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The object of the yogin in the Gita is not the absolute <) destruction of mind, but to bring the mind or the ordinary self “~~ | into communion with the higher self or God. To the yogin who \ ractises meditation the Gita advises steadiness of posture; thus it says that the yogin should hold his body, head and shoulders straight, and, being unmoved and fixed in his posture, should avoid looking to either side and fix his eyes on the tip of his nose. \ The Gita is, of course, aware of the proces~ of breath-control and pranayama; but, curiously enough, it does not speak of it in its sixth chapter on dhyana-yoga, where almost the whole chapter is devoted to yoga practice and the conduct of yogis. In the fifth chapter, v. 27, it is said that all sense-movements and control of life-movements (prana-karmani) are like oblations to the fire of self-control. In the two obscure verses of the same chapter, v. 29 and 30, it is said that there are some who offer an oblation of prana to apana and of apana to prana and thus, stopping the movement of inhalation and exhalation (pranapana-gati ruddhva), perform the pranayama, while there are others who, taking a low diet, offer an oblation of prana to prana. Such actions on the part of these people are described as being different kinds of sacrifices, or yajna, and the people who perform them are called yajna-vidah (those who know the science of sacrifice), and not yogin. It is difficult to understand the exact meaning of offering an oblation of prana to prana or of prana to apana and of calling this sacrifice. The interpretations of Sankara, Sridhara and others give us but little help in this matter. They do not tell us why it should be called a yajfia or how an oblation of prana to prana can be made, and they do not even try to give a synonym for juhvati (offer oblation) used in this connection. It seems to me, however, that there is probably a reference to the mystical substitution-medita- tions (pratikopasana) which were used as substitutes for sacrifices and are referred to in the Upanisads. Thus in the Maitri Upanisad, vI. 9, we find that Brahman is to be meditated upon as the ego, and in this connection, oblations of the five vayus to fire with such mantras as pranaya svaha, apanaya svaha, etc. are recom- mended. It is easy to imagine that, in a later process of development, for the actual offering of oblations to fire was substituted a certain process of breath-control, which still retained the old phraseology of the offering of oblations in a sacrifice. If this interpretation is a XIV] Gita and Yoga 449 accepted, it will indicate how processes of breath-control became in many cases associated with substitution-meditations of the Vedic typet. The development of processes of breath-control in connection with substitution-meditations does not seem to -be unnatural at all, and, as a matter of fact, the practice of pranayama in connection with such substitution-meditations is definitely indicated in the Maitri Upanisad, v1. 18. The movement of inhalation and exhalation was known to be the cause of all body-heat, including the heat of digestive processes, and Krsna is supposed to say in the Gita, xv. 14, ‘‘As fire I remain in the body of living beings and in association with prana and apana I digest four kinds of food and drink.” The author of the Gita, however, seems to have been well aware that the prana and apana breaths passing through the nose could be properly balanced (samau), or that the prana vayu could be concentrated between the two eye- brows or in the head (mardhni)?. It is difficult to say what is exactly meant by taking the prana in the head or between the eyebrows. There seems to have been a belief in the Atharva-siras Upanisad and also in the Atharva-sikha Upanisad that the prana could be driven upwards, or that such prana, being in the head, could protect it?. Manu also speaks of the pranas of young men rushing upwards when old men approached them. But, whatever may be meant, it is certain that neither the balancing of prana and apana nor the concentrating of prana in the head or between the eyebrows is a phrase of Patafijali, the Yoga writer. | In describing the course of a yogin in the sixth chapter the Gita advises that the yogin should lead the austere life of a Brahma- carin, withdraw his mind from all mundane interests and think only of God, dedicate all his actions to Him and try to live in communion with Him (yukta asita). This gives to his soul peace, through which he loses his individuality in God and abides in Him 1 See Hindu Mysticism, by S. N. Dasgupta, Chicago, 1927, pp. 18-20. 