Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 4 - Shloka (Verse) 26

व्याख्या--'श्रोत्रादीनीन्द्रियाण्यन्ये संयमाग्निषु जुह्वति'--यहाँ संयमरूप अग्नियोंमें इन्द्रियोंकी आहुति देनेको यज्ञ कहा गया है। तात्पर्य यह है कि एकान्तकालमें श्रोत्र, त्वचा, नेत्र, रसना और घ्रा--ये पाँचों इन्द्रियाँ अपने-अपने विषयों (क्रमशः शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप, रस और गन्ध) की ओर बिलकुल प्रवृत्त न हों। इन्द्रियाँ संयमरूप ही बन जायँ।
पूरा संयम तभी समझना चाहिये, जब इन्द्रियाँ, मन, बुद्धि तथा अहम्--इन सबमेंसे रागआसक्तिका सर्वथा अभाव हो जाय (गीता 2। 58 59 68)।
'शब्दादीन्विषयानन्य इन्द्रियाग्निषु जुह्वति'--शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप, रस और गन्ध--ये पाँच विषय हैं। विषयोंका इन्द्रियरूप अग्नियोंमें हवन करनेसे वह यज्ञ हो जाता है। तात्पर्य यह है कि व्यवहारकालमें विषयोंका इन्द्रियोंसे संयोग होते रहनेपर भी इन्द्रियोंमें कोई विकार उत्पन्न न हो (गीता 2। 64 65)। इन्द्रियाँ राग-द्वेषसे रहित हो जायँ। इन्द्रियोंमें राग-द्वेष उत्पन्न करनेकी शक्ति विषयोंमें रहे ही नहीं।इस श्लोकमें कहे गये दोनों प्रकारके यज्ञोंमें राग-आसक्तिका सर्वथा अभाव होनेपर ही सिद्धि (परमात्म-प्राप्ति) होती है। राग-आसक्तिको मिटानेके लिये ही दो प्रकारकी प्रक्रियाका यज्ञरूपसे वर्णन किया गया है--

अन्य योगीजन संयमरूप अग्नियोंमें श्रोत्रादि इन्द्रियोंका हवन करते हैं। संयम ही अग्नियाँ हैं उन्हींमें हवन करते हैं अर्थात् इन्द्रियोंका संयम करते हैं। प्रत्येक इन्द्रियका संयम भिन्नभिन्न है इसलिये यहाँ बहुवचनका प्रयोग किया गया है। अन्य ( साधकलोग ) इन्द्रियरूप अग्नियोंमें शब्दादि विषयोंका हवन करते हैं। इन्द्रियाँ ही अग्नियाँ हैं उन इन्द्रियाग्नियोंमें हवन करते हैं अर्थात् उन श्रोत्रादि इन्द्रियोंद्वारा शास्त्रसम्मत विषयोंके ग्रहण करनेको ही होम मानते हैं।

Now He introduces two kinds of sacrifices - with Śrotrādīni (The sense of hearing, etc.). Since the control (saṃyama) of the external senses in the mind is one, how can there be a plural number in 'Saṃyamāgniṣu' (in the fires of control) - apprehending this, he says - 'Pratīndriyam' (Each sense).

The controls (saṃyamāḥ), which are mental in form and are established as the locus of Pratyāhāra (withdrawal of senses), are designated as Fire (agnitvaṃ vyapadiśati) because they are the substratum of the oblation (homādhāratvāt). They withdraw the inner and outer senses from their objects - in this way, he briefly illustrates the sacrifice of control (saṃyama-yajñaṃ) - 'Indriya' (Sense).

Apprehending that the oblation of sense objects like sound, etc., into the senses-of-hearing-etc.-fire, which is the enjoyment of those respective objects by those respective senses, is common to all (sarva-sādhāraṇatvam), He clarifies the intended oblation by stating - 'Śrotrādibhiḥ' (By the sense of hearing, etc.) - (that the knower) enjoys the attained objects with those respective senses, by avoiding the prohibited ones and being free from attachment and aversion.

