Our forefathers have given us a lot of things, valuable materialistically and otherwise. But unfortunately, we are attracted to those which belong to others. We should first try to know what we have and then we should also know what they have got to say.

I have tried my level best to keep it short, but I know it would be long for most of us. Irrespective of how much time you take, please read this. Surely you would be benefited, not instantly though.

|| Yoga of self control ||

Said Lord Supreme:

“He is the real renouncer of the world who does his work without desiring for the fruits of his actions, certainly not the one who renounces actions or worships the sacred fire.” -Verse 01

“O Son of Pandu, what they call as sanyasa, know it to be the same as yoga (union with Supreme). Without giving up intentions, none can become a true yogi.” -Verse 02

“For the sage who has just begun the yoga, work is said to be the means, after attaining yoga even mindedness in doing actions is to be the means.” -Verse 03

“When a man does not act either for sense gratification or for the fruit of his actions and when he has renounced all the desire driven thoughts, he is said to be seated in yoga.” -Verse04

“Let a man lift himself by himself. Let him not degrade himself. Certainly self is friend to the self and self is also the enemy of the self.” -Verse05

“He who has controlled his self by his self, certainly his self is his best friend, but for him who has not conquered his self his self is his enemy.” -Verse 06

“The self-conquered peaceful person is but the Supreme Self. For him cold or heat, happiness or sorrow, respect or disrespect are the same.” -Verse 07

“He who is fully satisfied with knowledge and wisdom, who is mentally stable and is master of his senses, and who regards gold or rubbish or a piece of stone as the same, such a self-realized soul is fit to be called a Yogi.” -Verse08

“He is superior who maintains the same attitude towards his well wishers, friends, enemies, non-aligned, arbitrators, haters, relations, saints and sinners.” -Verse09

“Let the yogi constantly keep his mind concentrated in his self, sitting alone in a secluded place, self-controlled, without desires and without any sense of possessiveness.” -Verse10

“With tranquil mind, but without fear, following brahmacharya (vows of celibacy), mind completely subdued and fixed in Me, the Yogi should sit and make Me his ultimate goal.” -Verse 14

“A lamp in a windless place is the metaphor that can be used to describe a Yogi whose mind is under control and who is united with his inner Self.” -Verse 19

“The state in which the mind ceases its movements restrained by the performance of the yoga, in which the (lower) self realizes the (Higher) Self and is satisfied in the Self.” -Verse 20

“That state in which he finds unlimited happiness, in which the intellect understands the transcendental (that which is beyond the senses) and wherein established he never moves from truth” -Verse 21

“And that state having gained which he thinks that he got every thing and that there is nothing else to gain, in that state he is not shaken by even the most troublesome sorrows.” -Verse 22

“Let this disassociation from association with pain be described as Yoga, which must be practiced with decisiveness and unwavering mind.” -Verse 23

“Abandoning all desires born out of desire oriented mental formulations, restraining the mind and the senses equally from all sides” -Verse 24

“Gradually step by step, with determination, he should hold back his desires with his intelligence and with mind established in the self he should think of nothing else.” -Verse 25

“Whenever and wherever the mind becomes unsteady and unstable, there and then it must be brought back into the control of the Self.” -Verse 26

“Definitely he is the real Yogi. For he has attained tranquil mind and is supremely happy. With all his passions subdued, he is one with Brahm and completely free from all impurities.” -Verse 27

“Engaged thus in the practice of yoga, always immersed in the Self, the sinless yogi, attains unlimited happiness and union with Brahm.” -Verse 28

“The Yogi who is established in his Self and who is even minded all the time and at all the places develops the equal vision where by he sees the Self in all beings and all beings in the Self.” -Verse 29

“He who sees Me everywhere and all Me, I am not lost to him, nor he is lost to Me.” -Verse 30

“Whoever worships Me thus as the Being abiding in all, established in the vision of Oneness, live in Me all the time irrespective of how he behaves and conducts himself.” -Verse 31

“He who in comparison to himself sees all as equal, whether in happiness or in sorrow, that yogi, O Arjuna, should be regarded as supremely perfect in My opinion.” -Verse32

“With an uncontrolled mind it is impossible to achieve this yoga of self-discipline. But it can be achieved in My opinion through persistent efforts and subjugation of the mind.” -Verse 36

“O Partha, neither in this world nor in the other there is any destruction for him who is engaged in the performance of good deeds. Nor would he fall into bad ways and come to grief.” -Verse 40

“The yogi who has stumbled on the path of yoga dwells for many years after his death in the heavenly world of the pure souls and then takes birth in the household of the pure and the prosperous.” -Verse 41

“Or he might also take birth in the family of the yogis of great wisdom. But this kind of birth is very rare to achieve in this world.” -Verse 42

“Arjuna, there he regains the intelligence of his previous life and strives again for achieving all round perfection.” -Verse 43

“By virtue of his previous life’s sadhana, he is drawn automatically towards the yoga. Such an inquisitive seeker of knowledge even goes beyond the verbal form of mantra worship.” -Verse 44

“The Yogi who strives with determination, purified of all sins, having perfected himself during innumerable life times, attains the Highest Goal.” -Verse 45

“The Yogi is considered to be superior to the ascetics. He is also superior to men of knowledge and to men of desire driven actions. Therefore Arjuna became a Yogi.” -Verse 46

“And of all types of Yogi, he is considered to be the best whose thoughts are always revolving around Me, and who worships Me with utmost dedication and sincerity.” -Verse 47