Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya 207

Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya

Chapter-6 Dhyāna Yogaḥ

saṅkalpa prabhavān kāmāṃs-tyaktvā sarvān-aśeṣataḥ | manasaivendriya-grāmaṃ viniyamya samantataḥ || 24 || 24. Renouncing without reserve, all desires born of imagination (sankalpa) and completely restraining the whole group of senses by the mind from all directions; śanaiḥ śanairu-paramed buddhyā dhṛti-gṛhītayā | ātma-saṃsthaṃ manaḥ kṛtvā na kiñcid-api cintayet || 25 || 25. — very gradually, one should attain tranquility with the help of the intellect held by a firm resolution; having focused the mind upon the ātman one should think of nothing else. Commentary There are two kinds of desires:— (1) those which arise from contact between the senses and their objects like heat, cold etc. and (2) those which are generated by the mind (sankalpa is the will or imagination) like those for offspring, property etc. Of these, the latter category, because of their nature, can easily be given up — one should mentally relinquish all these by contemplating on their lack of real connection with the Self. In respect of unavoidable desires resulting from contact with sense objects; relinquish the idea that pleasure and pain affect the Self; and withdraw all the senses from contact with their sense-objects — one should think of nothing else but the ātman. Little by little, through the power of discrimination, one should focus the mind on the ātman alone.