 Bhagavad Gita Commentary–Forty-seven–by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
 The Yogi’s Retreat
The yogi in the world
Krishna has told Arjuna that a yogi can attain perfection here in this world, even while fulfilling his earthly responsibilities. In the third chapter he said:
“Do your duty, always; but without attachment. That is how a man reaches the ultimate Truth; by working without anxiety about results.
“In fact, Janaka and many others reached enlightenment, simply because they did their duty in this spirit. Your motive in working should be to set others, by your example, on the path of duty.
“Whatever a great man does, ordinary people will imitate; they follow his example.
“Consider me: I am not bound by any sort of duty. There is nothing, in all the three worlds, which I do not already possess; nothing I have yet to acquire. But I go on working, nevertheless.
“If I did not continue to work untiringly as I do, mankind would still follow me, no matter where I led them.
“Suppose I were to stop? They would all be lost. The result would be caste-mixture and universal destruction.
“The ignorant work for the fruit of their action: the wise must work also without desire pointing man’s feet to the path of his duty.
“Let the wise beware lest they bewilder the minds of the ignorant hungry for action: let them show by example how work is holy when the heart of the worker is fixed on the Highest.”
Those who pretend to the ideals of yoga while really loving the world and its toys, exuberantly put forth the image of the worldly-wise and debonair yogi, busily rushing around like a squirrel, gathering and storing the nuts of material success and enjoyment “while yet finding time to meditate.” They picture a “balanced life of yoga and action” that shows an overwhelming involvement in “action” and very little in yoga. After all, a balanced life would consist of eight hours spent in sleep, work, and meditation respectively.
I know of many “balanced” yogis that can barely meditate for an hour even after decades of meditation practice. When they do “meditate” for longer periods of time, they spend a lot of it in “chanting” and listening (with closed eyes) to “inspiration” in the form of sermonettes. Many of them cannot sit for meditation in silence, but must have some kind of music or mantra recording going all the time. I do not say this to disparage them–it is not their fault that their yoga methods and their teachers are duds. But I do think that after some years they might figure that out and start looking for something better. For it is there. They can find it in the Gita and have no less a teacher than the avatar Krishna and the recorder of his teachings, Vyasa. The yogi’s retreat
There is no doubt that the yogi may have to work among the noise of urban business, that telephone, fax, and computer may be ringing, buzzing, and beeping, and people be talking, talking, and talking throughout the day. But when the work time is over it should really be over and the guidelines given by Krishna should be adhered to as much as possible. Here they are:
“The yogi should retire into a solitary place, and live alone. He must exercise control over his mind and body. He must free himself from the hopes and possessions of this world. He should meditate on the Atman unceasingly.”
Retire into a solitary place. In the thirteenth chapter Krishna will say: “Adore me only with heart undistracted; turn all your thought toward solitude, spurning the noise of the crowd, its fruitless commotion.” This can be done in two ways.
Perpetually you should live in a quiet place where after your daily work you can go and be by yourself, where the world can be shut out and forgotten about. If the place is in a solitary location away from the town or neighbors, that is best, but any place where you can shut and lock the door and be alone is sufficient–if it is quiet and free from noises of the world and the worldly. Even if you have to move occasionally to ensure this, you will be glad you did.
In the thirteenth chapter of Autobiography of a Yogi, the master yogi, Ram Gopal Muzumdar, asked Yogananda: “Are you able to have a little room where you can close the door and be alone?” When he said that he did have such a room, the saint told him: “That is your cave. That is your sacred mountain. That is where you will find the kingdom of God.”
Occasionally you should go away even from your home and live in solitude–not in some busy ashram where you will be pestered to do “karma yoga” and be expected to take part in “spiritual” group activities. It is better to stay at home than waste your time in this way. Instead, you should find a place where you can really be all to yourself. If you can prepare your food and eat in solitude, this is good, but if you can go somewhere for (vegetarian) meals where you need speak to no one socially and can immediately go back to your place, that is also good, though not as good. A truly quiet hotel that has room service can be perfectly acceptable, but if you can be in some kind of house or cabin, or room in a single-story building, it is better.
Sri Ramakrishna had this to say about such solitude:
“It is very necessary now and then to retire into solitude and think of him. In the beginning it is very difficult to keep the mind on God without retiring into solitude.
“When a plant is young it is necessary to put a fence round it. Without a fence it is eaten up by goats and cows. To meditate you should withdraw yourself within or retire to a secluded spot or into the forest and always discriminate between the real and the unreal. God alone is truth; namely, the reality, and all the rest is unreal and transitory. Discriminating in this manner renounce the transient things from the mind.…
“Keshab Sen, Pratap and others told me, ‘Sir, ours is the view of King Janaka.’ I said, ‘One doesn’t become King Janaka by mere words of mouth. King Janaka first performed so many austerities in solitude. Do something first. Then only you may become King Janaka.’…
“And notice also that this very mind acquires knowledge, dispassion and devotion by dwelling on God in solitude.… The world is water and the mind is like milk. If you pour milk into water they get mixed and you cannot find pure milk anymore. If you churn butter after turning milk into curd and put it in water it will float. So first churn the butter of knowledge and devotion by following spiritual practices in solitude. That butter will never mix. Even if you put it in the water of the world it will float.”
