Yoga is clear, discerning, totally voluntary, dynamic

participation in one’s life.
Krishna first identifies yoga (chap. 2 verse 31) as clear discernment that will free one
from feeling forced into action. Speaking directly to Arjuna’s stagnation, Krishna
emphasizes the importance of action that does not calculate what fruits one might
obtain from those actions.He also explains about swa dharma in this sloka . Krishna
also makes it clear that yoga is not just philosophy, (as in Sankhya’s teachings)
but philosophy in action: yoga is a lifestyle requiring active participation.

Yoga is everlasting, primal, revealing, the archetypal light

fueled by love. 
The fourth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita opens with the dramatic announcement that
the yoga Krishna gives Arjuna is the same yoga he gave the sun god, Vivasan. Here
yoga is connected to light, to primal origins, to sonic transmission and to the eternal. It
is characterized to be as valuable and reliable to all beings on our planet as the sun is.
Only loosing sight of the sun, as in the passing of time, can obscure our vision of
yoga.

When light is lost to us, and we feel uninspired on our journey, what becomes our
compass? How does yoga find us in our lives? In chapter four, verse three, Krishna
tells Arjuna that it is through love that we are found.

Krishna tells us it was Arjuna’s love for him that inspired him to speak of yoga again,
the “ultimate secret”, the same yoga that was once known by the ancients. This is the
first instance in which the word bhakta, a lovingly devoted one, appears, from the
noun bhakti. Thus the connection between yoga, light and our loving relationships
with others is emphasized.
 3. Yoga is sacrifice that elevates us, motivates us, actively
engages us and does so in a manner that is harmonious to all
other living beings. 
The verses in which Krishna directly utters the word yoga, or yukta, in chapter four
speak about sacrifice: the voluntary renouncing of something of lower value, for
something of higher value. How interesting that this follows Krishna’s exposition of
love’s value to a yoga practice. He then speaks of offering the actions of one’s senses
and one’s very life breath into “the fire of yoga”.

Chapter four then ends with a spirited and exclamatory urging that Arjuna “rise in
yoga!” by cutting the doubts in his heart with the sword of knowledge, which is
wielded by his very self.

Chapter five begins with Arjuna asking Krishna which is better: the renunciation of
actions or the practice of yoga? To this, Krishna replies that the performance of
actions in yoga, or the yoga of action is far better than giving up all action.

In verse six of the same chapter Krishna characterizes absorption in yoga as the
swiftest way to reach Brahman, or ultimate reality. Then Krishna defines yoga as that
which causes one’s self to become connected to the Self in all beings, “and thus one is
not tainted even while acting” (5.7) So never does one who is absorbed in yoga act
alone. “That one, whose self is absorbed in the yoga of Brahman through yoga, attains
imperishable happiness” (5.21).

 4. Yoga is selfless, cleansing, freeing, balancing, inspiring,

and joyfully performed: a vision in which one experiences
peaceful interconnectedness with all life around them. 
In chapter six on the way of meditation, Krishna devotes 29 verses (more than any
other chapter in the Bhagavad Gita) to defining what yoga is, what yoga is not, and
what the effects of practicing yoga are.

Krishna begins by telling Arjuna how yoga cannot be practiced without renouncing
selfish motive (6.1). Then he emphasizes action in yoga as a prerequisite to being
calm and still. Yoga is defined as not being attached to one’s actions, one’s senses and
having no selfish motives, but only for the “purification of the self” (6.12)

Being absorbed in yoga is holding divinity in the highest (6.14) Absorbing oneself in
yoga “culminates in the highest state of Nirvana”, which Krishna tells Arjuna rests in
him.

Then Krishna goes on with one detail after another about yoga: Yoga is not possible
for those who have extremes in sleeping and eating. Being absorbed in yoga destroys
suffering. One absorbed in yoga is free from longings for selfish desires. Yoga
steadies the thoughts, the mind, and rids one of suffering. Yoga should be practiced
with determination and without entertaining discouraging thoughts. One absorbed in
yoga enjoys boundless happiness, sees the Self present in all beings, and all beings
present within the Self.

