15. yunjann evam sada 'tmãnam
yogi niyatanuinasah
santim nirvanaparamam
matsaiñsthãm adigacchati
(15) The yogi of subdued mind, ever keeping himself thus harmonized, attains to peace, the supreme nirvana, which abides in Me
16. na 'tyasnatas tu yoga 'sti
na cai 'Bantam anasnatah
na ca 'tisvapvasilasya
jagrato nai 'va ca 'rujna
bharyanm gacchan brahmacari rtau bhavati vai dvijah M.B. See also Manu
Hindu tradition looks upon Ahalya, Sits, Maldodari, Draupadi and Tara as models of chastity, mahapativratd. They are also called pamamahakanya. Thomas Hardy asks us to look upon Tess as a pure woman Chastity is a condition of mind
(16) Verily, yoga is not for him who eats too much or abstains too much from eating. It is not for him, 0 Arjuna, who sleeps too much or keeps awake too much
We must be free from animal cravings. We must avoid excess in all things. Compare with this the middle path of the Buddhists, the golden mean of Aristotle.
17. yuktãharavihdrasya
yuktacesasya karmasu
yuktasvaanavabodhasya
yogo bhavati duhkhand
(17) For the man who is temperate in food and recreation, who is restrained in his actions, whose sleep and waking are regulated, there ensues discipline (yoga) which destroys all sorrow
It is not complete abstinence from action but restraint in action that is advised. When the ego is established in the Self, it lives in a transcendent and universal consciousness and acts from that centre.
The Perfsct Yogi,
18. yada vi,niyalam cittam
atmany eva 'vatisthate
nihsprhah sarvakamebhyo
yukta ity ucyate tada
(18) When the disciplined mind is established in the Self alone, liberated from all desires, then is he said to be harmonized (in yoga)
Complete effacement of the ego is essential for the vision of truth. Every taint of individuality should disappear, if truth is to be known. There should be an elimination of all our prejudices and idiosyncrasies.
In these verses, the teacher gives the procedure by which the seeker can gain the experience of the Essential Self In the ordinary experience of the outer or the inner world, the Self in union with the body is immersed in phenomenal multiplicity and remains veiled because of it. We should first of all empty the soul of every specific operation, rid it of every image, of every particular representation, of every distinct operation of mind. This is a negative process. It may be thought that by draining our consciousness of every image, we end in a pure and simple nothingness. The teacher makes out that the negative process is adopted to apprehend the Pure Self, to achieve the beatific vision. The silence is made perfect and the void is consummated through this apparently negative but intensely vital mystical contemplation, involving a tension of the forces of the soul. It is an experience which transcends all knowledge, for the Self is not an object expressible in a concept or presentable to mind as an object. It is inexpressible subjectivity.
