A core teaching · grounding in mood · easy to enter
“Steady inward practice begins when desire and possessiveness end.”
The disciplined yogi, dwelling alone in seclusion, should constantly unite the mind with the supreme being, free from desire and possessiveness, with body and mind under control.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallythe yogi · should unite · constantly · the self/mind · in seclusion · स्थित, established · alone · one whose mind and inner being are restrained · without desire · without possessiveness
A yogi should sit alone, keep the mind steadily focused on the divine, and let go of desire and possessiveness.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Dhyana Yoga" (The Yoga of Meditation).
Verse 10 sits in Chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita — Dhyana Yoga, "The Yoga of Meditation". The chapter has 47 verses in total.
You come home from a week at your father's hospital bedside and want company, noise, anything. Krishna's yogi does the opposite for a while: sits alone, sets wants aside and gathers the mind.
Did you like this verse?
Alone in a secluded place, free of desire and possessions, the yogi keeps joining the mind to the self.
What this verse means
A yogi should sit alone, keep the mind steadily focused on the divine, and let go of desire and possessiveness.
Context & commentary
Krishna teaches Arjuna on the battlefield, where fear and attachment have frozen action. After describing the settled yogi, he now gives the practice itself: withdraw, control the mind, and turn inward until desire and grasping fall away.
What it looks like today
You come home from a week at your father's hospital bedside and want company, noise, anything. Krishna's yogi does the opposite for a while: sits alone, sets wants aside and gathers the mind.
“Time alone, with wanting and owning set aside, lets the mind turn inward.”
Explore related themes: dhyana (31 verses)