Śrotrādīni (The sense of hearing, etc.) are the senses of knowledge (Jñānendriyāṇi). Other Yogis, who are devoted to Pratyāhāra (withdrawal of senses), Juhvati (offer) by controlling (saṃyamya) each sense (pratīndriyam). The plural number ('Saṃyamāgniṣu') is due to the existence of Pratyāhāra in each sense. Controls (Saṃyamāḥ) themselves are the fires, in which they offer. The meaning is that they perform the control of the senses.

As for the explanation that the triad of Dhāraṇā (concentration), Dhyāna (meditation), and Samādhi (absorption), which relate to a single object, is called Saṃyama: In that (triad), Dhāraṇā is the prolonged placement of the mind in the heart-lotus (hṛtpuṇḍarīka) etc. Similarly, Dhyāna is the flow of the mind-modification (vṛtti-pravāhaḥ) in the form of the Lord, interrupted occasionally by the cognition of other forms, for the mind fixed in one place. Samādhi is the flow of homogeneous cognitions, entirely uninterrupted by heterogeneous cognitions. The plural number 'Agniṣu' is due to the differences in Saṃyamas in this way. They offer the senses into those (fires), meaning they withdraw all the senses from their respective objects for the attainment of Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, and Samādhi - this interpretation, and others like it, should be examined.

Because here, the oblation of the senses of hearing, etc., in the fires of Pratyāhāra is intended, otherwise the locus of the oblation would not be obtained, and Dhāraṇā, etc., have the mind as the locus of the oblation - this is the direction.

By this, the statement that this describes the four limbs of Yoga - Pratyāhāra, Dhyāna, Dhāraṇā, and Samādhi - is also refuted. Because only Pratyāhāra is understood here by the natural meaning of the words.

For this very reason, the view is refuted that 'There, some external or internal specific object is taken up, and the mind is regulated therein. And those Saṃyamas are many and have separate results because they relate to many objects. And thus the author of the Yoga Sūtras has said - "Knowledge of the universe from Saṃyama on the sun," "Knowledge of the arrangement of stars from Saṃyama on the moon," "Cessation of hunger and thirst in the pit of the throat," etc.'

The meaning is that other knowers of the truth (tattva-vit) offer the objects of sound, etc., which are obtained due to Prārabdha (fructifying Karma) and are not contrary to the scriptures, into the fires of the senses, meaning they consider the grasping of non-contrary objects by the senses of hearing, etc., as the oblation.

The interpretation of others that 'And others, whose instruments (senses) are withdrawn from the objects, are unable to perform the Saṃyama of the mind, which consists of Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, and Samādhi, in any one Cakra like the Mūlādhāra, etc.; for them, whose consciousness of Samādhi arises when the senses along with the mind dissolve by themselves like fire whose fuel has been burnt up due to the separation from the objects, the objects alone are withdrawn into the senses along with the mind' - and so on, is incorrect (asat).

Because the sacrifice in the form of the withdrawal of the senses (Indriya-Pratyāhāra) would cease to be a different sacrifice (Yajñāntaratva) as it is stated by 'Śrotrādīni' etc. And it would have to be said that they offer the senses into the fire of non-proximity to the objects (viṣaya-āsannikarṣāgnau) in the manner described - this is the direction.

He speaks of another sacrifice - Śrotrādīni (The sense of hearing, etc.). There, some external or internal specific object is taken up, and the mind is regulated therein. And those Saṃyamas are many and have separate results because they relate to many objects. And thus the author of the Yoga Sūtras has said - 'Knowledge of the universe from Saṃyama on the sun,' 'Knowledge of the arrangement of stars on the moon,' 'Cessation of hunger and thirst in the pit of the throat,' etc.

