🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 6.19
Chapter 6 · ध्यानयोग · Dhyāna-Yoga · "The Yoga of Meditation" · Verse 19 of 47
यथा दीपो निवातस्थो नेङ्गते सोपमा स्मृता।
योगिनो यतचित्तस्य युञ्जतो योगमात्मनः।।6.19।।
🪷 English Translations
Five authentic English voices · each from a distinct sampradāya · together revealing the verse's full śabda-tattva.
Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 · public domain · Cosmo Press tradition
6.19 The wise man who has conquered his mind and is absorbed in the Self is as a lamp which does not flicker, since it stands sheltered from every wind.
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
6.19 As a lamp placed in a windless spot does not flicker to such is compared the Yogi of controlled mind, practising Yoga in the Self (or absorbed in the Yoga of the Self).
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
6.19 Yatha, as; a dipah, lamp; nivata-sthah, kept in a windless place; na ingate, does not flicker; sa upama, such is the simile-that with which something is compared is an upama (smile)-; smrta, thought of, by the knowers of Yoga who understand the movements of the mind; yoginah, for the yogi; yata-citasya, whose mind is under control; and yunjatah, who is engaged in; yogam, concentration; atmanah, on the Self, i.e. who is practising Self-absorption.
By dint of practising Yoga thus, when the mind, comparable to a lamp in a windless place, becomes concentrated, then-
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
6.19 As a lamp does not flicker in a windless place, i.e., does not move, but remains steady with its illumination - this is the simile used to illustrate the nature of the self of the Yogin who has subdued his mind, who has got rid of all other kinds of mental activity and who is practising Yoga concerning the self. The meaning is that the self remains with its steadily illumining light of knowledge because all other activities of the mind have ceased, just as a lamp kept in a windless place has an unflickering flame.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
6.19. 'Just as a lamp in the windless place does not shake' - This simile is recalled in the case of the man of Yoga, with subdued mind, practising the Yoga in the Self.
🪷 Hindi Translation · हिन्दी अनुवाद
For the Hindi-aware seer · Pūjya Swami Rāmsukhdās ji's translation · the highest-readability modern Hindi rendering · Gītā-Press Gorakhpur tradition.
🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī tradition · Gītā-Press Gorakhpur · highest modern Hindi reading
।।6.19।। जैसे स्पन्दनरहित वायुके स्थानमें स्थित दीपककी लौ चेष्टारहित हो जाती है, योगका अभ्यास करते हुए वश में किए हुए चित्तवाले योगीके चित्तकी वैसी ही उपमा कही गयी है।
🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices
The classical commentary tradition rendered in English · each ācārya speaks from their own sampradāya · the seer chooses the depth of darśana.
Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
6.19 यथा as? दीपः lamp? निवातस्थः placed in a windless place? न not? इङ्गते flicker? सा that? उपमा simile? स्मृता is thought? योगिनः of the Yogi? यतचित्तस्य of one with controlled mind? युञ्जतः of the practising? योगम् the Yoga? आत्मनः of the Self.Commentary This is a beautiful simile. Yogins ote this simile very often when they talk of concentration or steadiness or onepointedness of the mind. A steady mind will serve as a powerful searchlight to find out the hidden spiritual treasures of the Self.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
6.19 Yatha, as; a dipah, lamp; nivata-sthah, kept in a windless place; na ingate, does not flicker; sa upama, such is the simile-that with which something is compared is an upama (smile)-; smrta, thought of, by the knowers of Yoga who understand the movements of the mind; yoginah, for the yogi; yata-citasya, whose mind is under control; and yunjatah, who is engaged in; yogam, concentration; atmanah, on the Self, i.e. who is practising Self-absorption.
