also it is there, but in this age it is not possible. Even Arjuna denied. "Kṛṣṇa, You are recommending me to undergo the process of yoga, but it is not possible for me." Tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye vāyor iva suduṣkaram. It is not possible. But Arjuna was a pure devotee. He was always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. He had no other business. Therefore Kṛṣṇa, to encourage Arjuna, He said that "Don't be disappointed. Because you are thinking that you are unfit to meditate upon Lord Viṣṇu, don't be disappointed. The first-class yogi... You are first-class yogi." Why? Because,
- yoginām api sarveṣāṁ
- mad-gatenāntarātmanā
- śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ
- sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
- (BG 6.47)
Anyone who is thinking of Kṛṣṇa always within the heart, he's first-class yogi. Therefore kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt. This is first-class yoga system. In this age, Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended, in the śāstra also it is recommended, that harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva (CC Adi 17.21).
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
The yogi's main business is to control the senses. That is real yoga. Yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ. Controlling the senses so that mind can be in a peaceful condition... Without controlling your senses, mind cannot be. Then you can apply this mind for meditation. If the mind is agitated, what is this nonsense meditation? First of all control the mind; then think of meditation. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā. We have to meditate with the mind. But if the mind is agitated, where is the question of meditation? It is all bogus. So for a yogi the first business is yama-niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, pratyāhāra-aṣṭa, aṣṭāṅga-yoga. Then one's mind is controlled. Then dhyānāvasthita. Then he can remain in trance, always thinking of Viṣṇu. That is yoga. So first thing is to control the mind, control the senses.
Yoga means God plus myself, plus myself. The system is: those who are too much engrossed with this bodily conception of life, for them, yoga system is very good because it is a practice to withdraw the senses from their engagement in the external world to the inside. Pratyāhāra. And yama, niyama, asana, prāṇāyāma, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, pratyāhāra, samādhi—there are eight different stages of yoga practice. The first practice is yama. Yama, niyama. Under regulative principle, one has to try, endeavor, to control the senses about eating, about sleeping, about working. These are called yama-niyama. Then there are different kinds of sitting postures. They are called āsana. So yama-niyama means the first principle of yoga is to abstain from sex life. That is real yoga. Those who are indulging in sex life, intoxication, and so many nonsense things, they have no chance for any success in yoga. This is called yama-niyama. And then, after controlling, after sitting, then one has to sit nicely in a secluded place, in a sanctified place, and sit straight with your neck, head and body in one straight line. Then you have to see the tip of your nose without closing your eyes and not opening your eyes. If you open your eyes, then all this material manifestation will disturb you.
General Lectures
Lord says, Kṛṣṇa says, "Those who are too much after bhoga and aiśvarya, material enjoyment and material opulence," prasaktān āṁ tayāpahṛta-cetasām, "whose heart has been taken away by the process of sense gratification, for them, it is very difficult to be situated in samādhi." Bhogaiśvarya-prasaktānāṁ tayāpahṛta-cetasām. So yoga, yoga means to control the senses. Those who are too much in the bodily concept of life, for them, this haṭha-yoga is prescribed just to control the sense by some mechanical way. You sit down, āsana, prāṇāyāma, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, pratyāhāra. There are eight different stages of fulfilling the yoga practice and then coming to the position of samādhi. Samādhi means fully situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is real samādhi. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gata-manasā. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gata-manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ. This is the definition of yogi. They are in meditation, and the mind, being absorbed in the thought of Viṣṇu, and yaṁ paśyanti yoginaḥ. The yoginaḥ, by controlling the senses, concentrating the mind upon Viṣṇu, they become yogi.
Our senses in this material world have been described as venomous serpents. Indriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī. Kāla-sarpa, cobra, black cobra. So these indriyas are like that. Indriya means senses. As soon as touches, immediately it makes him poisonous. And that is the cause of our material conditional life. The more we are indulging unrestrictedly in sense gratification, we are becoming more and more entangled. Therefore those who are very much addicted to the bodily necessities of life, for them this haṭha-yoga system... Haṭha-yoga system means yama, niyama, aṣṭāṅga-yoga. It is called aṣṭāṅga-yoga. Yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, pratyāhāra, samādhi. These things are in the aṣṭāṅga-yoga. The first thing is yama-niyama. One must have regulated life. That is called yama-niyama. Then practice āsana. There is mechanical process of sitting which will help you; concentration of the mind, āsana. Then praṇāyāma, concentration of the mind. Then meditation. So meditation is not so easy thing. Unless you practice the preliminary necessities of meditation, you cannot concentrate.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1970 Conversations and Morning Walks
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
M. Roost: But it's like a game, we can say, to learn little by little to be the master of our ego, and finally to go through the ego. And I think it's a way, very interesting. But...
Prabhupāda: That is automatically taught in bhakti-yoga. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ **. It is said, "If you can keep your master pleased, then God will be pleased." Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ **. And if you make your master displeased, then you are nowhere. These are the teachings of bhakti-yoga. But if the master is such a rascal that if he asks the disciple that "You please me with sex life," then what kind of master he is? Sex life is so strong. In the school, colleges, the teachers having sex life with the students. And yogic process, aṣṭāṅga-yoga, first is saṁyama. Yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, samādhi, like that. This is against this principle of yama, niyama.
M. Roost: Yes, and first is...
Prabhupāda: I know several yogis, so-called yogis in New York. They are having sex life with the female disciples. I know. I do not wish to name them, but I know them personally. So many. They are taking fees and having sex with the disciple and are yogis. Just see. This is going on.
| Page Title: | Pratyahara |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika, Serene |
| Created: | 04 of Jul, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=5, SB=8, CC=0, OB=2, Lec=18, Con=2, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 35 |