Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6, Verse 28 (BG 6.28) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

The yogi engaged in the practice of self-development and self-mastery gradually emerges from the darkness of ignorance and its afflictions into the light of knowledge, experiencing bliss. When the practitioner stills the mind through yoga practice, the mind becomes purified in the warmth of meditation, just as iron is refined in the heat of fire. As has been explained before, through earnest effort, a human being can withdraw the mind from sensory objects and establish it in the atman. Thereafter, the mind dissolves like a balloon that rises high into the sky, reaching the rarefied atmosphere where it bursts. When the balloon bursts, it falls to the ground, while the air contained within it merges with the vast sky beyond. Similarly, at the highest state of meditation, the mind dissolves, the ego falls away, and that mind attains unity with the Supreme Self. Then one experiences the supreme bliss of contact with Brahman. Here the Blessed Lord wishes to grant the sincere and earnest seeker knowledge of the nature of truth—consciousness itself—which can only be realized through the union of the inner faculties with that truth. To demonstrate that the state of self-realization is one of bliss, the Lord declares that through contact with Brahman, the seeker becomes supremely happy. Self-realization and contact with Brahman should be understood as synonymous terms. In the next verse, the fruit of yoga—the vision of unity—is described.