BG 6.4 — Dhyāna-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 6.4Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

यदा हि नेन्द्रियार्थेषु न कर्मस्वनुषज्जते ।

सर्वसंकल्पसंन्यासी योगारूढस् तदोच्यते ॥

yadā hi nendriyārtheṣu na karmasv anuṣajjate

sarva-saṃkalpa-saṃnyāsī yogārūḍhas tadocyate

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

When you stop grasping at sense-objects and actions, and renouncing all intention has become your character, you are called established in yoga.

ekras · bhāṣya

When one no longer clings — neither to sense-objects nor to actions — and when the renunciation of all samkalpa has become his disposition, only then is he called yoga-arudha. The criterion is twofold: outer non-clinging plus inner samkalpa-tyaga, sustained as character, not as effort.

Shankara holds the verse with characteristic care. The non-clinging is not from exhaustion or external constraint; it is from having perceived the purposelessness of those objects and actions. The contemplating yogin no longer holds onto sound and the rest, nor to obligatory or occasional or even prohibited karmas, because the inner orientation that once made them pull no longer obtains. Sarva-samkalpa-samnyasa has become svabhava, his own nature; that is the criterion of arrival.

Madhusudana ties the yoga-arudha's non-attachment to a double vision. First, the seeing of mithyatva — the unreality — of sense-objects. Second, the seeing of the self as akartri-abhoktri-paramananda-advaya — neither doer nor enjoyer, pure non-dual bliss. The two sights together remove the abhinivesha-rupa anushanga, the I-clinging that is the real obstacle to yoga's full ascent.

Vallabha's gloss is deliberately compressed: the yoga-arudha does not cling even to actions that are properly his own — sva-kriya-nirvartyeshu api karmasu. Even one's dutiful ritual action, if owned rather than surrendered as Krishna's prasada, becomes a subtle form of ahamkara.

Madhva marks the verse as the definition of the yoga-arudha's distinctive mark: samyak-ananusanga, proper non-attachment, is svata — spontaneous in him; in others, it arises only through long effort.

Context

where

Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 6.3

For the seeker still climbing, action is the means; for the one who has reached the summit, stillness is.

What's going on

When you stop grasping at sense-objects and actions, and renouncing all intention has become your character, you are called established in yoga.

Sūtras through this verse (63)

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

6.1True renouncing acts; drops the inner hook.───→here6.4───→7.30Hold the Lord through every layer of life.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

2.39Practice seam begins.───→here6.4───→6.46The yogi outranks every other path.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

5.14The soul rules the inert; the Lord rules the soul.───→here6.4───→6.9Souls differ by nature not by accident alone.

show all 63

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

6.1Renouncer and yogi together───→here6.4───→9.22Yogakshema as offering returned

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one under two views.───→here6.4───→7.16Four kinds of devotee, ranked by ripeness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

6.1Renouncing too lives by purity of mind.───→here6.4───→16.1The dispositions decide who can even begin.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

6.1The fruit-unattached one is yogi and renouncer.───→here6.4───→9.22The undivided ones the Lord himself sustains.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

6.1Calling a karma-yogi 'renouncer' is only a courtesy.───→here6.4───→18.1At the very end, the line still holds.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.───→here6.4───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesapproach

───→here6.4───→7.1The chapter elaborates the prior bhajana-line.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherapproach

───→here6.4───→7.1A bow to the bliss-cloud, Nanda's son, opens seven.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

3.8Even keeping the body alive requires action.───→here6.4───→6.40A fallen seeker still keeps the human birth.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

5.26With desire gone, the goal stands on all sides.───→here6.4───→6.24Renounce every desire born of will.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

5.19A mind in equality has already won.───→here6.4───→6.8Clay, stone, and gold are all level to him.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

5.4Insight and practice are not two paths.───→here6.4───→6.46The lover outranks every other yogi.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

6.3Body, senses, and mind: none of them yours.───→here6.4───→13.20Nature causes the act; you only experience.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here6.4───→

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartapproach

───→here6.4───→6.30See Me everywhere, I am never lost.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

6.1The renouncer and yogi are the same person.───→here6.4───→7.1Open the second ṣaṭka: mind clung to Me.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

6.1The renouncer is the one who acts for Me.───→here6.4───→9.27Whatever you do, do it as offering.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

4.6Avatāras differ in their fullness of Hari.───→here6.4───→6.9Devas, asuras, mortals are three native kinds.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

4.8Ṛgveda khilas explain the descent as play.───→here6.4───→6.6Maitrāyaṇī defines the stilled mind.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one person, two names.───→here6.4───→18.2The ritualists' śruti fixes the closing definition.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

