Shloka
यथा दीपो निवातस्थो नेङ्गते सोपमा स्मृता |
योगिनो यतचित्तस्य युञ्जतो योगमात्मनः ||६-१९||Transliteration
yathā dīpo nivātastho neṅgate sopamā smṛtā .
yogino yatacittasya yuñjato yogamātmanaḥ ||6-19||Translations
Dr.S.Sankaranarayan
6.19. ‘Just as a lamp in the windless place does not shake’ - This simile is recalled in the case of the man of Yoga, with subdued mind, practising the Yoga in the Self.
Shri Purohit Swami
6.19 The wise man who has conquered his mind and is absorbed in the Self is as a lamp which does not flicker, since it stands sheltered from every wind.
Sri Abhinav Gupta
6.19 Yatha etc. Just as a lamp existing in the windless palce does not shake, so is the man of Yoga. Shaking in his case is the efforts like aciring sense objects and so on. Now, the characteristic of this Brahman - Itself being Its own nature - is described indirectly with a good number of adjectives. This is different from the characteristics assumed in other systems -
Sri Ramanuja
6.19 As a lamp does not flicker in a windless place, i.e., does not move, but remains steady with its illumination - this is the simile used to illustrate the nature of the self of the Yogin who has subdued his mind, who has got rid of all other kinds of mental activity and who is practising Yoga concerning the self. The meaning is that the self remains with its steadily illumining light of knowledge because all other activities of the mind have ceased, just as a lamp kept in a windless place has an unflickering flame.
Sri Shankaracharya
6.19 Yatha, as; a dipah, lamp; nivata-sthah, kept in a windless place; na ingate, does not flicker; sa upama, such is the simile-that with which something is compared is an upama (smile)-; smrta, thought of, by the knowers of Yoga who understand the movements of the mind; yoginah, for the yogi; yata-citasya, whose mind is under control; and yunjatah, who is engaged in; yogam, concentration; atmanah, on the Self, i.e. who is practising Self-absorption. By dint of practising Yoga thus, when the mind, comparable to a lamp in a windless place, becomes concentrated, then-
Swami Adidevananda
6.19 ‘A lamp does not flicker in a windless place’ - that is the simile employed for the subdued mind of a Yogin who practises Yoga.
Swami Gambirananda
6.19 As a lamp kept in a windless place does not flicker, such is the simile thought of for the yogi whose mind is under control, and who is engaged in concentration on the Self.
Swami Sivananda
6.19 As a lamp placed in a windless spot does not flicker to such is compared the Yogi of controlled mind, practising Yoga in the Self (or absorbed in the Yoga of the Self).
Commentaries
Swami Sivananda
6.19 यथा as? दीपः lamp? निवातस्थः placed in a windless place? न not? इङ्गते flicker? सा that? उपमा simile? स्मृता is thought? योगिनः of the Yogi? यतचित्तस्य of one with controlled mind? युञ्जतः of the practising? योगम् the Yoga? आत्मनः of the Self.Commentary This is a beautiful simile. Yogins ote this simile very often when they talk of concentration or steadiness or onepointedness of the mind. A steady mind will serve as a powerful searchlight to find out the hidden spiritual treasures of the Self.