बुद्धिर्ज्ञानमसम्मोहः क्षमा सत्यं दमः शमः ।
सुखं दुःखं भवोऽभावो भयं चाभयमेव च ।। १०.४ ।।
अहिंसा समता तुष्टिस्तपो दानं यशोऽन्यशः ।
भवन्ति भावा भूतानां मत्त एव प्रथग्विधाः ।। १०.५ ।।
महर्षयः सप्त पूर्वे चत्वारो मनवस्तथा ।
मद्भावा मानसा जाता येषां लोक इमाः प्रजाः ।। १०.६ ।।
एतां विभूतिं योगं च मम यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ।
सोऽविकम्पेन योगेन युज्यते नात्र संशयः ।। १०.७ ।।

buddhir-jñānam-asammohaḥ kṣamā satyaṁ damaḥ śamaḥ |
sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ bhavo’bhāvo bhayaṁ cābhayam-eva ca || 10.4 ||
ahiṁsā samatā tuṣṭis-tapo dānaṁ yaśo’yaśaḥ|
bhavanti bhāvā bhūtānāṁ matta eva pṛthag-vidhāḥ|| 10.5 ||
maharṣayaḥ sapta pūrve catvāro manavas-tathā |
mad-bhāvā mānasā jātā yeṣāṁ loka imāḥ prajāḥ || 10.6 ||
etāṁ vibhūtiṁ yogaṁ ca mama yo vetti tattvataḥ |
so’vikampena yogena yujyate nātra saṁśayaḥ || 10.7 ||

Avikampa-yoga – yoga of stable-devotion

Having set forth this central, basic fact, Krishna now proceeds to discuss it in greater detail, step by step, like ascending the ladder. He lists a number of qualities and virtues like intelligence, discrimination, patience, truthfulness, etc., and also refers to the seven great Rishis and the four ancient Manus from whom are born all the people. All these qualities and the personalities, he says, have emerged from the supreme Reality and subsist on It.

This is not a new proposition. What did he say in the 7th chapter? “The supreme Reality, its nature, is manifest in an eight-fold manner. External gross elements like earth, water, etc. are part of it. Internally mind, intelligence and ego, are another part. Yet, there is something more. That is the spirit or jiva, by which the whole creation is sustained, preserved” (7.4-5).

Does not every human body contain the jiva? And does not this jiva have its superior all-sustaining power and potential?

When one is able to understand himself as verily unborn, and all-sustaining, then that very understanding rids him of all delusions.

It also delivers him from all blemishes. While actions are performed by the senses, mind and intelligence, above and beyond these is the sovereign Spirit, the Self, unaffected by anything. It is the same truth Krishna spoke in the fifth chapter (5.8, 9). The born body and the unborn Self go together, and that is how the whole vibrant creation with its living and non-living beings subsists.

The apprehension of sin and impurity first transpires by looking at and identifying with the senses, mind and intelligence. The same identity proves to be a delusion when the higher contemplation on the Spirit, the beyond, grows to become wholesome. The first and the second both take place in the same sentient being.

When thus the source of everything is understood to be the same supreme Reality, mind’s faith and restfulness on the Supreme become easier. The compulsions for the mind to get distracted decrease, and the affinity and attunement with the Supreme dawn. Krishna calls this avikampa yoga. That is the state of wholesome worship.