The Supreme Lord said: One who performs prescribed duty without depending on the fruits of action is a true sannyasi and yogi, not one who has merely renounced fire or action.

What is called renunciation is the same as yoga, O Pandava. Without renouncing selfish purpose, no one becomes a yogi.

For one who is a beginner in yoga, action is said to be the means; for one who has attained yoga, tranquility is said to be the means.

When a person is attached neither to sense objects nor to actions, and has renounced all purposes, they are said to have attained yoga.

One must elevate oneself through one's own mind, not degrade oneself. The mind is the friend of the self, and the mind is also its enemy.

For one who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, the mind remains the greatest enemy.

For one who has conquered the mind, the Supreme Self is already reached in tranquility. Such a person remains equipoised in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, honor and dishonor.

A yogi is said to be established when satisfied with knowledge and realization, unshakable, with senses conquered, viewing equally a lump of earth, stone, or gold.

One who is equal-minded toward friends, companions, enemies, neutrals, arbiters, the hateful, relatives, saints, and sinners is distinguished.

The yogi should constantly engage the mind in meditation, living alone in a secluded place, with mind and body controlled, free from expectations and possessiveness.

In a clean place, having established a firm seat for oneself, neither too high nor too low, covered with cloth, deerskin, and kusha grass...

...seated there, making the mind one-pointed, with thoughts and senses controlled, one should practice yoga for self-purification.

Holding the body, head, and neck erect and still, gazing at the tip of one's nose, not looking around...

...serene-minded, fearless, firm in the vow of celibacy, controlling the mind, thinking of Me, absorbed in Me as the supreme goal.

Thus constantly disciplining the mind, the yogi of controlled mind attains the supreme peace of nirvana that abides in Me.

O Arjuna, yoga is not for one who eats too much or too little, nor for one who sleeps too much or stays awake too long.

One who is moderate in eating, recreation, working, sleeping, and waking can mitigate all sorrows through yoga.

When the disciplined mind rests in the Self alone, free from longing for all desires, then one is said to be established in yoga.

As a lamp in a windless place does not flicker - this is the simile for the yogi of controlled mind practicing union with the Self.

When the mind, restrained by the practice of yoga, becomes quiet, and when seeing the Self by the self, one is satisfied in the Self...

...in which one experiences the infinite bliss that is beyond the senses but grasped by the intellect, and being established there, never moves from the truth...

...having attained which, one thinks there is no greater gain, and being established in which, one is not shaken even by the heaviest sorrow...

...know that to be called yoga - the severance of union with sorrow. This yoga should be practiced with determination and without despair.

Completely abandoning all desires born of mental imagination and fully restraining the senses from all sides by the mind...

Gradually, step by step, with full conviction, one should become situated in trance by means of intelligence, and the mind should be fixed on the Self alone, thinking of nothing else.

Wherever the restless and unsteady mind wanders, one must bring it back and fix it on the Self.

Supreme bliss comes to the yogi whose mind is peaceful, whose passions are quieted, who is free from sin, and who has become one with Brahman.

Thus constantly engaging the mind, the sinless yogi easily attains the infinite bliss of contact with Brahman.

One who is united in yoga sees the Self abiding in all beings and all beings in the Self, seeing equality everywhere.

One who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost to such a person, nor are they ever lost to Me.

The yogi who worships Me as dwelling in all beings, established in unity, lives in Me whatever their mode of living.

O Arjuna, one who sees all beings as equal to oneself - whether in happiness or in sorrow - is considered the highest yogi.

Arjuna said: O Madhusudana, this yoga of equanimity that You have described - I do not see how it can endure, because of the restlessness of the mind.

O Krishna, the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate, and very strong. To subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.

The Supreme Lord said: O mighty-armed one, undoubtedly the mind is difficult to restrain and restless. But through practice and detachment, O son of Kunti, it can be controlled.

For one with an uncontrolled mind, yoga is difficult to attain - this is My opinion. But for one who strives with a controlled mind, it is achievable through proper means.

Arjuna said: O Krishna, what is the destination of one who has faith but lacks self-control and whose mind has strayed from yoga, failing to attain perfection?

O mighty-armed one, does such a person, fallen from both paths, not perish like a torn cloud, without support and bewildered on the path to Brahman?

O Krishna, please completely dispel this doubt of mine. Other than You, there is no one who can destroy this doubt.

The Supreme Lord said: O Partha, neither in this world nor the next is there destruction for such a person. One who does good, My dear friend, never comes to grief.

The unsuccessful yogi, having attained the realms of the righteous and dwelling there for many years, takes birth in the house of pure and prosperous people.

Or such a yogi is born into a family of wise yogis. Such a birth is very rare in this world.

There such a person regains the spiritual wisdom from the previous life and strives again for perfection, O descendant of Kuru.

By that previous practice alone, one is irresistibly drawn toward yoga. Even a mere inquirer into yoga transcends the ritualistic scriptures.

The yogi who strives with great effort, purified of all sin, perfected through many births, then attains the supreme goal.

The yogi is greater than the ascetic, greater than the scholar, and greater than the ritualist. Therefore, O Arjuna, be a yogi!

Of all yogis, one who worships Me with faith, with the inner self absorbed in Me, is considered by Me to be the most intimately united.