2 prandpanau samau krtva nasabhyantara-carinau, Vv. 27. The phrase samau kytvd is left unexplained here by Sankara. Sridhara explains it as ‘‘ having sus- pended the movement of prana and apdna”—pranapanav irddhvadho-gati- nirodhena samau krtvua kumbhakam krtva. It is difficult, however, to say what is exactly meant by concentrating the prdya vayu between the two eyebrows, bhruvor madhye pranam avesya samyak (vii. 10). Neither Sankara nor Sridhara gives us any assistance here. In mardhny adhayatmanah pranam asthito yoga- dharandm (vi. 12) miirdhni is paraphrased by Sridhara as bhruvor madhye, or ‘“between the eyebrows.” 3 Atharva-Siras, 4.and 6 and Atharva-sikha, i. DII 29 450 The Philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita [cH. y : ; : : : in the bliss of self-effacement!. A yogin can be said to be in union (with God) when he concentrates his mind on his own higher self and is absolutely unattached to all desires. By his efforts “towards such a union (yoga-sevaya) he restrains his mind from all other objects and, perceiving his self in himself, remains in peace and contentment. At this higher state the yogin enjoys absolute bliss (sukham atyantikam), transcending all sense-pleasures by his pure reason, and, being thus fixed in God, he is never shaken away from Him. Such a yogin forsakes all his desires and controls all his senses by his mind, and, whenever the mind itself seeks to fly away to different objects, he tries to control it and fix it on his own self. Patiently holding his mind fixed in his self, he tries to desist from all kinds of thought and gradually habituates himself to shaking off attachments to sense-attractions. At this stage of union the yogi feels that he has attained his highest, and thus even the greatest mundane sorrows cannot affect him in the least. Yoga is thus sometimes defined as the negation of the possibility of all association with sorrows?. One can attain such a state only by persistent and self-confident efforts and without being depressed by preliminary failures. When a yogin attains this union with himself or with God, he is like the motionless flame of a lamp in a still place, undisturbed by all / attractions and unruffled by all passions*. The yogin who attains { t . q this highest state of union with himself or with God is said to be in touch with Brahman or to attain Brahmahood, and it is emphatically asserted that he is filled with ecstatic joy. Being in 1 santim nirvana-paramadm mat-samstham adhigacchati, v1. 15. The Gita uses the words santz and nirvana to indicate the bliss of the person who abides in God. Both these words, and particularly the word nirvana, have a definite significance in Buddhism. But the Gitd seems to be quite unacquainted with the Buddhistic sense of the word. I have therefore ventured to translate the word nirvana as “bliss of self-effacement.” The word is primarily used in the sense of ‘‘extinguishing a light,” and this directly leads to the Buddhistic sense of the absolute destruction of the skandhas. But.the word nirvana is also used from very early times in the sense of “‘relief from sufferings” and “satis- faction.” ‘Thus the Mahda-bharata, with which the Gitd is traditionally associated, uses it in this sense in I11. 10438: Sa pitva sitalam toyam pipasartto mahi-patih; nirvanam agamad dhiman susukhi. cabhavat tadd. Again, in the Maha-bharata, x11. 7150 and 13014, nirvana is described as being highest bliss (paramam sukham), and it is also associated with Santi, or peace, as it is in the above passage—santim nirvana-paramam. In M. aha-bharata, v1.1079 and in another place it is called a “‘state of the highest Brahman”? (paramam brahma—ibid. x11. 13239). : 2 tam vidyad duhkha-samyoga-viyogam yoga-samjfitam, V1. 23. * Yatha dipo nivata-stho nengate sopama smrta, V1. 19. XIV] Gita and Yoga 451 union with God, he perceives himself in all things, and all things in himself ; for, being in union with God, he in one way identifies himself with God, and perceives God in all things and all things in God. Yet it is no mere abstract pantheism that is indicated -here; for such a view is directly in opposition to the main tenets of the Gita, so often repeated in diverse contexts. It is a mystical | state, in which, on the one hand, the yogzn finds himself identified |} with God and in communion with Him, and, on the other hand, | does not cease to have relations with the beings of the world, to —| whom he gives the same consideration as to himself. He does not prefer his own happiness to the happiness of others, nor does he consider his own misery and suffering as greater or more _important or more worthy of prevention than those of others. Being in communion with God, he still regards Him as the master | whom he adores, as the supreme Lord who pervades all things and | holds them in Himself. By his communion with God the yogin \ transcends his lower and smaller self and discovers his greater self in God, not only as the supreme ideal of his highest efforts, but also as the highest of all realities.