Those same (controls) are the fires because they are the cause of the destruction (saṃhāra-hetutvāt) of the senses-as-fuel (indriyendhana). Into those fires of control (Saṃyamāgniṣu), they Juhvati (offer) Śrotrādīni (The sense of hearing, etc.), i.e., Prakṣipanti (cast). There, by perfectly regulating the sense of hearing (Śrotra) in the unstruck sound (anāhate dhvanau), they experience the ten kinds of sounds like the bell sound (ghaṇṭānāda) etc., in the manner described in the Haṃsopaniṣad. Certainly, in the mind thus regulated, the perception of any other sound does not occur then. That should be understood as the oblation of the sense of hearing into the fire of control. Similarly elsewhere too. And through that (control), they realize the partless reality (niṣkalaṃ tattvaṃ).

Tathānye (And others) are those whose instruments (senses) are withdrawn from the objects, who are unable to perform the Saṃyama of the mind, which consists of Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, and Samādhi, in any one Cakra like the Mūlādhāra, etc.; for them, whose consciousness of Samādhi arises when the senses along with the mind dissolve by themselves like fire whose fuel has been burnt up due to the separation from the objects, the objects alone are withdrawn into the senses, and not the senses, etc., withdrawn into the mind, etc., in the manner mentioned before. Regarding these thinkers on the senses (indriya-cintakān), it is said in the Vāyavīya (Purāṇa) - 'The thinkers on the senses remain here for ten Manvantaras'.

Others (Yogis) strive for the control (saṃyamana) of the senses like the sense of hearing (śrotra) and others.

Other Yogis strive for the prevention (nivāraṇe) of the inclination (pravaṇatā) of the senses towards the sense objects like sound (śabda) and others.

Śrotrādīni (The sense of hearing, etc.) Others, the Naishṭhika Brahmacārins (those observing permanent celibacy), Juhvati (offer as oblation) the sense of hearing and others into those respective fires in the form of sense control. They cause their complete dissolution (pravilāpayanti). The meaning is that they restrain the senses and remain focused on control.

The senses themselves are the fires, in which others, the householders (gṛhasthāḥ), Juhvati (offer) the sense objects like sound and others. The meaning is that even while enjoying (the senses), they remain unattached (anāsaktāḥ) and cast the sense objects like sound, etc., which are contemplated as the oblation (haviṣṭvena bhāvitān), into the senses which are contemplated as fire (agnitvena bhāviteṣu).

In the word Śrotrādīni (The sense of hearing, etc.), since control (saṃyama) is not directly fire (agnitvābhāvāc) and the sense of hearing, etc., are not fit to be the object of oblation (hotavyatvābhāvāt), He states the intention (tātparyam) - 'Anye' (Others). The nature of control as fire is due to the reduction of the sense of hearing, etc., to ashes (bhasmasātkaraṇāt) in the form of their non-operation (nirvyāpāratva).

Now (Pūrvapakṣa - preliminary objection): Even though the restraint of the senses is common to all Karma-Yogis, why is it specifically stated here? - to this, 'Saṃyamane prayatante' (They strive for control) is stated. Similarly, in the subsequent verse also, the intention of 'prayatante' (they strive) should be understood. The same applies to the word 'Niṣṭhā' (commitment).

Here, the plural number 'Saṃyamāgniṣu' is due to the difference in control (saṃyama) in each sense (pratīndriyam).

In the word 'Śabdādīn' (Sound, etc.), to dispel the delusion that they offer the sense objects like sound, etc., into the senses, He says - 'in the prevention of the inclination of the senses towards the sense objects like sound, etc.' The restraint of the senses is stated by 'Śrotrādīni' etc. Here, however, the restraint of the object and the mind is stated sequentially, as in 'The objects are superior to the senses, and the mind is superior to the objects' (Kaṭho. 1.3.10). The restraint of the object means distance (removal), i.e., the avoidance of its proximity (sannidhi-parihāraḥ), this is the intention. The idea is that the inclination of the senses is thereby removed. Then what is the oblation of sound, etc., into the senses-as-fire? It is said - by the oblation, the destruction of the oblation material (havis) is done. Similarly here, the destruction of the sense objects like sound, etc., in the senses means the destruction of their connection, which is intended.