5.16Mediated knowing is just the first step.───→here6.4───→6.7The stilled mind sees the seated supreme self.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

2.72Many lives of bhakti precede the final crossing.───→here6.4───→6.30Devotion brings what the seeker cannot earn.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

5.7'Self of all' resolves to the Lord himself.───→here6.4───→6.20'Self' here is not soul but the Lord within.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

6.1Real renouncing keeps the act alive.───→here6.4───→18.1The closing chapter reopens this question.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

6.1Prelude binds yoga to puṣṭi-bhakti.───→here6.4───→7.1Seven-verse prelude opens the bhakti-ṣaṭka.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

6.1The two paths are one through fruit-renouncing act.───→here6.4───→6.46The lover outranks the wise and the disciplined.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordbetween

2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.───→here6.4───→6.46The yogi closing the ṣaṭka is a mind-stiller.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)approach

───→here6.4───→7.4Two natures of the Lord: matter and selves.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionapproach

───→here6.4───→7.17I am dearest to him.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaapproach

───→here6.4───→7.4Lower nature: matter.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata simileapproach

───→here6.4───→7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markapproach

───→here6.4───→7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryapproach

───→here6.4───→6.47Six chapters of aphorism close at this verse.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u───→here6.4───→6.11Mudra and posture. 'Shuchau deshe pratishthapya sthiram asanam atmanah.' Establi

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningbetween

3.21'Yad yad acharati shreshthas tat tad evetaro janah.' Whatever the leader does, o───→here6.4───→6.5'Uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet.' Lift yourself by yourself, do not l

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipbetween

2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva───→here6.4───→6.7'Jitatmanah prashantasya paramatma samahitah.' For the self-conquered, in-peace,

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

5.5'Yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam tad yogair api gamyate.' The place reached by sa───→here6.4───→6.46'Tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah, karmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasm

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netibetween

2.20'Na jayate mriyate va kadachit, nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah, ajo nityah sh───→here6.4───→6.20'Yatroparamate chittam niruddham yoga-sevaya, yatra chaivatmana'tmanam pashyann

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.───→here6.4───→6.46Inner-self hexad closes; pivot prepared.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.───→here6.4───→6.46Yogin vs. jñānin: not synonyms.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

2.39Wisdom section wound up here.───→here6.4───→6.46Dhyāna section sealed: yogin is supreme.

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelapproach

───→here6.4───→7.1Upāsya and tat-pada in apposition. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousapproach

───→here6.4───→7.4Two-fold prakṛti is the Lord's own power.

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

6.1Soft sense of renouncer───→here6.4───→18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi by sannyāsa

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

6.1The fire-keeper is renouncer only in a soft sense.───→here6.4───→18.49Action-freedom comes from full renunciation.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here6.4───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one figure.───→here6.4───→6.46The yogi outranks tapasvi, jñāni, karmin.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

6.1Pure mind is not yet release: now meditate.───→here6.4───→8.1Now, the questions of Brahman and self.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personapproach

───→here6.4───→7.16Of the four devotees, the knower is dearest.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsapproach

───→here6.4───→7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyaapproach

───→here6.4───→7.21Deity-worship: His self-arrangement of grace.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homeapproach

───→here6.4───→6.47Be a devotee: that is the meaning.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessapproach

───→here6.4───→7.14Undivided love crosses the great mist.

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitapproach

───→here6.4───→8.5Whoever remembers Me at the last reaches Me.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldexit

5.8I do nothing at all, says the knower.───→here6.4───→

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentstation · v2 · station 5/10

───→here6.4───→

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourapproach · v2

───→here6.4───→6.10Solitary seat

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathapproach · v2

───→here6.4───→7.16Four kinds of bhakta

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.───→here6.4───→7.13Why this declaration? The gloss must answer.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

6.1Karma-yoga is outer; samādhi-yoga inner.───→here6.4───→7.1First ṣaṭka closed; new pratijñā opens.

