BG 6.27 — Dhyāna-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 6.27Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

प्रशान्तमनसं ह्येनं योगिनं सुखमुत्तमम् ।

उपैति शान्तरजसं ब्रह्मभूतमकल्मषम् ॥

praśānta-manasaṃ hy enaṃ yoginaṃ sukham uttamam

upaiti śānta-rajasaṃ brahma-bhūtam akalmaṣam

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

meaning

Supreme happiness comes on its own to the yogin whose mind is stilled, whose restlessness has quieted, who stands free of stain, established in Brahman.

ekras · bhāṣya

Supreme happiness comes — upaiti, approaches — to the yogi whose manas is prashanta, whose rajas is shanta, who is brahma-bhuta and akalmasha. Four predicates of the yogi; one supreme sukha that arrives.

Shankara reads the verb upaiti carefully: the happiness is not seized by the yogi; it arrives on its own when the conditions are present. Prashanta-manas — the mind fully pacified. Shanta-rajas — the agitating quality extinguished. Brahma-bhuta — established as Brahman, holding the firm conviction that all this is Brahman alone. Akalmasha — free of dharma, adharma, and every stain. The four are not stages; they are simultaneous predicates of the same condition that makes the verb upaiti possible.

Madhusudana unpacks the three qualifiers with surgical precision. Prashanta-manas means the mind has become nishkriya — vritti-shunya, empty of modifications, with only trace impressions remaining. Shanta-rajas means free of vikshepa, the distraction-force that is rajas's specific function. Akalmasha means free of laya-hetu, the cause of dissolution into inertia, which is tamas's function. Vikshepa and laya were named in 6.26 as the two enemies; here their causes are shown to have stilled, and that stilling is what permits the verb.

Ramanuja softens the verse's frame: the yogi whose manas is fixed motionless on the atman has burned off every stain, subdued rajas, and come to rest in his own true nature. The uttama-sukha that approaches is itself atmanubhava-rupa — of the form of atman-experience. Brahma-bhutam in his reading is not dissolution into Brahman but resting in one's own Bhagavan-anchored form.

Vallabha reads tatashcha — and therefore — as the pivot: the prashanta manas, the stilled rajas, the brahma-bhava-apanna are not three achievements but one.

Context

where

Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 6.26

Wherever the restless, unsteady mind wanders, bring it back under the Self's control, again and again.

What's going on

Supreme happiness comes on its own to the yogin whose mind is stilled, whose restlessness has quieted, who stands free of stain, established in Brahman.

Sūtras through this verse (63)

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

6.1True renouncing acts; drops the inner hook.───→here6.27───→7.30Hold the Lord through every layer of life.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

2.39Practice seam begins.───→here6.27───→6.46The yogi outranks every other path.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

6.9Souls differ by nature not by accident alone.───→here6.27───→13.23Soul and Lord coexist in the body, not as one.

show all 63

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

6.1Renouncer and yogi together───→here6.27───→9.22Yogakshema as offering returned

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one under two views.───→here6.27───→7.16Four kinds of devotee, ranked by ripeness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

6.1Renouncing too lives by purity of mind.───→here6.27───→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.───→here6.27───→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.───→here6.27───→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.───→here6.27───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesapproach

───→here6.27───→7.1The chapter elaborates the prior bhajana-line.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherapproach

───→here6.27───→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.───→here6.27───→6.40A fallen seeker still keeps the human birth.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

6.24Renounce every desire born of will.───→here6.27───→18.49Free of longing everywhere — same goal.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

6.8Clay, stone, and gold are all level to him.───→here6.27───→6.32Sees others' pain and joy as his own.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

5.4Insight and practice are not two paths.───→here6.27───→6.46The lover outranks every other yogi.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

6.3Body, senses, and mind: none of them yours.───→here6.27───→13.20Nature causes the act; you only experience.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here6.27───→

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartapproach

───→here6.27───→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.───→here6.27───→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.───→here6.27───→9.27Whatever you do, do it as offering.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

6.9Devas, asuras, mortals are three native kinds.───→here6.27───→14.27Brahman has gradations within its own form.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

6.6Maitrāyaṇī defines the stilled mind.───→here6.27───→7.5Doubled prakṛti named from a single śruti.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one person, two names.───→here6.27───→18.2The ritualists' śruti fixes the closing definition.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

6.7The stilled mind sees the seated supreme self.───→here6.27───→6.46The five-rung ladder ends in love, not knowledge.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