Alternatively, in 'Śrotrādīni' (the sense of hearing, etc.), the avoidance of the proximity of the objects is intended, and here, the rendering of the proximal objects as ineffective (akiñcitkaratvāpādanam) is the distinction.

By 'viṣaya-pravaṇatā-nivāraṇe' (in the prevention of the inclination towards objects), since the complete cessation of all objects is difficult, the intended meaning is the complete prevention from the prohibited ones, etc., and the cessation of excessive attachment (ati-saṅga-nivṛttiśca) to those that are not contrary to Dharma.

सुपरिचित वैदिक यज्ञ के रूपक के द्वारा यहां सब यज्ञों अर्थात् साधनाओं का निरूपण अर्जुन के लिये किया गया है। यज्ञ विधि में देवताओं का अनुग्रह प्राप्त करने के लिये अग्नि में आहुतियाँ दी जाती थीं। इस रूपक के द्वारा यह दर्शाया गया है कि इस विधि में न केवल आहुति भस्म हो जाती है बल्कि उसके साथ ही देवता का आशीर्वाद भी प्राप्त होता है। आत्मज्ञानी पुरुष अथवा साधकगण श्रोत्रादि इन्द्रियों की आहुति संयमाग्नि में देते हैं अर्थात् वे आत्मसंयम का जीवन जीते हैं। इस प्रकार इन्द्रियों की बहिर्मुखी प्रवृत्ति भस्म हो जाती है और साधक को आन्तरिक स्वातन्त्र्य का आनन्द भी प्राप्त होता है। यह एक सुविदित तथ्य है कि इन्द्रियों को जितना अधिक सन्तुष्ट रखने का प्रयत्न हम करते हैं वे उतनी ही अधिक प्रमथनशील होकर हमारी शान्ति को लूट ले जाती हैं। आत्मसंयम की साधना के अभ्यास के द्वारा ही साधक को ध्यान की योग्यता प्राप्त होती हैं।इस श्लोक की प्रथम पंक्ति में इन्द्रिय संयम का उपदेश है तो दूसरी पंक्ति में मनसंयम का। इन्द्रियों के द्वारा बाह्य विषयों की संवेदनाएं प्राप्त करके ही मन का अस्तित्व बना रहता है। जहां शब्दस्पर्शादि पाँच विषयों का ग्रहण नहीं होता वहां मन कार्य कर ही नहीं सकता। इसलिये विषयों से मन को अप्रभावित रखने की साधना यहां बतायी गयी है जिसके अभ्यास से ध्यानाभ्यास के लिये आवश्यक मन की स्थिरता प्राप्त की जा सकती है। जिस पुरुष ने मन को पूर्ण रूप से संयमित कर लिया है उसके विषय में भगवान् कहते हैं अन्य (साधक) शब्दादिक विषयों को इन्द्रियाग्नि में आहुति देते हैं।प्रथम विधि में विषयों की संवेदनाओं को इन्द्रियों के प्रवेश द्वार पर ही संयमित किया जाता है जबकि दूसरी विधि में (अभ्यांतर में ) मन के सूक्ष्मतर स्तर पर उन्हें नियन्त्रित करने की साधना है।और भी दूसरे प्रकार के यज्ञ बताते हुए भगवान् कहते हैं

‘Ears etc.’—thus. Others, however, ‘offer senses in the fires of restraint’—thus. ‘Restraint’ (Samyama) means mind; its ‘fires’—meaning the sparks that burn desire, consisting of the contemplation of the attained state—into them they offer the senses. Therefore indeed, they are ‘Tapo-yajnas’ (Sacrifices of austerity).

‘Others’ offer objects into the sense-fires illuminated by knowledge and burning the fruits; solely for eliminating the tendency of difference, they do not desire enjoyments—this is the Upanishad (secret teaching).

