CHAPTER FOUR

Moderation in Yoga

In this Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, the system of sankhya-
yoga, which is the meditational astdnga-yoga system, is em-
phasized. Jfidana-yoga emphasizes the philosophical process of
analysis by which we determine what is Brahman and what is not
Brahman. This process is known as the neti neti process, or ‘‘not
this, not that.’’ In the beginning of the Vedanta-sutra it is stated,
janmady asya yatah: ‘‘The Supreme Brahman, the Absolute
Truth, is He from whom everything emanates.”’ This is a hint, and
from this we must try to understand the nature of the Supreme
Brahman, from whom everything is emanating. The nature of that
Absolute Truth is explained in detail in Srimad-Bhagavatam.

In the first verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated,

om namo bhagavate vasudevaya

jJanmady asya yato 'nvayad itaratas carthesv abhijfiah svarat
tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye muhyanti yat surayah
tejo-vari-mrdam yatha vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ‘mrsa
dhamna svena sada nirasta-kuhakam satyam param dhimahi

*O my Lord, Sti Krsna, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Per-
sonality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I
meditate upon Lord Sri Krsna because He is the Absolute Truth
and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance,
and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and in-
directly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent be-
cause there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first
imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmaji, the

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