Sri Mahendranath Gupta, known as “M,” was a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and the recorder of these words in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. In Yogananda’s autobiography he is called “Master Mahashaya, the blissful devotee.” He followed these words of Sri Ramakrishna all his life. He had several isolated places right in Calcutta, known only to himself, where he would go for days at a time to practice meditation. On occasion he would come home for meals and then go back to his secret haven. At other times he left Calcutta for a solitary ashram owned by him.
Both forms of solitude–at home and away–are necessary for the yogi.
Live alone. This is really important for the unmarried yogi unless he can find other yogi’s (of the same sex) who will live with him in a quiet place and keep to themselves, out of sight and sound.
If the yogi is married, still it is important to spend time by oneself each day. This not impossible. I have an India friend whose mother is a great tapaswin, Though living in a joint family, occasionally she retires to a quiet room in the house and stays for days, weeks, and even months, seeing no one and have her food put outside her door. During these periods, if for some reason she comes into another part of the house everyone knows she is coming because a strong fragrance of roses precedes her, and if she speaks it is as though she is spraying rose essence into the air. I know other yogis in India and America, both men and women, who have private areas in their home for their sadhana. (One friend even has a secret room she alone knows how to get into. Another has a small temple behind his house.)
The important thing is to be alone in your mind. When you are in your “holy place” let no one interrupt you or call out to you or communicate with you in any way. During my first trip to India, in the ashram of Anandamayi Ma, I met an astonishing man: Doctor Pannalal. Someone told me that he had at one time been the governor of Benares and lived in a palace. Behind the palace he had a small hut (kutir) built for meditation. He gave strict orders to everyone that he was never to be disturbed when he was in there. But one day the palace caught fire, so someone ran and banged on the door, shouting the palace was burning. “I don’t care. Leave me alone!” he called back. This was repeated some more times–always with the same response. After some hours he came out of the hut and found the palace a heap of ash and rubble. Walking over to where his family, staff, and onlookers were standing, he calmly observed: “It looks like we need to build a new one.” That’s all.
And by the way, wherever you are, do not overdo “satsang.” Occasional company with other yogis is beneficial is only spiritual subjects are spoken of, but let it be no more than once or twice a week, unless you are living with other yogis and want a daily satsang. In that situation, go ahead, but sometimes absent yourself for a while.
Exercise control over mind and body. I think you will find that solitude will help tremendously in mastering body and mind. However, meditation and proper vegetarian diet are absolute essentials of such control. You will also find that truly spiritual reading has a very beneficial effect on your endeavors to purify mind and heart. What do I mean by “truly spiritual”? The scriptures and words of God-realized masters and the biographies of saints. Some philosophical or devotional books can also be good, but be sure the authors have spiritual experience so its vibration will be conveyed to you through their words.
Free from the hopes and possessions of this world. Now this is very important. The karma yogi is not just to work, he is to work well and carefully–not the sloppy and careless way that supposedly is a mark of a “spiritual” person who is indifferent to material things. At the same time, the yogi must not become caught in the trap of perfectionism, of “success,” of the “bigger and more is better” attitude which would push him onward to increase his involvement in the world. In a few more verses we will be told that the yogi should be “moderately active.” This is a cardinal rule.
A devotee once asked Sri Ramakrishna: “What about worldly activities, duties of life?” He replied: “Yes, do them too as much as is necessary for living in the world. But you should pray to Him crying in solitude so that you may perform them selflessly. And you should say to him, ‘O Lord! Please reduce my worldly duties because, O God! I find that if I get involved in too much work I forget you. I may think I am acting selflessly but it turns out to be selfish.’”
There we have it: the yogi should not avoid responsibility, but he should sincerely pray that his worldly duties and obligations will be reduced as much as possible–leaving it up to God to decide what “as much as possible” means. At the same time, the yogi should actively simplify his life in relation to the world, including the matter of personal possessions. (That does not mean getting rid of sacred and spiritual things–including books–unless he has a virtual art museum and library that is a symptom of addiction to “stuff.”)
Meditate on the Atman unceasingly. Unless this is done, what value do the other observances have? No one can sit in meditation twenty-four hours a day, but through constant japa of Om outside meditation he can unceasingly fix his mind on the Self every waking moment of his life. In the thirteenth chapter Krishna will say: “Adore me only with heart undistracted; turn all your thought toward solitude, spurning the noise of the crowd, its fruitless commotion.”
So we are back to the home base of solitude.
Read the Bhagavad Gita online: The English text of the Gita posted on this Web Site is arranged according to the meter of the original Sanskrit text so it can be sung–as it is done every morning in our ashram and in most of the ashrams of India.
1) Bhagavad Gita 3:19-26 [Go back]
2) Bhagavad Gita 6:10 [Go back]
3) Bhagavad Gita 13:10 [Go back]
4) Bhagavad Gita 6:17 [Go back]
5) Bhagavad Gita 13:10 [Go back]
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