And similarly, it has been stated by me in the ‘Laghvi Prakriya’—‘The enjoyable is not distinct from the enjoyer, indeed it is manifested from you. This alone is enjoyment—that which is the identity of the enjoyer and the enjoyed’ (4)... Also in the Spanda (Karika)—‘The enjoyer himself is situated always and everywhere in the form of the enjoyed’—thus.

By that (i.e., Brahmārpaṇa etc.), two sacrifices, principal and secondary, are shown. Whatever is a Vedic means to the supreme good (śreyas), all that is established as a sacrifice (yajñatvena saṃpādyate).

There, the senses of knowledge (jñānendriyāṇi) are the sense of hearing (śrotra) and others. These, being withdrawn from the sense objects like sound, etc., others are devoted to Pratyāhāra (withdrawal of senses). In the fires of control (saṃyamāgniṣu), the triad of Dhāraṇā (concentration), Dhyāna (meditation), and Samādhi (absorption), relating to a single object, is called Saṃyama (Control). And the Lord Patañjali also said - 'Trayam ekatra saṃyamaḥ' (The three together on one object is Saṃyama). There, Dhāraṇā is the prolonged placement of the mind in the heart-lotus (hṛtpuṇḍarīka) etc. Similarly, Dhyāna is the flow of the mind-modification (vṛtti-pravāhaḥ) in the form of the Lord, uninterrupted by the cognition of other forms in between, for the mind fixed in one place. Samādhi is the flow of homogeneous cognitions, entirely uninterrupted by heterogeneous cognitions.

That is of two types, Saṃprajñāta (conscious) and Asaṃprajñāta (superconscious), according to the distinction of the states of the mind (citta-bhūmi). The mind has five states: kṣipta (distracted), mūḍha (dull), vikṣipta (partially distracted), ekāgra (one-pointed), and niruddha (restrained). There, the mind attached (abhiniviṣṭaṃ) to objects due to attachment and aversion, etc., is kṣipta; afflicted by drowsiness (tandrā), etc., it is mūḍha; though always attached to objects, it is occasionally devoted to meditation, and is vikṣipta due to being superior to kṣipta. There, in kṣipta and mūḍha, there is no possibility of Samādhi. In a vikṣipta mind, the occasional Samādhi does not persist in the realm of Yoga due to the predominance of distraction, but destroys itself like a lamp scattered by a strong wind.

Ekāgra (one-pointed) is capable of a continuous flow of modification on a single object, and due to the increase of Sattva and the absence of dissolution (laya) in the form of drowsiness, etc., caused by Tamas, it possesses the modification in the form of the Self. And that is single-objected due to the absence of distraction (vikṣepa) in the form of restlessness caused by Rajas; thus, in pure Sattva, the mind becomes ekāgra. In this state, Saṃprajñāta Samādhi occurs. There, the modification in the form of the object of meditation is also apparent. Upon the restraint (nirodhe) of that as well, the niruddha mind is the state of Asaṃprajñāta Samādhi. It is said: 'Tasyā apy nirodhe sarva-vṛtti-nirodhān nirbījaḥ samādhiḥ' (Upon the restraint of that also, the seedless Samādhi occurs due to the restraint of all modifications).

This Samādhi, when it attains a firm stage for the Yogi who is dispassionate towards everything and does not even desire the happiness which is the fruit of Samādhi, is called Dharma-megha (cloud of virtue). It is said: 'Prasaṃkhyāne 'py akusīdasya sarvathā viveka-khyāter dharma-meghaḥ samādhiḥ tataḥ kleśa-karma-nivṛttiḥ' (Dharma-megha Samādhi occurs due to the perfect discriminative discernment even for one who is disinterested in the highest knowledge; from that, the cessation of afflictions and actions occurs).

Due to the differences in Saṃyamas in this way, there is the plural number in 'Agniṣu' (in the fires). They offer the senses into those (fires), meaning they withdraw all the senses from their respective objects for the attainment of Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, and Samādhi, this is the meaning. It is said: 'Sva-sva-viṣayāsaṃprayoge citta-rūpānukāra eva indriyāṇāṃ pratyāhāraḥ' (The withdrawal of the senses is the imitation of the form of the mind when there is no contact with their respective objects). The senses, being restrained from the objects, assume the form of the mind itself. The meaning is that the mind is thereby able to carry out Dhāraṇā, etc., due to the absence of distraction.