In verse thirty-three of chapter six Krishna defines Yoga as the “state of sameness”.
One’s self needs to “strive fully” to achieve yoga without difficulty.

 5. Yoga is nourished in the company of other yoga

practitioners, by offerings of love, and the understandings they
give rise to. 
Art by Subhrata Das
This is the second time Arjuna, representing the student, or disciple, uses the word
yoga. His inquiry sounds familiar to anyone struggling in their yoga practice, as he
asks Krishna what happens to that person “whose mind has deviated from yoga, and
does not achieve the perfection of yoga, does not strive yet still possesses faith?”
(Graham M. Schweig translation, see below)

In verse 6.41, Krishna reassures Arjuna that such a soul is reborn to the “pure and
prosperous”, and that even one desiring to know yoga “transcends the sound of
ultimate reality”.

Aside from the obvious reincarnation interpretation, the double entendre of these
words could point toward the value of surrounding oneself with others who are
practicing yoga as a means to motivate and inspire one’s own practice. Being “reborn”
into such company can feel like a new start, giving one’s yoga practice new
inspiration.

Krishna continues emphasizing the value of loving relationships with others in yoga,
as he declares in verse 6. 47 that “one whose inner self has come to me, who is full of
faith, who offers love to me- that one is considered by me to be the most deeply
absorbed in yoga” What is this deep absorption called in Sanskrit, the language of the
Bhagavad Gita?

In chapter seven on the way of realized knowledge, Krishna only speaks six verses in
which the words yoga or yukta appears. However, they are very revealing verses as
Krishna first utters the word bhakti, thus speaking about love.

 6. Yoga is a heightened sensitivity and awareness of all life

around us and within us, and an outpour of love in
reciprocation with life’s wonder and beauty. 
Krishna then begins to describe the effects of those who completely depend on
Krishna in their practice of yoga, and become attached to him. Krishna tells Arjuna
they will know him completely. Then he asks Arjuna to hear how that is so.
So yoga draws one to Krishna? What does this translate into for the life of the modern
yoga practitioner? Who is Krishna in relation to your yoga practice?

Krishna goes on to define what it means to know him “completely” in chapter seven
and speaks about all the places he is to be found:

We experience Krishna in the taste of water, the radiance of the moon and sun, the
sacred utterance in all the Vedas, the sound in space, the prowess in men. The pure
fragrance in earth, the brilliance in fire, the life in all beings, austerities, the seed in all
beings, discernment, splendor, power devoid of desire and passion, desire that does
not conflict with dharma and the qualities in the cosmic ingredients all around us, and
inside out own bodies.

Then Krishna tells Arjuna that four types of people turn toward him: those who are
distressed, those desiring knowledge, those seeking personal gain and those
possessing knowledge.

“Among these, the person of knowledge, who is constantly absorbed in yoga that is
solely an offering of love, is exceptional. For I am so dearly loved by the person of
knowledge, and that person is dearly loved by me” (7.17)
This verse has the word bhakti in it -appearing for the first time here, as a noun- also
appearing a total 14 times in the BG. Bhakti is how we engage out heart in our yoga
practice.

 7. Yoga is fearless, is illuminating, and is a journey that does

not end with death.
Arizona sunrise by author

Krishna ends this chapter by informing Arjuna that one who is absorbed with faith in
yoga, abides only in Krishna. In verse 25 Krishna says:  “I am not revealed to
everyone, being concealed by the divine power of yoga, Yoga-Maya. This bewildered
world does not recognize me as the unborn and ever-present” But those who do will
know Krishna even at the time of death.

In chapter eight Krishna speaks nine verses about death, and how to achieve him
beyond death through absorption in yoga. Concluding in verse 27 “be absorbed in
yoga by means of yoga” and thus not be bewildered by the “two paths” of darkness
and light through which souls exit their bodies.

In chapter nine and ten we find eight verses that employ the words yoga and yukta.
Eight are spoken by Krishna as he characterizes yoga’s immortal nature, and one is
spoken by Arjuna (10.18) asking Krishna to continue further describing the nature of
yoga, as he is never satiated when hearing of the immortal.

