Shloka 53
कर्मयोग–ज्ञानयज्ञ–अवतारोपदेश
Karma-Yoga, Jñāna-Yajña, and Avatāra Instruction
श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना* ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला । समाधावचला बुद्धिस्तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि
śrutivipratipannā te yadā sthāsyati niścalā | samādhāv acalā buddhis tadā yogam avāpsyasi ||
Sanjaya said: When your understanding—thrown into confusion by the conflicting voices of what you have heard—comes to rest, steady and unmoving, and remains unwavering in deep inner absorption, then you will attain Yoga: the enduring union with the Supreme that is not shaken by doubt or distraction.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
True Yoga is reached when the intellect stops wavering amid conflicting doctrines and becomes firmly established in samādhi—steady, undistracted, and inwardly unified—so that one’s connection with the Supreme is constant rather than occasional.
Sañjaya reports Kṛṣṇa’s instruction to Arjuna on the battlefield context: Arjuna’s mind is unsettled by competing ideas about duty and action, and Kṛṣṇa points to inner steadiness—samādhi and unwavering discernment—as the condition for attaining Yoga.