What Krishna here calls "yoga" is the parting from all union with pain.
You might hear "yoga" and look for some new joining to be made. But the word here names a separation: the cutting off of every contact with sorrow, the settled inner state in which the mind comes to rest in the Self.
Know this severance from union with sorrow to be what is called yoga. Practice this yoga with resolve and with a heart that does not lose heart.
Having just described, across the preceding verses, the seeker whose mind grows still and abides in the Self, Krishna now gathers that whole picture into a single name and tells you plainly that this is what yoga truly is.
Where they agreethe convergence
Across schools and centuries the commentators come to the same ground. These are the points they share, and the voices that hold each one.
Take this one name, yoga, as the whole of what was just described: the mind come to rest, the seeker abiding in the Self.
Across Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, Śuddhādvaita, Bhakti, and the modern voicesŚaṅkara · Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana · Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati · Rāmānuja · Vallabha · Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara · Jñāneśvar · Tilak · RamsukhdasIn Śaṅkara, Ānandagiri, and 10 others’ words
Krishna gives this verse as a fresh definition of yoga. He says: know that to be 'yoga' which is the parting (viyoga) from union (samyoga) with pain. The word yoga normally means 'union' or 'joining,' so it is striking that here it names a separation. The commentators flag this openly. What is being defined is the inner state already described in the preceding verses (6.20 to 6.22), the settled condition in which the mind comes to rest and the seeker abides in the Self. By calling it 'yoga' Krishna is summing up that whole description in a single name and saying: this is what yoga really is.
Do not look for some new joining when you hear the word; what is meant is the cutting off of every contact with suffering, named yoga because it stands against all pain.
Across Advaita, Dvaita, BhaktiŚaṅkara · Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana · Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati · Jayatīrtha · ŚrīdharaIn Śaṅkara, Ānandagiri, and 5 others’ words
Because the verse calls a 'parting' by the name of 'union,' several commentators explain how the word fits. The state is named yoga 'by its opposite mark,' that is, by a figure of speech in which a thing is named for what it stands against, since this state is the very opposite of all pain. It earns the name yoga because in it every kind of pain is uprooted, so the total absence of contact with pain deserves to be called by yoga's honored name. One should not, then, cling to the literal sense of 'union' and look for some new connection being joined; the meaning is the cutting-off of contact with suffering. A devotional reading adds a second, more literal sense alongside this: that the joining of the individual self (kshetrajna) with the Supreme Self (Paramatman) is itself the yoga, so the word keeps its plain meaning of union too.
Now the verse turns from naming to doing: practice with firm conviction that what teacher and scripture hold out is true, and with a mind that does not grow weary.
Across Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, Dvaita, Śuddhādvaita, Bhakti, and the modern voicesŚaṅkara · Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana · Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati · Rāmānuja · Madhva · Jayatīrtha · Vallabha · Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara · Sivananda · RamsukhdasIn Śaṅkara, Ānandagiri, and 11 others’ words
The second half of the verse turns from definition to practice. Having stated the great fruit of yoga, Krishna makes a fresh start and lays down how it is to be pursued: it must be practiced with resolve (nishchaya) and with a mind that does not grow despondent (anirvinna-chetasa). Resolve means firm conviction that what scripture and the teacher hold out is true and will be reached. Freedom from despondency means not slackening one's effort under the discouraging thought, 'so long has passed and only this much has come.' The settled attitude is rather, 'in this birth or another I will succeed; there is no need to hurry.' Several commentators note the repetition is deliberate, not redundant: the verse gives the same content twice, once to define and once to exhort, and so firms the seeker's will.
The call to practice is repeated for a reason, to guard you against turning back; conquer the mind as one might empty the sea drop by drop, never growing weary.
Across Advaita, Dvaita, BhaktiĀnandagiri · Madhusūdana · Dhanapati · Jayatīrtha · ŚrīdharaIn Ānandagiri, Madhusūdana, and 3 others’ words
A reason is given for repeating the call to practice. The fruit is so great that one might expect no further urging would be needed; yet the practitioner who does not reach the goal at once could slip into doubt and turn back. So the renewed instruction guards against that very danger, pinning the seeker's commitment so that doubt cannot loosen it. Several commentators reinforce the patience this requires with Gaudapada's image: just as the ocean might be emptied drop by drop with the tip of a kusha blade, so is the mind conquered, by sheer tireless persistence and never growing weary.
This is the shared ground; it can be carried as it is. Below is where they differ.