2.72Many lives of bhakti precede the final crossing.───→here6.27───→6.30Devotion brings what the seeker cannot earn.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

6.20'Self' here is not soul but the Lord within.───→here6.27───→6.32'Self' as mind, not soul, when symmetry is needed.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

6.1Real renouncing keeps the act alive.───→here6.27───→18.1The closing chapter reopens this question.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

6.1Prelude binds yoga to puṣṭi-bhakti.───→here6.27───→7.1Seven-verse prelude opens the bhakti-ṣaṭka.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

6.1The two paths are one through fruit-renouncing act.───→here6.27───→6.46The lover outranks the wise and the disciplined.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordbetween

2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.───→here6.27───→6.46The yogi closing the ṣaṭka is a mind-stiller.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)approach

───→here6.27───→7.4Two natures of the Lord: matter and selves.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionapproach

───→here6.27───→7.17I am dearest to him.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaapproach

───→here6.27───→7.4Lower nature: matter.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata simileapproach

───→here6.27───→7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markapproach

───→here6.27───→7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryapproach

───→here6.27───→6.47Six chapters of aphorism close at this verse.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

6.11Mudra and posture. 'Shuchau deshe pratishthapya sthiram asanam atmanah.' Establi───→here6.27───→9.26Puja and havan. 'Patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayachchhati.' Whoev

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningbetween

6.5'Uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet.' Lift yourself by yourself, do not l───→here6.27───→16.21'Tri-vidham narakasyedam dvaram nashanam atmanah, kamah krodhas tatha lobhah.' T

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipbetween

6.7'Jitatmanah prashantasya paramatma samahitah.' For the self-conquered, in-peace,───→here6.27───→6.35'Asamshayam maha-baho mano durnigraham chalam, abhyasena tu Kaunteya vairagyena

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

5.5'Yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam tad yogair api gamyate.' The place reached by sa───→here6.27───→6.46'Tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah, karmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasm

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netibetween

6.20'Yatroparamate chittam niruddham yoga-sevaya, yatra chaivatmana'tmanam pashyann ───→here6.27───→6.29'Sarva-bhuta-stham atmanam sarva-bhutani cha'tmani, ikshate yoga-yuktatma sarvat

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.───→here6.27───→6.46Inner-self hexad closes; pivot prepared.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.───→here6.27───→6.46Yogin vs. jñānin: not synonyms.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

2.39Wisdom section wound up here.───→here6.27───→6.46Dhyāna section sealed: yogin is supreme.

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelapproach

───→here6.27───→7.1Upāsya and tat-pada in apposition. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousapproach

───→here6.27───→7.4Two-fold prakṛti is the Lord's own power.

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

6.1Soft sense of renouncer───→here6.27───→18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi by sannyāsa

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

6.1The fire-keeper is renouncer only in a soft sense.───→here6.27───→18.49Action-freedom comes from full renunciation.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here6.27───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one figure.───→here6.27───→6.46The yogi outranks tapasvi, jñāni, karmin.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

6.1Pure mind is not yet release: now meditate.───→here6.27───→8.1Now, the questions of Brahman and self.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personapproach

───→here6.27───→7.16Of the four devotees, the knower is dearest.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

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

───→here6.27───→7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyaapproach

───→here6.27───→7.21Deity-worship: His self-arrangement of grace.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homeapproach

───→here6.27───→6.47Be a devotee: that is the meaning.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessapproach

───→here6.27───→7.14Undivided love crosses the great mist.

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitapproach

───→here6.27───→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.───→here6.27───→

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourbetween · v2

6.25Slowly, slowly───→here6.27───→6.29Self in all beings

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

6.4Renounced in resolve───→here6.27───→6.35Practice and dispassion

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathapproach · v2

───→here6.27───→7.16Four kinds of bhakta

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.───→here6.27───→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.───→here6.27───→7.1First ṣaṭka closed; new pratijñā opens.