By dint of practising Yoga thus, when the mind, comparable to a lamp in a windless place, becomes concentrated, then-
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
6.19 As a lamp does not flicker in a windless place, i.e., does not move, but remains steady with its illumination - this is the simile used to illustrate the nature of the self of the Yogin who has subdued his mind, who has got rid of all other kinds of mental activity and who is practising Yoga concerning the self. The meaning is that the self remains with its steadily illumining light of knowledge because all other activities of the mind have ceased, just as a lamp kept in a windless place has an unflickering flame.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
6.19 Yatha etc. Just as a lamp existing in the windless palce does not shake, so is the man of Yoga. Shaking in his case is the efforts like aciring sense objects and so on.
Now, the characteristic of this Brahman - Itself being Its own nature - is described indirectly with a good number of adjectives. This is different from the characteristics assumed in other systems -
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।6.19।। योगी के समाहित चित्त का वर्णन करने के लिए निर्वात स्थान में रख दीप की उपमा यहाँ दी गयी है जो अत्यन्त समीचीन है। मन में निरन्तर वृत्तियां उत्पन्न और नष्ट होती रहती हैं और हमें एक अखण्ड मन का अनुभव होता है। इसी प्रकार दीपज्योति भी वास्तव में कभी स्थिर नहीं होती तथापि उसका कम्पन इतनी तीव्र गति से होता है कि हमें एक निश्चित आकार की ज्योति प्रतीत होती है।जब इस ज्योति को वायु के झकोरों से सुरक्षित रखा जाता है तब यह उर्ध्वगामी ज्योति स्थिर हो जाती है। ठीक उसी प्रकार सामान्यत वैषयिक इच्छाओं के कारण चंचल रहने वाला मन जब ध्यान के समय शान्त किया जाता है तब वह स्थिर हो जाता है और मन में एक अखण्ड ब्रह्माकार वृत्ति बनी रहती है। संक्षेप में समस्त जगत् के अधिष्ठान नित्य अनन्त आनन्दस्वरूप ब्रह्म का नित्य निरन्तर ध्यान ही आत्मयोग है।योगाभ्यास से इस एकाग्रता को प्राप्त करने के पश्चात् प्रगति के क्या सोपान हांेगे अगले चार श्लोकों में इसका वर्णन किया गया है
🪷 Hindi Vyākhyā · हिन्दी व्याख्या
Pūjya Swami Rāmsukhdās ji's Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī · one of the greatest modern Hindi vyākhyās of the Gītā · direct, pure, deeply Vedāntic · the modern Sanātana-jāgaraṇa.
🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī · Hindi vyākhyā · the modern bilingual anchor
।।6.19।। व्याख्या--'यथा दीपो निवातस्थो ৷৷. युञ्जतो योगमात्मनः'--जैसे सर्वथा स्पन्दनरहित वायुके स्थानमें रखे हुए दीपककी लौ थोड़ी भी हिलती-डुलती नहीं है ,ऐसे ही जो योगका अभ्यास करता है, जिसका मन स्वरूपके चिन्तनमें लगता है और जिसने चित्तको अपने वशमें कर रखा है, उस ध्यानयोगीकेचित्तके लिये भी दीपककी लौकी उपमा दी गयी है। तात्पर्य है कि उस योगीका चित्त स्वरूपमें ऐसा लगा हुआ है कि उसमें एक स्वरूपके सिवाय दूसरा कुछ भी चिन्तन नहीं होता।पूर्वश्लोकमें जिस योगीके चित्तको विनियत कहा गया है, उस वशीभूत किये हुए चित्तवाले योगीके लिये यहाँ 'यतचित्तस्य' पद आया है।कोई भी स्थान वायुसे सर्वथा रहित नहीं होता। वायु सर्वत्र रहती है। कहींपर वायु स्पन्दनरूपसे रहती है और कहींपर निःस्पन्दनरूपसे रहती है। इसलिये यहाँ
🪷 Place in the Bhagavad-Gītā
- This is verse 19 of 47 in Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga (The Yoga of Meditation)
- Chapter theme: The yogī's discipline · abhyāsa-vairāgya · the supreme dhyāna-state
- Ṣaṭka grouping: TVAM-Ṣaṭka (BG 1-6 · the jīva)
- Chapter hub: /dhyana-yoga
🪷 ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय 🪷
सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)