Upaniṣads · Mahā 5.42
॥
Devanāgarī
ते स्थिता भूमिकास्वासु स्वात्मलाभपरायणाः मनःप्रशमनोपायो योग इत्यभिधीयते
Transliteración (IAST)
te sthitā bhūmikāsvāsu svātmalābhaparāyaṇāḥ manaḥpraśamanopāyo yoga ityabhidhīyate
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
ते स्थिताः भूमिकासु आसुte sthitāḥ bhūmikāsu āsuthey stand upon these stages; they are established on these steps
स्व-आत्म-लाभ-परायणाःsva-ātma-lābha-parāyaṇāḥdevoted to the gaining of themselves; given over to the winning of their own self
मनः-प्रशमन-उपायःmanaḥ-praśamana-upāyaḥthe means of quieting the mind; the method of pacifying consciousness
योगः इति अभिधीयतेyogaḥ iti abhidhīyateis called yoga; is named yoga
Traducción
“They stand on these stages, devoted to the gaining of themselves; and the means of quieting the mind is called yoga.”
Versión
c24da1d017e1 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
A definition of yoga, and a short one: manaḥ-praśamana-upāya — “the means of quieting the mind”.
Not union, not supernatural powers, not bodily exercises. A way to still the mind.
This agrees with Patañjali's famous definition: yoga is the cessation of the mind's fluctuations.
Note that the definition is given as if in passing, at the end of a verse about the stages — and rightly so. Yoga here is not a separate doctrine but a name for all that has been said.
Sva-ātma-lābha — “the gaining of one's own self”. The word lābha means “obtaining, a find”. Not “creation” and not “achievement”: one finds what was there.
And parāyaṇa — “having as one's highest aim, devoted”. Again a word from the vocabulary of devotion, not of technique.