Qualifications For Yoga

The eleventh and twelfth verses lay further qualifications on the aspiring yogi. There it is stated that he must not only go to a secluded place, but also to a sacred place; and after following so many restrictions, completely abstaining from sex, he must sit very firmly, just in order to purify the heart. Without purification of the heart, spiritual advancement is not possible. But in this Age of Kali, where can one find a secluded, sacred place? Our cities may be full of so many so-called yoga societies, and they may be very successful in reducing people who are overweight or in providing some kind of recreation, or even in making one healthy, but as far as self-realization is concerned, they are useless. It is specifically said here that one must sit in a secluded sacred place, and there he must completely control the mind. Therefore in the Brhan-Naradiya Purana it is said that in the Kali-yuga (the present age) when people in general are short-lived, slow in spiritual realization and always disturbed by various anxieties, the best means of spiritual realization is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. And Lord Caitanya was even more emphatic when He said, repeatedly: harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam/ kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha. "In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy [Kali] the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way! There is no other way! There is no other way!"

The thirteenth and fourteenth verses prescribe further instructions for the yogi. He must sit in a certain way to restrain all movement, his eyes must be fixed on the tip of the nose. "Thus, with an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid of fear, completely free from sex life, one should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life." Therefore it is perfectly clear that without seeing Krsna, one is not successful in meditation. Unless one makes Krsna the ultimate goal of life, one is not following the yoga system. Nor is it possible to follow this yoga system with an agitated or roving mind; nor is it possible while engaging in sex life. One has to practice controlling the mind and avoiding all kinds of sense gratification, of which sex is the chief. In the Yajnavalkya rules of celibacy, it is said: "The vow of brahmacari is meant to help one completely abstain from sex indulgence in work, words, and mind-at all times, under all circumstances, and in all places." No one can perform correct yoga practice while participating in sex life, not even in married life. Therefore in the varnasrama institution when a boy is five years old he goes to live with the spiritual master, and there he is taught the material and the spiritual sciences, and he is taught to be a brahmacari, to be strictly controlled. Without such practice one cannot make advancement in any yoga, whether it be dhyana-yoga, jnana-yoga, karma-yoga, or bhakti-yoga. However, as prescribed by the authorities, in the school of bhakti-yoga one can become a householder, or live in married life according to regulation, and that will also allow one to advance. But in jnana-yoga or dhyana-yoga not even that is possible-householder life is never allowed. Complete abstinence without compromise is required. This is because a person who is actually practicing bhakti, while engaged in regulated sex life, dedicates his sex life to Krsna. His household life means that he is raising a family for Krsna, and thus it is superior to the mundane duality of celibate and married. A devotee of the Lord automatically refrains from sense gratificatory life because of superior taste. This means that he is actually drinking at Krsna's reservoir of pleasure.

In the sixteenth verse there is the further prescription that one cannot eat too much or eat too little, or sleep too much or not enough. Without controlling the diet and sleep, meditation will not produce the desired result. Eating more than required means eating more than is needed to keep body and soul together, and sleeping more than six hours in twenty-four means sleeping too much. Nor is there need to eat animal flesh, because there is an ample supply of palatable vegetables, grains, fruit and milk. And such simple foods are considered to be in the mode of goodness, according to Krsna. But a person in Krsna consciousness is automatically controlled in all these things because he does not eat anything which is not first offered to Krsna. And what can be offered to Krsna is stated in the Gita itself, in the Ninth Chapter, where Krsna says that He accepts the gift of one who offers a leaf, a flower, a fruit or a little water, with love and affection. Actually, the real qualification is love and affection, but one who has love and affection naturally only offers the things that Krsna likes. Because the devotee's food is first offered to Krsna, he is without sinful reactions, as explained in the Third Chapter.