Skandapurana 2.9.30
English (machine translation) 2.9.30
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2.9.30.1
Skanda said:
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Having heard thus the rite of worship of Vāsudeva, that Nārada,
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pleased, asked that supreme teacher of sages again.
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Nārada said:
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The yoga of action of great fruit has been properly declared by the Blessed One,
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which is to be performed with a single mind by those desiring perfection.
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Regarding that, the restraint of the mind even for the wise, O good guru,
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[since control of the mind is] hard to accomplish even for men of wisdom, O good guru, how much more then for human beings bound to action on earth?
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And without it, the worship of Hari does not grant the desired fruit;
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therefore you ought to tell me the means of controlling it.
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Skanda said:
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Thus questioned by the sage, that lord of sages who sees all,
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Nārāyaṇa, the companion of Nara, spoke to Nārada:
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The venerable Nārāyaṇa said:
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Truly indeed, O sage, do you speak: the mind possesses great strength;
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even when it is conquered, discriminating people have no trust in it, as in an enemy.
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There is no other enemy equal to the mind for embodied beings;
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yet through the practice of meditation on Viṣṇu, free from defect, it is indeed calmed.
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Because it is difficult to restrain, like an unbroken horse,
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it is therefore restrained through good means by men endowed with dispassion.
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Many are the means in that regard, and among them, O noble-minded one,
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the practice of the eightfold yoga is supreme, immediately yielding its fruit.
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The restraints, observances, O brahmin, postures, breath-control,
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withdrawal of the senses, concentration, and meditation is the seventh limb;
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and absorption is declared to be the eighth of yoga, in this sequence.
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Among these, non-violence, celibacy, truthfulness, non-stealing, and non-possession—
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these are declared to be the five restraints, to be accomplished with effort.
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Purity, austerity, contentment, Vedic recitation, and the worship of Viṣṇu—
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these five are considered observances as the second limb.
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Discarding the restlessness of the limbs, staying at ease—
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that is called posture, such as svastikāsana, which overcomes the affliction of the pairs of opposites, O sage.
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The holding of the vital breaths moving in all directions into a single region,
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according to the method taught by the guru, is called breath-control.
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When the breath moves, the mind moves; when it is steady, the mind is steady;
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therefore, this must be practiced always in a suitable place by inhalation, retention, and exhalation.
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The drawing back inward of the mental activities
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and of the senses away from their respective objects is declared to be withdrawal of the senses.
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Fixing the mind along with the vital breath in any place such as the navel,
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upon the form of Vāsudeva, is spoken of as concentration.
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The contemplation one by one of each separate limb
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of the Lord, such as his lotus-feet, is known as meditation.
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The restraint of the vital breath and mind with intense love in Hari—
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that is declared to be absorption, sought after by yogins.
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Through these eight limbs learned from an accomplished good guru,
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yoga consisting of the maturity of absorption is attained by men.
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There is no other means for the complete restraint of the mind equal to this
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for men seeking liberation: know this, O Nārada.
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Even from Madana, the great enemy of ascetics and shaker of the universe,
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there is never any fear for a yogin.
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Having known the time of death that is to come,
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the knower of yoga voluntarily casts off his body in this way through absorption:
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Pressing the anus with his heels, drawing up the breath residing in the two feet
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slowly, slowly, he brings it to the seat of death;
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meditating on Keśava with his mind and reciting his six-syllabled mantra,
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he then brings this breath to the place of Prajāpati;
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then to the navel, the heart, the chest, and the throat, the knower of yoga
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dedicated to Vāsudeva brings the breath between the eyebrows.
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In each of these six places separately,
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the yogin practices the restraint and release of the breath, mind, and senses
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until mastery over it is achieved.
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Leaving each place as it is conquered, he proceeds to the next and the next;
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for one who has reached the sixth station, there is indeed no effort in its practice.
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Then, having blocked the seven apertures, causing the breath united with the senses and the mind
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to reach the palate, that knower of yoga goes to the brahmarandhra.
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Then, having abandoned the latent impressions of objects made of māyā,
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his mind solely on Vāsudeva, he casts off his body.
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Then [he reaches] the abode of the blessed Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, beyond darkness,
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Reaching [that place], serving him, endowed with a divine body, he rejoices. // 31
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Thus has the summary of the scripture on yoga been related to you, O brahmin.
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Having conquered your own mind by means of it, worship him at all times. // 32
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Thus ends the thirtieth chapter, named “Exposition of the Eight-limbed Yoga,” in the Vāsudevamāhātmya of the second [part], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 30
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- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit