229 - Failure in Yoga, One Who Does Good Is Never Overcome by Evil (“The Path of Perfection” Ch 8)

As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (6.37), quoted above, yogāt means “from the practice of yoga,” calita means “diversion,” and mānasaḥ means “mind.” So there is every chance for the mind to be diverted from yoga practice. We all have some experience of trying to concentrate by reading a book, and our mind is so disturbed that it does not allow us to concentrate on the book. Actually, Arjuna is asking a very important question, for one is subject to failure in all types of yoga – be it the eightfold yoga system, the jñāna-yoga system of speculative philosophy, or the bhakti-yoga system of devotional service. Failure is possible on any of these paths, and the results of failure are clearly explained by Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself in the following dialogue with Arjuna (Bhagavad-gītā 6.38–44). Arjuna, continuing his inquiry, asks, kaccin nobhaya-vibhraṣṭaś chinnābhram iva naśyati apratiṣṭho mahā-bāho vimūḍho brahmaṇaḥ pathi “O mighty-armed Kṛṣṇa, does not such a man, who is bewildered from the path of transcendence, fall away from both spiritual and material success and perish like a riven cloud, with no position in any sphere?” etan me saṁśayaṁ kṛṣṇa chettum arhasy aśeṣataḥ tvad-anyaḥ saṁśayasyāsya chettā na hy upapadyate “This is my doubt, O Kṛṣṇa, and I ask You to dispel it completely. But for Yourself, no one is to be found who can destroy this doubt.” śrī-bhagavān uvāca pārtha naiveha nāmutra vināśas tasya vidyate na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid durgatiṁ tāta gacchati “The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Son of Pṛthā, a transcendentalist engaged in auspicious activities does not meet with destruction either in this world or in the spiritual world; one who does good, My friend, is never overcome by evil.” ••• read with us: biglink.to/pathofperfection & check out our website for the catalogue of all the books and episodes so far www.sravanamdiaries.com