योग
yoga
Joining, and the discipline that joins: in the Gita, equanimity, skill in action and a steady mind are each called yoga.
Yoga (योग) basically means joining. In the Gita the word is not tied to a single meaning. It points to a whole discipline of living: being rightly joined to one's work, one's mind and the truth within.
The Gita gives a few glimpses. In 2.48, staying even-minded in success and failure is called yoga. In 2.50, skill in action is called yoga. In 6.23, yoga is described as freedom from contact with sorrow. The thread through all three is the same: the mind should stop wandering or clinging, and the person should engage with life steadily.
The word also recurs in the names of the Gita's themes, such as karma yoga, jnana yoga and bhakti yoga. These are different threads of joining oneself to life, and not merely different roads.
Common misreading: taking yoga to mean only physical postures and exercise.
Better sense: the Gita's yoga is a discipline of mind and action, which includes the body but is not limited to it.
To read more, see the topic What Is the Gita?.
Key shlokas
Related terms
Articles using this concept
Simple
- How Do I Stop Worrying About the Result Without Giving Up on It?
- I Asked Everyone What to Do and Now I Am More Confused: What the Gita Says
- What Is the Bhagavad Gita? A Plain Answer for First-Time Readers
- गीता असल में क्या है? एक आसान परिचय HI
- गीता के 18 अध्याय सरल भाषा में: कहाँ से पढ़ना शुरू करें HI
- नतीजे की चिन्ता मन से कैसे निकालें? HI
- सबने अलग सलाह दी, तो फ़ैसला कैसे लें: गीता का उत्तर HI
In Depth
- Devotion or the Unmanifest: Gita 12.1-5 Verse by Verse
- Do the Work, Let Go of the Result? Gita 2.47 to 2.51 Explained
- From Knowing to Deciding: Buddhi Yoga in Gita 2.39–46 and 2.52–53
- Who Speaks in the Gita, and Why Does the Teaching Begin in a War?
- गीता 2.47 से 2.51: क्या फल की चिन्ता छोड़ने का अर्थ लापरवाही है? HI
- गीता में कौन किससे बोलता है, और युद्ध के बीच उपदेश क्यों? HI
- बुद्धियोग क्या है: गीता 2.39 से 2.53, निश्चय की एक बुद्धि की व्याख्या HI
- भक्ति या निराकार उपासना: गीता 12.1-5 श्लोक दर श्लोक HI
Deeper
- Does the Gita Turn Away from Hearing? A Close Reading of Gita 2.39–46 and 2.52–53
- What Moves Action If Not the Fruit? A Close Reading of Gita 2.47 to 2.51
- What the Gita Says About Itself: A Dialogue, a Yoga and a Book to Be Studied
- गीता 2.39 से 2.53: बिखरे मन से एक निश्चय तक, बुद्धियोग की शास्त्र-दृष्टि HI
- गीता के अठारह अध्यायों का क्रम: प्रश्न, संख्या और नाम क्या बताते हैं HI
- गीता खुद को क्या कहती है: संवाद, गोपनीय योग या ज्ञान-यज्ञ? HI
- फल छोड़ दें तो कर्म को कौन चलाता है? गीता 2.47 से 2.51 का गहरा पाठ HI
Other pieces
- Action Without Claiming the Fruit: Quick Summary
- Buddhi Yoga: The Resolute Intellect: Quick Summary
- Devotion or the Unmanifest: Quick Summary
- What Is the Gita?: Quick Summary
- Action Without Claiming the Fruit
- Buddhi Yoga: The Resolute Intellect
- What Is the Gita?
- गीता क्या है? HI
- फल की चिंता छोड़कर काम करना HI
- बुद्धियोग: निश्चय की बुद्धि HI
- गीता क्या है?: त्वरित सार HI
- फल की चिंता छोड़कर काम करना: त्वरित सार HI
- बुद्धियोग: निश्चय की बुद्धि: त्वरित सार HI
- भक्ति या अव्यक्त उपासना: त्वरित सार HI