 8. Yoga is a vision that excludes nothing from its practice.

In these verses Krishna, in the role of the yoga teacher, describes those always
absorbed in yoga as pleasing and honoring him with offerings of love, and striving
with intense devotion. (9.14) Krishna then promises prosperity and security for ones
so fully absorbed in yoga. And that such souls will surely come to him: “Surely you
shall come to me, thus having absorbed yourself in yoga with me as the supreme goal”
(9.34)

And again in verse ten of chapter ten: ““For them, who are constantly absorbed in
yoga, who offer loving service with natural affection, I offer that yoga of discernment
by which they come close to me”
What is this discernment Krishna speaks of? How does a person intent on practicing
yoga see everything in the world as fuel for their yoga practice?

In chapter ten Krishna elaborates and injects his presence as the original yoga teacher
into fire, the radiant sun, the moon, the ocean, quietly repeated prayer, the Himalayas,
the thunderbolt, death, time, wind, the shark, the beginning, the end, the middle, the
spring season, courage, the silence of secrets, knowledge, beauty and abounding
power. “But what is the necessity of knowing such things, O Arjuna? I support this
whole universe continuously, with one part of myself.” (10.42)

 9. Yoga is our intimate connection with the whole universe,

with eternal realms even beyond the manifested universe, and
with our own being’s endless capacity to love. 
 In the famous chapter eleven of the Bhagavad Gita Krishna gives Arjuna a vision of
his “Universal Form”. Perhaps what is most amazing to any yoga practitioner about
this spectacular vision is that Krishna attributes his universal form as having
manifested from the yoga of his own being! So even Krishna himself practices yoga!

Chapter twelve begins with Arjuna inquiring about which form of yoga is “the
greatest”, that of “those who worship Krishna by offering love, or those who worship
Krishna as the “imperishable unmanifest”?

Krishna answers that it is those whose mind are directed toward him and are always
absorbed in yoga.

Then Krishna characterizes yoga again as devoting all actions to him. And in chapter
twelve verse ten, Krishna defines yoga as “the unwavering offering of love”. Then in
14.26 Krishna says:
“And one, who unfailingly, with the yoga of offering love, serves me, that one,
transcending these ‘qualities’ prepares oneself with being united with supreme
reality.”

 10. Yoga is a pure, determined force that moves us toward the

mysterious and secret, and connects us with the wonderfulness
of existence, of being, and of all life itself. 
Krishna begins chapter sixteen with a verse that talks about “steadfastness in the yoga
of knowledge”. Then the subject of energies that pull one toward and away from
absorption in yoga begins, with only eight verses in the last three chapters of the
Bhagavad Gita that use the words yoga or yukta, mainly characterizing those absorbed
in yoga as reflecting the qualities of sattva, or clarity, purity.
Radha Krishna by Syamarani

The penultimate verse in which the word yoga appears are spoken by the visionary
Sanjaya who ends by calling Krishna Yogeshvara, the Lord of Yoga, in verse 18.75:
“By the grace of Vyasa I have heard this supreme secret of yoga from Krishna, the
supreme Lord of Yoga, appearing directly before my eyes, speaking it himself”.

The Bhagavad Gita ends with an emphatic, final verse that delights in the triumph of
those who align themselves with a genuine, loving yoga practitioner and teacher, as
Arjuna did with Krishna.

“Where there is Krishna, the Supreme Lord of Yoga (Yogeshvara), where there is
Partha (Arjuna), holder of the Bow, there is fortune, triumph, well-being, and lasting
righteousness- that is my conclusion”.
So yoga appears in more ways than we imagine. Perhaps the individual practices of
today’s yoga practitioners will be significantly nourished the more they embrace the
rich and complex definitions Krishna gave yoga in the Bhagavad Gita.

As one of the world’s most important yoga texts, the Gita

stands to illumine the areas in our lives we get stuck in -just as
Arjuna was in his- and offer us an alternative way of being
through practicing yoga: an experience that can potentially
include everything!