Lord Krishna
Divine TeacherThe Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.
Speaking: Chapter 6, Verse 20
Verse 20
Hard VerseThe Yoga of Meditation
In the stage of perfection called trance, or samadhi, one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This perfection is characterized by one's ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self.
Context & Meaning
In samadhi — the culmination of practice — the mind ceases its ordinary movements, restrained by yoga. In that stillness, the Self sees itself by itself and is satisfied in itself alone. This self-illuminating, self-sufficient joy is the mark of genuine samadhi.
Scholar Commentaries
1 commentary · Public domainAdi Shankaracharya
Advaita VedantaVerses 6:20–23 form a continuous description of samadhi. The phrase "ātmanātmānaṃ paśyan" — seeing the Self by the Self — is the technical description of non-dual awareness. In ordinary perception, there is a subject who sees an object; in samadhi, this duality collapses. The Atman knows itself directly, as itself, not through any intermediary. This is the moment of Self-realization, not a trance induced from outside but the natural state of pure awareness.