Śabda · lemmas (14 unique · 15 occurrences)

अनुषज्जते anu-√ṣañj — to attach to, follow (anu- + √sañj) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb

show all 14

न na ×2 — not (negation particle)
यदा yadā — when
हि hi — for, indeed, because (particle)
इन्द्रिय indriya — sense, sense-organ; the eleven indriyas (5 jñānendriyas + 5 karmendriyas + manas) · compound
अर्थेषु artha — meaning, purpose, wealth, goal · locative masculine plural noun
कर्मसु karman — action, deed, the law of action · locative neuter plural noun
सर्व sarva — all, entire · compound
संकल्प saṃkalpa — intention, resolve (sam- + √kḷp 'arrange') · compound · also at 4.19, 6.2, 6.24
संन्यासी saṃnyāsin — renunciate (sam- + ni- + √as + -in) · nominative masculine singular noun · also at 5.3, 6.1, 6.2
योग yoga — yoga; union, discipline, application · compound
आरूढः √āruh — to ascend, mount (ā- + √ruh) · nominative masculine singular participle noun
तदा tadā — then, at that time
उच्यते √vac — to speak (verbal root) · present indicative pass 3rd person singular verb

Praśna · so what (7)

01If sarva-saṃkalpa-sannyāsa (renunciation of all volition) is the condition for yogārūḍha, does this mean the practitioner must first cease all ritual obligation — or does the renunciation happen while still acting?
02Śaṅkara quotes Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.4.5 to show that desire drives action and desire is driven by saṃkalpa — what does this imply about motivational architecture for any sustained practice, including non-Vedic ones?

show all 7

03Rāmānuja reads ātmaikānubhava (exclusive self-experience) as the positive content that displaces sense-craving; Śaṅkara reads it as mithyātva-perception of objects. What is actually being proposed for the practitioner's phenomenology?
04Madhva's citation — dissolution of faults is natural for the advanced, effortful for others — raises a meritocratic question: is yogārūḍha a state one attains by effort, or one that arrives when effort has exhausted itself?
05Vallabha's accent on 'even one's own proper actions' as a site of clinging pushes the question: is there a difference between non-attachment to prohibited actions and non-attachment to obligatory ones, or does yogārūḍha collapse this distinction entirely?
06All six commentators agree that saṃkalpa is the root; they diverge on what replaces it — ātma-jñāna (Śaṅkara), ātma-anubhava (Rāmānuja), Hari-pāratantrya (Madhva), prasāda-bhāva (Vallabha), bhakti-viraha (Śrīdhara), advaya-darśana (Madhusūdana). How should a practitioner choose among these positive replacements?
07The verse uses 'yogārūḍha' — 'mounted on yoga' — rather than 'yoga-siddha' (perfected). What does the climbing/ascending metaphor (ārūḍha from √ruh) imply about the stability of this state: is it a plateau or an ongoing ascent?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before beginning a task, pause and examine the saṃkalpa structure: 'I am doing X to obtain Y.' Śaṅkara's analysis says the craving for Y is itself the contaminant. Practical move: act, but explicitly bracket the outcome-narrative before you start. The bracket is not performance — it trains the perception that the outcome was never yours to own. Do this once daily with one high-stakes task.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Rāmānuja's corollary is actionable: the ārurukṣu (one still climbing) uses karma-yoga — regular action from which sense-craving is being methodically disentangled — as the vehicle itself, not merely a stairway to abandon. In everyday terms: keep your job, your relationships, your obligations — but cultivate one daily moment of experiencing them as ātma-kainkarya (service from the self) rather than as procurement. The shift in felt quality, not the cessation of action, is the practice.

show all 6

Dvaita

Madhva's verse on natural vs effortful renunciation maps onto skill acquisition: early in a practice, non-distraction is an act of will; later it becomes constitutional. The everyday application is to identify which virtues in your current life are still effortful and which have become natural — and to treat the effortful ones not as failures but as sites of active Hari-dependence (pāratantrya). Effort acknowledged honestly is itself a form of surrender.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's 'even one's own proper actions' as potential attachments points to a very concrete modern trap: the identity built around doing one's job well, parenting excellently, or being a 'good practitioner.' The Puṣṭi-mārga application is to let even these roles be Kṛṣṇa's gift rather than self-constructed achievements. Practically: at the end of each day, note one thing you did well and consciously offer it back rather than banking it as self-credit.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's causal chain — saṃkalpa → attachment → action-binding — suggests that the upstream intervention is at the moment of intention-formation, before action begins. Everyday practice: when a desire arises, sit with the saṃkalpa itself for 30 seconds before acting. This is not suppression; it is the examination Śrīdhara identifies as the yogin's habitual posture. Over time the examination becomes instinctive — which is precisely his definition of śīla (character).

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's double vision — mithyātva of objects plus ātma-as-pure-bliss — suggests a two-part daily bookend. Morning: recall one moment from the previous day when you mistook a contingent gain or loss for a permanent fact about reality (mithyātva check). Evening: recall one moment of intrinsic well-being that arose independent of circumstances (ānanda-trace). The gap between these two recollections is the practice space Madhusūdana is pointing at.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 6, Verse 4: Krishna to Arjuna — Dhyāna-Yoga