History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.171

v7.c94.171

There is also striking similarity between the Bhagavadgītā and the Yogasūtra.²³⁰¹ For example, the definition of Yoga in the Yogasūtra as the 'mastery over (or elimination of) the functions (or fluctuations) of the mind' has a close parallel in the Gītā. The Gītā insists on the yogin being 'aparigraha' (VI. 10); 'aparigrha' is one of the five yamas (Y. S. II. 30). Similarly, the seat and posture (āsana) in which a yogin is to practise must be stable (this refers to the seat) and comfortable (says Yogasūtra); the Gītā says the same thing in greater detail. In VIII 12 the Gītā speaks of Yogadhāraṇā. The Gītā says (in VI. 35) that the mind is certainly restless and difficult to control, but it can be controlled by practice and passionlessness and the Y. S. (I. 12) speaks of the same two means. The Gītā (in V. 4-5) emphasizes that it is the ignorant that regard Sāṅkhya and Yoga as different, that he who applies himself or stands committed to one of these secures the fruit held out by both and that he who sees both ways as identical sees truly. Here Sāṅkhya means (sannyāsa) 'renunciation' and Yoga means 'Karma-yoga'.