योगारूढ

Yogārūḍha means one who has mounted yoga, climbed and stands established. The word carries the picture of climbing, as up a ladder or onto a mount. The third verse of the sixth chapter separates two stages: for the sage who wishes to climb to yoga, action is the means, and for the yogārūḍha, the means is śama, stillness.

The fourth verse gives the mark: when a person clings neither to the objects of the senses nor to actions, and has given up all saṅkalpa, he is called yogārūḍha. Saṅkalpa here means the plan that desire builds. The point to note is that the mark is not the absence of action but the absence of clinging to actions.

What śama means is read in two streams by the commentators. One takes it as rest from actions, the other as the peace of mind that remains the means even while action goes on. Both agree that the centre is the loosening of the inner grip.

Common misreading: taking the yogārūḍha to be one who has dropped action and sits inactive.

Better sense: the mark is the absence of clinging, not the absence of action.

To read further, see the topic Renunciation or Karma Yoga?.