Paths of Yoga According to the Bhagavad
Gita
Ksna explains their
discipline in the following verses, premised
by:
In whatever way men approach Me even so do I
reward them; My
path do men tread in all ways. (IV: 11)
Karma
yoga: Perform action (karma), O Arjuna,
being steadfast in Yoga, abandoning attachment and balanced in success and
failure. Evenness of mind is called
Yoga. (II: 43)
Having abandoned attachment to the fruits of the
action, ever content, depending on nothing, he does not do anything though
engaged in activity. (IV: 20)
(Karma)
Yogis, having abandoned attachment, perform actions only by the body,
mind, intellect and even by the senses, for the
purification of the soul. (V: 11)
He who is devoted to the path of action, whose
mind is quite pure, who has conquered the lower self, who has subdued his
senses and who realizes his Soul as the Soul in all beings, though acting, is
not tainted. (V: 7)
Bhakti
yoga: But to those who worship Me, renouncing all
actions in Me, regarding Me as the supreme goal, meditating on Me with single
minded Yoga, To those whose mind is set on Me, O Arjuna,
verily I become ere long the savior out of the ocean of Samsara
(the round of life and death). Fix thy
mind on me only, the intellect in Me, (then) thou shalt no doubt live in Me alone hereafter. (XII: 6-8)
Abhyasa
Yoga: If thou art unable to fix thy mind steadily
on Me, then by the Yoga of constant practice (Abhyasa) do thou seek to reach Me, O Arjuna. (XII: 9)
With the mind not moving towards any other
thing, made steadfast by the method of habitual meditation, and constantly
meditating, one goes to the Supreme Person, the Resplendent, O
Arjuna. (VIII:8)
Laya
Yoga: Having closed all the gates, confined the
mind in the heart, and fixed the life-breath in the head, engaged in the
practice of concentration, Uttering the one syllables Om,
the Almighty God, and remembering Me, he who departs, leaving the body, attains
the Supreme Goal. (VII: 12-13)
Raja Yoga: Abandoning without reserve all desires born
of Sankalpa (thought and imagination), and completely
restraining the whole group of the senses by the mind from all sides,
Little by little let him attain to quietude by
the intellect held firmly; having made the mind establish itself in the Soul, let him not think of anything.
From whatever cause the restless and unsteady
mind wavers away, from that let him restrain it and bring it under the control
of the Soul alone.
Supreme Bliss verily comes to the Yogi whose
mind is quite peaceful, whose passion is quieted, who had become the Great
Soul, and who is free from sin. (VI:
24-27)
Hatha
Yoga: Let him firmly hold his body, head and neck
erect still, gazing at the tip of his nose, without looking around.
Serene-minded, fearless, firm in the vow of celibacy,
having controlled the mind, let him sit, having Me as
his supreme goal.
Thus always keeping the mind balanced, the Yogi,
with mind controlled, attains to the peach abiding in me, which culminates in
liberation. (VI: 13-15)
Jnana
Yoga: Free from attachment, fear and anger,
absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the
fire of Wisdom (Jnana), many have attained to my
being. (IV: 10)
Others again offer wealth, austerity and Yoga as
sacrifice, while the ascetics of self-restraint and rigid vows offer study of
the scriptures and knowledge as sacrifice.
(IV: 28)
Know that (Wisdom) by long prostration, by
question and by service; the wise who have realized the Truth will instruct
thee in (that) knowledge.
Knowing that thou shalt
not, O Arjuna, again get delude like this; and by
that thou shalt see all beings in thy Soul and also
in
Verily, there is no
purifier in this world like Wisdom. He
who is perfected in Yoga finds it in the Soul in time. (IV: 38)