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Study a Verse
Pick any verse to see what it means and how to use it in your life.
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 6.16
नात्यश्नतस्तु योगोऽस्ति न चैकान्तमनश्नत: ।
न चातिस्वप्नशीलस्य जाग्रतो नैव चार्जुन ॥ १६ ॥
nāty-aśnatas tu yogo ’sti
na caikāntam anaśnataḥ
na cāti-svapna-śīlasya
jāgrato naiva cārjuna
There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogī, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioWhat this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.
3 study points
One cannot become a yogī by eating or sleeping too much or too little.
Prabhupāda explains that only a Kṛṣṇa conscious person can perfect yoga and should eat only food first offered to Kṛṣṇa.
Eat only what you need, regulate your sleep, and fast as the scriptures recommend.
These notes cover verses 6.16–17
Regulated lifestyle — A yogi must keep careful balance in eating, sleeping, recreation and work
Texts 6.15 & 6.16
Krishna next warns of some obstacles to the aspiring yogi’s progress.
Krishna describes the practices of astanga-yoga
The result are ‘Yogarudha (the perfectional stage)’ and ultimately ‘the vision of the Supersoul’.
Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.
The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.
Key ideas: manas, indriya, yoga.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
What does BG 6.16 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to mind & yoga?
Sit quietly for ten minutes and gently return the mind.
Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.
Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.