Where they differthe divergence
Advaita Vedānta, in their fuller words
For these commentators the 'yoga' defined here is the inner stillness in which the mind's movements cease, named yoga by the figure of the opposite because it is the complete severance of all contact with pain. One source draws the line to Patanjali directly: this is 'yoga is the restraint of the movements of the mind,' the same as the destruction of sorrow already promised. One source enriches the picture by mapping the verse's two requirements onto a heard sequence of disciplines: 'resolve' is the faith that the fruit will come at the word of teacher and Veda, and the 'untired mind' is the dispassionate forbearance that endures the pairs of opposites. The accent throughout is on cessation of mental activity as the gateway to the Self, and on the figurative naming that keeps one from misreading 'yoga' as some fresh joining.
Viśiṣṭādvaita, in their fuller words
This commentator reads the severance from union with pain as a knowledge: the state denoted by the word 'discipline' is a knowing that takes the form of being the very contrary of union with pain. The practice-side is given a warm cast: the discipline is to be carried out with a mind unwearied at the beginning, with a glad or cheerful mind, and with certainty. The note of gladness in the seeker's mind, not merely grim endurance, marks this reading.
Dvaita, in their fuller words
These commentators stress that this yoga does not merely destroy pain that has already arisen; it wards off the very arising of pain in the first place. They draw this from the wording itself: the word 'union' is present precisely so that 'severance' carries the sense of warding off, a meaning won from the very excess of words and not otherwise. On the practice-side they read 'with resolve' as excluding non-engagement: the point is simply that one who wishes to be free must practice, the resolve ruling out any holding back. The repeated injunction is purposeful because, given so great a fruit, no one would refrain out of mere doubt, so the verse instead pins the seeker who seeks liberation to the practice.
Śuddhādvaita, in their fuller words
These commentators read the yoga as union with the Lord himself: it is 'yoga with Me.' The severance is from any conjunction with suffering, whether worldly or merely bodily. On the practice-side one of them gives the verse a strongly devotional turn: the 'undespondent mind' is a mind that does not slacken in prapatti, loving surrender born of the knowledge of suffering, and a mind that wishes its own true good. The yoga is laid hold of in obedient surrender, not in fitful enthusiasm, and is sustained through the patience of one who has tasted the bitterness of every path apart from the Lord.
Bhakti, in their fuller words
These commentators allow two senses of the word side by side. Literally and technically, yoga is the joining of the individual self with the Supreme Self, so the word keeps its plain meaning of union. Figuratively, the parting from contact with pain is itself called yoga by the figure of the opposite, as a brave warrior may be ironically called 'timid.' One source notes that even sense-pleasure is included under 'pain,' since worldly enjoyment is itself shot through with suffering, and so the yogi parts from contact with pain even at the very moment of touch. One source dwells on the resulting bliss: the mind that once clung to sense-life forgets all desire once it tastes the bliss of the Self, a bliss that is the crown and royal wealth of the yogins, the consummation of supreme knowledge, directly realized through the discipline of yoga.
A modern reading, in their fuller words
These commentators carry the verse to the practical aspirant. One stresses character: success needs firm conviction and iron determination, and an undepressed heart; a wavering mind quits at the first obstacle, so the practitioner must be bold, cheerful, and self-reliant. One places the verse in the Patanjali frame, noting that these stanzas complete the description of samadhi as the culmination of controlling the mind's activity, yet insists the resulting bliss arises not from mind-control alone but only after one comes to know the nature of the Self, and adds that this same equability can be reached by knowledge and devotion, often by an easier road. One gives a distinctively non-dual devotional reading: our bondage to the suffering world-and-body is only an assumed, adventitious connection we ourselves made, never real and never permanent; the moment that false connection is severed, the ever-present natural union (nitya-yoga) with our own true nature comes into living experience, the very thing meant by 'the delusion is gone, memory is regained.' This yoga, on his reading, is not something newly produced but the eternal union remembered.
A few questions to carry
These ask for understanding, not recall; each answer is settled by the commentary itself.
For a second sitting
Carry this with youwhat stays
Hold this image close when the practice feels hopeless. The tradition tells of a small bird whose eggs the sea had carried off. Undaunted, it set out to dry the entire ocean, flinging up the water drop by drop with its beak. Other birds mocked it, and even the sage Narada warned it of the folly, yet it vowed to empty the sea by some means, in this birth or another. Moved by that tireless resolve, Narada sent the great Garuda to its aid, and the sea, drying in the wind of Garuda's wings, gave the eggs back in fear. Just so, the Lord favors the yogin who, without weariness, keeps on in the supreme work of quieting the mind, and in the end the seeker's desire is fulfilled. The lesson is not to measure your progress against the size of the task, but to keep casting up your single drop, trusting that the persistence itself draws grace toward you.
Do not measure your progress against the size of the task; simply keep casting up your single drop, trusting that the persistence itself draws grace toward you.
Read deeper
Everything a full study holds, folded below.
