Bhagavad Gita 6.10
yogī yuñjīta satatam ātmānaṁ rahasi sthitaḥ |
ekākī yata-cittātmā nirāśīr aparigrahaḥ ||
A comparison of some translations of Bhagavad Gita verse 6.10 that I have read over the years. Ramana Maharshi's comment on this verse. My own translation follows.
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I first read the following translation from Juan Mascaro circa 1970.
"Day after day, let the yogi practise the harmony of soul : in a secret place, in deep solitude, master of his mind, hoping for nothing, desiring nothing." 6.10, Juan Mascarao's Bhagavad Gita
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A couple of years later I was given a copy of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's translation "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is".
"A transcendentalist should always try to concentrate his mind on the Supreme Self; he should live alone in a secluded place and should always carefully control his mind. He should be free from desires and possessiveness." 6.10, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is" (1972)
By the 1983 reprint, Prabhupada's translation had received a subtle change.
"A transcendentalist should always engage his body, mind and self in relationship with the Supreme; he should live alone in a secluded place and should always carefully control his mind. He should be free from desires and feelings of possessiveness." 6.10, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is" (1983)
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Swami Chidbhavananda's "The Bhagavad Gita" is different again. This translation was recommended to me, in the early 80s, by Swami Bhavyananda of Advaita Vedanta Centre, Bourne End. It remains a book to which I regularly return. Nicely laid out. Easy to navigate. A firm favourite.
A yogi should always try to concentrate his mind living alone in solitude, having subdued his mind and body and got rid of desires and possessions. 6.10, Swami Chidbhavananda's "The Bhagavad Gita"
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R. C. Zaehner's poetic 1966 translation
Let the Yogin ever integrate [him]self
Standing in a place apart,
Alone, his thoughts and self restrained,
Devoid of [earthly] hope, nothing possessing.
6.10, R. C. Zaehner's "Hindu Scriptures"
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Ramana Maharshi was asked about this verse in "Letters from Sri Ramanasramam" (228) 2nd March 1949:
"I asked, “Does the saying ‘Ekaki Yatachittatma’ (living in seclusion with the mind subdued) apply to the mind only?”
Bhagavan: “Yes. That is so."
"The Yogi who has subdued his mind and body and who is free from desire and bereft of possessions, living in seclusion all by himself, should constantly engage his mind in meditation." - Gita, VI: 10
“That means a Yogi must remain steadily in the secret place called Atman, realise that there is none other but his Self, and keep his mind in the Atman without his mind being deflected to any other matter.""
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My translation:
"The Yogi must consistently practice adherence in atman, in secret, alone, wishing for nothing, grasping at nothing, restrained in mind and body." (MWright, 2018)