Śabda · lemmas (13 unique · 13 occurrences)

सुखम् sukha — happiness, pleasure, ease · nominative neuter singular noun
उपैति √upe — to approach (upa- + √i 'go') · present indicative 3rd person singular verb

show all 13

प्रशान्त pra-√śam — tranquillity (pra- + √śam 'be calm') · compound participle (compound member) · also at 6.7, 6.14
मनसम् manas — mind (lower mind), the inner organ of perception · accusative masculine singular noun
हि hi — for, indeed, because (particle)
एनम् enad — this, this here (close demonstrative) · accusative masculine singular noun
योगिनम् yogin — yogi (yoga + -in 'possessor of') · accusative masculine singular noun
उत्तमम् uttama — highest, best, supreme (superlative of ud) · nominative neuter singular noun · also at 4.3, 9.2, 14.1
शान्त √śam — to be calm, peaceful (verbal root) · compound participle (compound member)
रजसम् rajas — passion, activity (the second guṇa); dust · accusative masculine singular noun
ब्रह्म brahman — Brahman (the Absolute); also: the Veda; sacred utterance · compound · also at 1.1, 2.72, 3.14, 3.15, 4.21, 4.24 +40
भूतम् √bhū — to be, become; the earth (verbal root / noun) · accusative masculine singular participle noun
अकल्मषम् akalmaṣa — (a- + kalmaṣa: stain) · accusative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If supreme happiness (sukham uttamam) 'arrives' rather than being achieved — what does this imply about the relationship between effort and grace in spiritual practice? Does the verse resolve that tension or deepen it?
02Brahma-bhūtam is read as jīvan-mukti by Śaṅkara and as sva-svarūpāvasthāna by Rāmānuja — two incompatible claims about what liberation is. Which reading is the verse's grammar actually defending, and what turns on that answer?

show all 7

03Śānta-rajasam (stilled rajas) is the verse's causal hinge. Since rajas is the quality of activity and ambition, does this verse imply that ambition must be wholly destroyed for bliss — or only redirected? What are the practical stakes of that distinction?
04Madhusūdana identifies akalmaṣa as masking tamas-dissolution, not just ethical purity. If he is right, the verse's three adjectives map the entire tri-guṇa dissolution. Does that reading make the verse a complete yogic prescription, or does it import more than the grammar can bear?
05Śrīdhara specifies the happiness as samādhi-sukha — the bliss of absorption — rather than ordinary wellbeing. What is the practitioner supposed to do with that distinction between absorption-joy and everyday happiness? Are they continuous or categorically different?
06Madhva's commentary is absent from the corpus. What would a strict Dvaita reading need to say about brahma-bhūtam that is categorically different from Advaita, and why would that difference matter for how a Vaiṣṇava disciple of Madhva's lineage approaches meditation?
07The verse says happiness 'approaches' (upaiti) the yogin — not that he approaches it. Why does the grammar of approach matter theologically, and which schools exploit that asymmetry in their commentaries?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before beginning any high-stakes task, spend three minutes in deliberate non-doing: observe the mind's agitation (rajas) without feeding it. Śaṅkara's insight is that stainless clarity (akalmaṣa) is not built by adding virtues but by removing the kleSa-dust. The practice is subtraction: notice what you are carrying into the task and set it down before you begin.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

When you feel scattered or under-resourced, Rāmānuja's reading prescribes anchoring in sva-svarūpa — your authentic nature as distinct, whole, already constituted. This is not affirmation but re-inhabitation: return to your actual form rather than the role being demanded. The stillness that follows is not withdrawal; it is the ground from which genuine service to others (kainkarya) becomes possible rather than depleting.

show all 6

Dvaita

In relationships and work, practice radical acknowledgment of dependence — on colleagues, on conditions, on something larger — without collapsing the boundaries of your own distinct contribution. The Dvaita principle of nitya-bheda (eternal distinctness) applied practically: you can be fully present and fully yourself simultaneously; obliterating one for the other is not purity but confusion.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's frame inverts the usual productivity logic: instead of optimizing for outputs, optimize for emptying — release attachment to results until the vessel is clear. The experience this opens is not blankness but prasāda, a quality of joy that feels received rather than manufactured. Practically: end each day by explicitly releasing the outcomes you were gripping, and notice what quality of awareness remains.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's emphasis on repetition (punaḥ punar — again and again) and samādhi-sukha reframes what meditation is for. The goal is not a single breakthrough but cumulative rajas-reduction through consistent return to the breath or mantra whenever the mind wanders. Each return is not failure-recovery; it is the practice itself. The happiness that eventually arrives spontaneously (svayam eva) is the compound interest of those returns.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's tri-guṇa map gives a diagnostic: when you feel distracted and hyperactive, rajas is dominant; when you feel dull, heavy, and avoidant, tamas is dominant. The practice is to name which one is operating — precisely, without moral judgment — and apply the right counter. Rajas calls for slowing and grounding; tamas calls for light, movement, and inquiry. The verse's promise (supreme happiness) becomes accessible only when both are addressed, not just the one you notice first.

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 27: Krishna to Arjuna — Dhyāna-Yoga