Word by word
All the commentary, woven together
The commentary, woven together
machine-assisted draft, pending review
Convergence
rishna gives this verse as a fresh definition of yoga. He says: know that to be 'yoga' which is the parting (viyoga) from union (samyoga) with pain. The word yoga normally means 'union' or 'joining,' so it is striking that here it names a separation. The commentators flag this openly. What is being defined is the inner state already described in the preceding verses (6.20 to 6.22), the settled condition in which the mind comes to rest and the seeker abides in the Self. By calling it 'yoga' Krishna is summing up that whole description in a single name and saying: this is what yoga really is.
Braided from 12 commentators
Śaṅkarācārya · Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Rāmānujācārya · Vallabhācārya · Śrī Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Sant Jñāneśvar · Lokmanya Tilak · Swami Ramsukhdas
Because the verse calls a 'parting' by the name of 'union,' several commentators explain how the word fits. The state is named yoga 'by its opposite mark,' that is, by a figure of speech in which a thing is named for what it stands against, since this state is the very opposite of all pain. It earns the name yoga because in it every kind of pain is uprooted, so the total absence of contact with pain deserves to be called by yoga's honored name. One should not, then, cling to the literal sense of 'union' and look for some new connection being joined; the meaning is the cutting-off of contact with suffering. A devotional reading adds a second, more literal sense alongside this: that the joining of the individual self (kshetrajna) with the Supreme Self (Paramatman) is itself the yoga, so the word keeps its plain meaning of union too.
Braided from 7 commentators
Śaṅkarācārya · Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Śrī Jayatīrtha · Śrīdhara Svāmī
The second half of the verse turns from definition to practice. Having stated the great fruit of yoga, Krishna makes a fresh start and lays down how it is to be pursued: it must be practiced with resolve (nishchaya) and with a mind that does not grow despondent (anirvinna-chetasa). Resolve means firm conviction that what scripture and the teacher hold out is true and will be reached. Freedom from despondency means not slackening one's effort under the discouraging thought, 'so long has passed and only this much has come.' The settled attitude is rather, 'in this birth or another I will succeed; there is no need to hurry.' Several commentators note the repetition is deliberate, not redundant: the verse gives the same content twice, once to define and once to exhort, and so firms the seeker's will.
Braided from 13 commentators
Śaṅkarācārya · Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Rāmānujācārya · Madhvācārya · Śrī Jayatīrtha · Vallabhācārya · Śrī Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Swami Sivananda · Swami Ramsukhdas
A reason is given for repeating the call to practice. The fruit is so great that one might expect no further urging would be needed; yet the practitioner who does not reach the goal at once could slip into doubt and turn back. So the renewed instruction guards against that very danger, pinning the seeker's commitment so that doubt cannot loosen it. Several commentators reinforce the patience this requires with Gaudapada's image: just as the ocean might be emptied drop by drop with the tip of a kusha blade, so is the mind conquered, by sheer tireless persistence and never growing weary.
Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Dhanapati Sūri · Śrī Jayatīrtha · Śrīdhara Svāmī
Divergence
Advaita Vedānta
For these commentators the 'yoga' defined here is the inner stillness in which the mind's movements cease, named yoga by the figure of the opposite because it is the complete severance of all contact with pain. One source draws the line to Patanjali directly: this is 'yoga is the restraint of the movements of the mind,' the same as the destruction of sorrow already promised. One source enriches the picture by mapping the verse's two requirements onto a heard sequence of disciplines: 'resolve' is the faith that the fruit will come at the word of teacher and Veda, and the 'untired mind' is the dispassionate forbearance that endures the pairs of opposites. The accent throughout is on cessation of mental activity as the gateway to the Self, and on the figurative naming that keeps one from misreading 'yoga' as some fresh joining.
Śaṅkarācārya · Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri
Viśiṣṭādvaita
This commentator reads the severance from union with pain as a knowledge: the state denoted by the word 'discipline' is a knowing that takes the form of being the very contrary of union with pain. The practice-side is given a warm cast: the discipline is to be carried out with a mind unwearied at the beginning, with a glad or cheerful mind, and with certainty. The note of gladness in the seeker's mind, not merely grim endurance, marks this reading.
Rāmānujācārya
Dvaita
These commentators stress that this yoga does not merely destroy pain that has already arisen; it wards off the very arising of pain in the first place. They draw this from the wording itself: the word 'union' is present precisely so that 'severance' carries the sense of warding off, a meaning won from the very excess of words and not otherwise. On the practice-side they read 'with resolve' as excluding non-engagement: the point is simply that one who wishes to be free must practice, the resolve ruling out any holding back. The repeated injunction is purposeful because, given so great a fruit, no one would refrain out of mere doubt, so the verse instead pins the seeker who seeks liberation to the practice.
