Gita 06.12 – Concentration is the foundation for purification

Audio Link: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/gita-06-12-concentration-is-the-foundation-for-purification/

tatraikāgraṁ manaḥ kṛtvā
yata-cittendriya-kriyaḥ
upaviśyāsane yuñjyād
yogam ātma-viśuddhaye (Bg 6.12)

Word-for-word:
tatra — thereupon; eka-agram — with one attention; manaḥ — mind; kṛtvā — making; yata-citta — controlling the mind; indriya — senses; kriyaḥ — and activities; upaviśya — sitting; āsane — on the seat; yuñjyāt — should execute; yogam — yoga practice; ātma — the heart; viśuddhaye — for clarifying.

Translation:
The yogī should then sit on it very firmly and practice yoga to purify the heart by controlling his mind, senses and activities and fixing the mind on one point.

Explanation:
In this verse, Kṛṣṇa describes the process of yoga, speaking of the yogī who goes into the forest and begins dedicated yogic meditation. In the previous verse (6.11), Kṛṣṇa explained how the yogī selects a particular place for an āsana and then sits there. This description continues in the present verse, which begins with the word ‘tatra’—meaning ‘at that place.’ That place is clean, neither too high nor too low, and prepared with deer skin and kuśa grass. Thus, the external arrangement serves the purpose of the internal practice.

Tatraikāgraṁ manaḥ kṛtvā: ‘There, making the mind one-pointed or concentrated.’ Kṛṣṇa uses the same word ‘ekāgra’ at the conclusion of His instructions when He asks Arjuna in 18.72, kaccid etac chrutaṁ pārtha tvayaikāgreṇa cetasā—‘Arjuna, have you heard this with one-pointed intelligence?’ The one-pointedness that the aṣṭāṅga-yogīs apply in their practice of aṣṭāṅga-yoga and internal meditation is the same one-pointedness that bhakti-yogīs apply in the process of devotional service—especially in hearing and remembering Kṛṣṇa. When there is such focused hearing, there is comprehension; with comprehension comes realization, and with realization comes deep satisfaction.

Yata-cittendriya-kriyaḥ: After making the mind one-pointed, the practice involves controlling the activities of the consciousness and senses—cittendriya-kriyā. “Citta” refers specifically to consciousness as it is filtered through matter. The soul itself is pure spiritual consciousness, but when that conscious aspect of the soul is routed through matter and functions within the material world, it is called citta. In sat-cit-ānanda, the ‘cit’ refers to the conscious and enlightened aspect of the soul; however, when that consciousness becomes embodied and interacts with material nature, it is termed “citta.”

Just like a person sitting in a movie theater can see the walls, the neighbors in adjacent seats, and all the surroundings, but once the watcher’s attention becomes focused on the screen, the consciousness enters the movie and begins to experience the world depicted there.

If we compare the body to a movie theatre and the spectator to the soul, the soul’s ability to perceive realities beyond the body resembles the spectator’s ability to notice things in the theatre apart from the screen. Just as a moviegoer can become completely absorbed in the film and lose awareness of the surroundings, the soul is presently absorbed and entangled in the body—this embodied consciousness is called citta.

Although the soul is inherently capable of perceiving spiritual reality beyond the body, its citta is currently fixed on material experience, running here and there in search of various titillations and pleasures.

To redirect this citta from matter to spirit, the yogī first makes it one-pointed—ekāgra, fixed—and then brings not only the internal consciousness but also the senses (indriya) and their actions (karmendriya) under control.

Ekāgra is actually one of the stages in the process of yoga related to mind control. There are five stages described for controlling the mind, which we will discuss in more detail when we reach verses 19 and 20 on samādhi. Briefly, these stages are known as mūḍha, kṣipta, vikṣipta, ekāgra, and nirodha.

Mūḍha is the state of consciousness dominated by tamoguṇa, where one is completely deluded and not even properly aware of material reality. One is lost in daydreams, fantasies, intoxication, or similar states.

Kṣipta is the state of consciousness influenced by passion, where one is distracted by various material pleasures and desires, with the mind constantly pulled here and there.

From passion, as one struggles toward goodness, there is vikṣipta. In this state, one is attempting to concentrate but has not yet succeeded, though the striving is present.

Then comes ekāgratā, where after repeated attempts, one actually succeeds in concentrating the mind.

Finally, there is nirodha, in which material consciousness shuts down and gradually spiritual consciousness awakens—just like a person who stops watching a movie and then begins to notice everything else in the theater beyond the screen, seeing reality as it is.

Before one can begin disentangling consciousness from the body, the first step is to focus that consciousness on a particular point so that it no longer flits here and there at the material level. After achieving such one-pointedness of mind (ekāgra), one then proceeds to the next stage: upaviśyāsane yuñjyāt—sitting firmly on the seat—and practices yoga for the sake of self-purification (yogam ātma-viśuddhaye).

Kṛṣṇa has already spoken about purification in relation to the karma-yogī. In 5.11, He says, kāyena manasā buddhyā kevalair indriyair api yoginaḥ karma kurvanti saṅgaṁ tyaktvātma-śuddhaye. The karma-yogī works for ātma-śuddhaye—for the sake of purification—by engaging the senses, mind, and intelligence.

There, the karma-yogī acts, but here the aṣṭāṅga-yogī withdraws from action and contemplates. Thus, purification can be seen as a progressive, ongoing process. There is a certain level of purification that the karma-yogī attains through action, and a further purification that the aṣṭāṅga-yogī attains through cessation of external action and the cultivation of inner action—namely contemplation, turning the consciousness inward.

Here the yogī sits in an āsana, as mentioned in the previous verse. The emphasis here is on control so that the inner journey can follow. One must first fix the mind with one-pointed determination and, for that purpose, bring the consciousness, senses, and actions under control while remaining seated in one place for the sake of purification. In this way, the yogī steadily advances on the inner journey.

Thank you.