Yoga becomes the destroyer of pain for him who is moderate in eating and recreation (such
as walking, etc.), who is moderate in exertion in actions, who is moderate in sleep and wakefulness.
In simple words
Krishna describes the middle path: "Yoga destroys suffering for the person who is moderate — moderate in eating, in activity, in effort, in sleep, and in waking. Balance is the key."
Word-by-word meanings
युक्ताहारविहारस्यof one who is moderate in eating and recreation (such as walking etc.)युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसुof one who is moderate in exertion in actionsयुक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्यof one who is moderate in sleep and wakefulnessयोगःYogaभवतिbecomesदुःखहाthe destroyer of pain
6.17 युक्ताहारविहारस्य of one who is moderate in eating and recreation (such as walking? etc.)? युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु of one who is moderate in exertion in actions? युक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्य of one who is moderate in sleep and wakefulness? योगः Yoga? भवति becomes? दुःखहा the destroyer of pain.Commentary In this verse the Lord prescribes for the student of Yoga? diet? recreation and th like. The student of Yoga should always adopt the happy medium or the middle course. Lord Buddha went to the extremes in the beginning in matters of food? drink? etc. He was very abstemious and became extremely weak. He tortured his body very much. Therefore he was not able to attain to success in Yoga. Too much of austerity is not necessary for Selfrealisation. This is condemned by the Lord in chapter XVII? verses 5 and 6. Austerity should not mean selftorture. Then it becomes diabolical. The Buddi Yoga of Krishna is a wise approach to austerity. Some aspirants take asceticism as the goal it is only the means but not the end. The nervous system is extremely,sensitive. It responds even to very slight changes and causes distraction of the mind. It is? therefore? very necessary that you should lead a very regulated and disciplined life and should be moderate in food? sleep and recreation. Take measured food. Sleep and wake up at the prescribed time. Sleeo at 9 or 10 p.m. and get up at 3 or 4 a.m. Only then will you attain to success in Yoga which will kill all sorts or pains and sorrows of this life.
Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.
This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.
Modern
# BG 6.17 — Commentary Translation
The practice of meditation becomes naturally accessible when one follows the disciplines described in this verse. The Bhagavan places special emphasis on restraint in eating, activity, and similar matters.
The words used to describe the superior life of self-mastery carry profound depth, and their meaning is vast. Generally, practitioners adopt selfless action understanding that this very performance of duty will grant them the qualification for spiritual life. I have encountered many seekers who have become so entangled in the very actions they themselves initiated that they cannot extricate themselves from them. This verse reveals the remedy for escaping such self-created bondage.
Discernment should be employed in choosing one's field of work; yet thereafter, it is equally necessary that our efforts be proportionate and measured. If, after selecting a noble action, we become ensnared within it, there is greater likelihood of creating new desires rather than exhausting existing ones. And then it is possible that through the fatigue of actions and mental distractions, we may descend into the lower category of animal nature.
Dream and wakefulness ordinarily mean the states of sleep and wakefulness respectively. Yet they contain another profound meaning as well.
In the Upanishads, the state of ignorance of ultimate truth is called sleep, and the state of perception and experience arising from that ignorance is called dream—encompassing both our waking state and dream state. From this perspective, true wakefulness is the state of direct knowledge of reality itself. Thus, the dream and wakefulness spoken of in this verse mean the waking state of the individual soul and the state of meditation practice. To be united in both means that the practitioner should maintain restraint in daily activities, and similarly, in meditation practice from the beginning, one should not forcefully suppress the mind and attempt to remain in that state for prolonged periods. Doing so may diminish the mind's interest in meditation due to fatigue.
Because meditation yoga possesses the power to destroy all suffering, it should be practiced continuously.
The answer to when the practitioner becomes united is—