CHAPTER FIVE

Determination and Steadiness in Yoga

yatha dipo nivata-stho
nengate sopama smrta

yogino yata-cittasya
yunjato yogam atmanah

‘As a lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcen-
dentalist, whose mind is controlled, remains always steady in his
meditation on the transcendent Self.’’ (Bg. 6.19)

If the mind is absorbed in Krsna consciousness, it will remain
as steady as the flame of a candle that is in a room where there is
no wind. Therefore it is said that a truly Krsna conscious person
always absorbed in transcendence, in constant undisturbed medi-
tation on his worshipable Lord, is as steady as a lamp or can-
dle in a windless place. Just as the flame is not agitated, the mind
is not agitated, and that steadiness is the perfection of yoga.

The state of one thus steadily situated in meditation on the
transcendent Self, or the Supreme Lord, is described by Sri Krsna
in the following verses of Bhagavad-gita (6.20-23):

yatroparamate cittam
niruddham yoga-sevaya

yatra caivatmanatmanam
pasyann atmani tusyati

sukham atyantikam yat tad
buddhi-grahyam atindriyam

vetti yatra na caivayam
sthitas calati tattvatah

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