Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya

10-32: From practice to perfection in yoga

  • 10-32 defines how one will achieve perfection when one is practicing yoga.
  • 10-15: Realisation of brahman

Bg 6.15

yuñjann evaṁ sadātmānaṁ
yogī niyata-mānasaḥ
śāntiṁ nirvāṇa-paramāṁ
mat-saṁsthām adhigacchati

Word for word: 

yuñjan — practicing; evam — as mentioned above; sadā — constantly; ātmānam — body, mind and soul; yogī — the mystic transcendentalist; niyata–mānasaḥ — with a regulated mind; śāntim — peace; nirvāṇa–paramām — cessation of material existence; mat–saṁsthām — the spiritual sky (the kingdom of God); adhigacchati — does attain.

Translation: 

Thus practicing constant control of the body, mind and activities, the mystic transcendentalist, his mind regulated, attains to the kingdom of God [or the abode of Kṛṣṇa] by cessation of material existence.

 

yuñjann evaṁ -> When one is engaged thus, sadātmānaṁ -> Constantly one engages oneself body, mind and soul. Srila Prabhupada used the atma to refer to all three things, and how does one do it, the yogī has to do this, niyata-mānasaḥ, they control the mind, then what do they get? śāntiṁ, peace,  nirvāṇa-paramāṁ, cessation of material existence. mat-saṁsthām, they become situated next to me in the spiritual sky. Adhigacchati, they attain

So Sri Krishna is hinting over here that ultimate reality is involving Him also so it is not necessarily impersonalist. Now many scholars mentioned śāntiṁ nirvāṇa-paramāṁ ad Brahma Jyoti, mat-saṁsthām does allow to simplistic expression or interpretation or reduction to impersonalism but Sri Krishna is talking about the ultimate reality  which Yogi attain is by practice of yoga sadhana. And then Srila Prabhupada talks about the ultimate truth is Sri Krishna and Krishna is the one whom we have to attain. Srila Prabhupada refutes the point that nirvāṇa-paramāṁ means void, So first word he makes is nirvāṇa is cessation of material existence.

Srila Prabhupada (in Purport): The ultimate goal in practicing yoga is now clearly explained. Yoga practice is not meant for attaining any kind of material facility; it is to enable the cessation of all material existence. One who seeks an improvement in health or aspires after material perfection is no yogī according to Bhagavad-gītā. The person may be called yogi by today’s definition, today’s conception but according to BG the purpose of Yoga is nirvāṇa-paramāṁ, to end material existence. And then what happens when you end material existence? Do we enter into void? No

Srila Prabhupada Purport: Nor does cessation of material existence entail one’s entering into “the void,” which is only a myth. There is no void anywhere within the creation of the Lord. Rather, the cessation of material existence enables one to enter into the spiritual sky, the abode of the Lord.

Srila Prabhupada said nowhere there is any void except in the head of voidist. Which means they don’t think seriously enough. So ultimately the reality is so beautiful. When material gallery is so beautiful, where from it has come, whether it has come from Void? No it is explained that it comes from our spiritual reality that is even more beautiful. Beauty of nature we can see when we go to mountains, lakes or forests. Now along with beautiful nature there is also dreadful nature. On mountains there can be landslides there can be earth quakes, in oceans and rivers there can be floods, Sunamis and in forest there can be dangerous animals, there can be accidents, so nature has both sides beautiful as well as dreadful. So the idea that everything comes from void cannot explain the beauty, the verity, the glory, which is available in material nature . The idea of void is ok for those who think this material world is a place of misery and we wanted to go beyond misery, but it is only involved in the negation of the negative, it doesn’t involve the comprehension of the positive so both are required, so when the patient is sick the removal of negation will be there but after that there has to be understanding of positive also without that one doesn’t get a complete understanding. As Srila Prabhupada Prnami mantra Nirvishesha Sunya Vadi Paschayata Desa Tarena. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta tells a story that once a child got a cataract in the eyes so the father was wandering what to do? So one uncle came along and the parent told him do you know that my child has got cataract in the eye so uncle told simple solution plug out the eyes and throw it away. Parent said WHAT!!! Yes said the uncle do that and the pain will stop. Another uncle came and said what the child is having cataract and he is having pain, KILL the child, no problem!!! The parent said WHAT WHAT !!! Third uncle came and said ok cataract is in eye remove by the surgery and remove the cataract then child will be alright. So he said this refers to impersonalist, voidist and devotees. The impersonalist says actually we are in this world and we are suffering the more we attracted to things in this world the more our suffering increases, the more our attachments the more our miseries, so why are we having miseries because there are forms in this world there are attractive sense objects, So reject, all the sense objects are false and what makes sense objects attractive is the form therefore all forms are false and all personalities are false so eyes are cause of pain plug out the eyes. So forms, personalities, relationships, activities, they are all cause of pain just reject all of them that is impersonalism. 

The voidism is like child is having pain so KILL the child so you are having suffering because of existence so end the existence itself. 

But devotees understanding is pain is because f cataract, so remove the cataract (which is treating the cause of pain), heal the eye. So like that the problem is ourselves cantered Godless living. We are attracted to form we wanted to enjoy separate from Sri Krishna, then our attraction with forms, our relationships, our activities all these cause bondage in suffering. But when we connect to Sri Krishna then they will not cause bondage, all these things then in fact our activity becomes source of liberation, the more a devotee chants, the more a devotee glorifies Sri Krishna the more the devotee moves forward in spiritual life So correct understanding is nirvāṇa-paramāṁ is there but after Nirvana there is a real relationship with Sri Krishna that is the real life of the soul.

Srila Prabhupada Purport: perfection of the yoga system is the attainment of freedom from material existence and not some magical jugglery or gymnastic feats to fool innocent people.

Srila Prabhupada called the yoga activities childish. Why childish? Sometimes one child is not able to do something which other child can do and first child is impressed by that, so some person is twisting the body which no one is able to do so they will praise it is great, so what is so great about twisting the body, yes if it promotes health and it is done as an exercise then it can be understood as an physical activities it is not an spiritual activity. So real purpose of yoga is to get liberation from material activities.

In this chapter Sri Krishna is going up and down that means, Sri Krishna starts from yoga sadhana and goes to yoga perfection started from 6.10 and goes up to Matsamsthan ati ganchcati then again Krishna goes down and he starts from yoga practice and he will go to perfection again from 6.16 to 6.23. Again he will start talking about yoga sadhana from 6.24 and then again he will go to 32 about yoga perfection. So in this way Sri Krishna gives us the process in doses and while giving in doses He points to higher and higher level of perfection also.

End of transcription.