724
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 13]
TEXT 54
जितासनो जितशासः शत्याहृतपदिन्द्रियः । हरिभावनया श्रुत्स्तरजःसत्त्वतमोमलः ॥५४॥
jitāsano jitaśvāsaḥ pratyā-hṛta-ṣaḍ-indriyaḥ hari-bhāvanayā dhvasta- rajaḥ sattva-tamomalaḥ
jita-āsanaḥ —one who has controlled the sitting posture;  jita-śvāsaḥ —one who has controlled the breathing process;  pratyā-hṛta —turning back;  ṣaṭ —six;  indriyaḥ —senses;  hari —the Absolute Personality of Godhead;  bhāvanayā —absorbed in;  dhvasta —conquered;  rajaḥ —passion;  sattva —goodness;  tamaḥ —ignorance;  malaḥ —contaminations.
TRANSLATION
One who has controlled the sitting postures [the yogic āsana] and the breathing process can turn the senses toward the Absolute Personality of Godhead and thus become immuned from the contaminations of the modes of material nature, namely mundane goodness, passion and ignorance.
PURPORT
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 on 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 senses to the loving service of the Lord. This prohibits the performer from