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Adhyāyas / Ātma-Saṁyama Yogaḥ / verse 16

Mūla — the verse

Gita Press numbering
नात्यश्नतस्तु योगोऽस्ति न चैकान्तमनश्नतः। न चातिस्वप्नशीलस्य जाग्रतो नैव चार्जुन
nātyaśhnatastu yogo ’sti na chaikāntam anaśhnataḥ na chāti-svapna-śhīlasya jāgrato naiva chārjuna
Anuṣṭubh

Translation

Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣya

But, O Arjuna, Yoga is not for one who eats excessively, nor for one who does not eat at all; neither for one who habitually sleeps too long, nor for one who stays awake.

हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda

परन्तु, हे अर्जुन ! यह योग उस पुरुष के लिए सम्भव नहीं होता, जो अधिक खाने वाला है या बिल्कुल न खाने वाला है तथा जो अधिक सोने वाला है या सदा जागने वाला है।।

Pronunciation — Vaamshii

from Vaamshii
नात् यश् न तस्तु योगोऽस्ति
न चैकान् तम नश् नतः
न चातिस् वप् न शीलस् य
जाग् रतो नैव चार् जुन
॥ १६ ॥
Read each split group as one breath-unit; hyphens join pādas kept whole for the meter or a compound word. Symbols: # upadhmānīya (visarga before p/ph), % jihvāmūlīya (visarga before k/kh), ऽ avagraha (an elided a). Full method →

Word by word

padārtha
nanot
atitoo much
aśhnataḥof one who eats
tuhowever
yogaḥYog
astithere is
nanot
chaand
ekāntamat all
anaśhnataḥabstaining from eating
nanot
chaand
atitoo much
svapna-śhīlasyaof one who sleeps
jāgrataḥof one who does not sleep enough
nanot
evacertainly
chaand
arjunaArjun

Themes

from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad Gītā

Meaning — Questions & Solutions

from Q&A with KnA
6.16The mean between extremes.

“Yoga is not for one who eats too much, nor for one who eats nothing; not for one who sleeps too much, nor for one who keeps too much awake.” This is the BG's quiet rejection of violent asceticism. The instrument of yoga is the body-mind, and an instrument starved or abused cannot play. Moderation in food, sleep, work and recreation makes yoga “the destroyer of sorrow” (6.17). The path is a razor's edge, but the edge runs down the middle, not along either cliff.