Madhvācārya · Śrī Jayatīrtha
Śuddhādvaita
These commentators read the yoga as union with the Lord himself: it is 'yoga with Me.' The severance is from any conjunction with suffering, whether worldly or merely bodily. On the practice-side one of them gives the verse a strongly devotional turn: the 'undespondent mind' is a mind that does not slacken in prapatti, loving surrender born of the knowledge of suffering, and a mind that wishes its own true good. The yoga is laid hold of in obedient surrender, not in fitful enthusiasm, and is sustained through the patience of one who has tasted the bitterness of every path apart from the Lord.
Vallabhācārya · Śrī Puruṣottama
Bhakti
These commentators allow two senses of the word side by side. Literally and technically, yoga is the joining of the individual self with the Supreme Self, so the word keeps its plain meaning of union. Figuratively, the parting from contact with pain is itself called yoga by the figure of the opposite, as a brave warrior may be ironically called 'timid.' One source notes that even sense-pleasure is included under 'pain,' since worldly enjoyment is itself shot through with suffering, and so the yogi parts from contact with pain even at the very moment of touch. One source dwells on the resulting bliss: the mind that once clung to sense-life forgets all desire once it tastes the bliss of the Self, a bliss that is the crown and royal wealth of the yogins, the consummation of supreme knowledge, directly realized through the discipline of yoga.
Śrīdhara Svāmī · Sant Jñāneśvar
Modern
These commentators carry the verse to the practical aspirant. One stresses character: success needs firm conviction and iron determination, and an undepressed heart; a wavering mind quits at the first obstacle, so the practitioner must be bold, cheerful, and self-reliant. One places the verse in the Patanjali frame, noting that these stanzas complete the description of samadhi as the culmination of controlling the mind's activity, yet insists the resulting bliss arises not from mind-control alone but only after one comes to know the nature of the Self, and adds that this same equability can be reached by knowledge and devotion, often by an easier road. One gives a distinctively non-dual devotional reading: our bondage to the suffering world-and-body is only an assumed, adventitious connection we ourselves made, never real and never permanent; the moment that false connection is severed, the ever-present natural union (nitya-yoga) with our own true nature comes into living experience, the very thing meant by 'the delusion is gone, memory is regained.' This yoga, on his reading, is not something newly produced but the eternal union remembered.
Swami Sivananda · Lokmanya Tilak · Swami Ramsukhdas
A Seeker Asks
If yoga is reached only by tireless practice that may span many lifetimes, how is a seeker meant to keep going without sinking into the very despondency the verse warns against?
The verse anticipates this exact danger. It does not promise instant success; it foresees that the practitioner who does not reach the goal at once may slip into doubt and turn back, and so it deliberately repeats the call to practice to pin the seeker's commitment against that drift.
Śrī Ānandagiri · Śrī Jayatīrtha
The antidote it prescribes is twofold. First, resolve (nishchaya): firm conviction that what teacher and scripture hold out is genuinely true and will be reached, so the goal is never in question even when progress is slow. Second, an undespondent mind: refusing the discouraging thought 'so long, and only this much,' and settling instead into the patient certainty 'in this birth or another I will succeed, so why hurry.'
Śaṅkarācārya · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Dhanapati Sūri · Śrīdhara Svāmī
The right scale for effort is the drop, not the ocean. As Gaudapada's image teaches, the mind is conquered the way one might empty the sea drop by drop with the tip of a kusha blade: by sheer unwearied persistence. The seeker is freed from despair precisely by no longer measuring each day against the whole distance, and simply continuing.
Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Dhanapati Sūri · Śrī Jayatīrtha · Śrīdhara Svāmī
A further consolation reframes the whole effort. On one reading the union we are toiling toward is not something newly produced but our own ever-present true nature, merely forgotten under a false attachment to the suffering world; the practice does not manufacture yoga, it lets the eternal union already ours come back into living experience. What we seek is not far off, only un-remembered.
Swami Ramsukhdas
Contemplation
Hold this image close when the practice feels hopeless. The tradition tells of a small bird whose eggs the sea had carried off. Undaunted, it set out to dry the entire ocean, flinging up the water drop by drop with its beak. Other birds mocked it, and even the sage Narada warned it of the folly, yet it vowed to empty the sea by some means, in this birth or another. Moved by that tireless resolve, Narada sent the great Garuda to its aid, and the sea, drying in the wind of Garuda's wings, gave the eggs back in fear. Just so, the Lord favors the yogin who, without weariness, keeps on in the supreme work of quieting the mind, and in the end the seeker's desire is fulfilled. The lesson is not to measure your progress against the size of the task, but to keep casting up your single drop, trusting that the persistence itself draws grace toward you.
Sit with this · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī
All the translations and commentary
Pull up a chair.
You have come to sit with this verse. When you are ready to hear the translators and the commentators in full, tap a name in The seating.