By this, the four limbs of Yoga - Pratyāhāra, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, and Samādhi - are stated. Thus, the restraint of all sense modifications in the state of Samādhi is stated as a sacrifice. Now, the enjoyment of objects without attachment and aversion in the state of emergence (vyutthānāvasthā) is also another sacrifice, He says this - 'Śabdādīn Viṣayān Anye Indriyāgniṣu Juhvati' (Others offer the sense objects like sound, etc., into the fires of the senses). The others, who are in the state of emergence, perform the grasping of non-contrary objects by the sense of hearing, etc., in a manner common to others, due to being free from desire (spṛhā-śūnyatvena). That itself is their oblation.

Other Yogis offer the senses, like the sense of hearing (śrotra) and others, into the fires of control (saṃyamāgniṣu). The meaning is this: Through Yoga, with the desire for My attainment, (and) the senses which are obstacles to attainment, they reduce to ashes in the fire of affliction in the form of restraint (nirodhātmakakleśāgnau bhasmīkurvanti).

Other Yogis who are endowed with devotion (bhakti) offer the sense objects like sound, etc., meaning in the form of hearing My stories and so on, into the fires of the senses, in the spirit of the Self (ātmabhāvena) in the senses, because they are the means to the direct realization of the Lord (Bhagavatsākṣātkāra).

Other Yogis offer the senses, like the sense of hearing (śrotra) and others, into the fires of control (saṃyamāgniṣu). The control (saṃyama) differs for each sense, hence the plural number. The controls themselves are the fires, in which they Juhvati (offer), meaning they merely perform the control of the senses (indriya-saṃyamana), this is the meaning.

Others offer the sense objects like sound, etc., into the fires of the senses. The senses themselves are the fires, in those fires of the senses they Juhvati (offer), meaning they consider the grasping of non-contrary objects by the sense of hearing, etc., as the oblation (homaṃ manyante).

Kiñca (Furthermore).

Śrotrādīni (The sense of hearing, etc.)

Other Naiṣṭhikas (perpetual celibates) cause the complete dissolution (pravilāpayanti) in the fires in the form of control (saṃyama-rūpeṣv agniṣu).

Other Upakurvāṇas (celibates who return to the household life).

श्रोत्रादीनि इन्द्रियाणि organ of hearing and other senses? अन्ये others? संयमाग्निषु in the fire of restraint? जुह्वति sacrifice? शब्दादीन् विषयान् senseobjects such as sound? etc.? अन्ये others? इन्द्रियाग्निषु in the fire of the senses? जुह्वति sacrifice.Commentary Some Yogis are constantly engaged in restraining the senses. They gather their senses under the guidance of the Self and do not allow them to come in contact with the sensual objects. This is also an act of sacficie. Others direct their senses only to the pure and unforbidden objects of the senses. This is also a kind of sacrifice.

Anye, others, other yogis; juhvati, offer; indriyani, the organs; viz srotradini, car etc.; samyama-agnisu, in the fires of self-control. The plural (in fires) is used because self-control is possible in respect of each of the organs. Self-control itself is the fire. In that they make the offering, i.e. they practise control of the organs. anye, others; juhvati, offer; visayan, the objects; sabdadin, viz sound etc.; indriyagnisu, in the fires of the organs. The organs themselves are the fires. They make offerings in those fires with the organs of hearing etc. They consider the perception of objects not prohibited by the scriputures to be a sacrifice.

Others endeavour towards the restraint of the senses like ear and the rest, i.e., keep themselves away from the objects pleasing to the senses. Other Yogins endeavour to prevent the attachment of the senses to sound and other objects of the senses, i.e., they abstain from the sense objects even when they are allowed to be near, by the discriminative process of belittling their valure and enjoyable nature.