When the above technique and goal are so clearly given out, one is apt to wonder at one’s own incapacity to reach anywhere near the indicated goal, in spite of the fact that one has been sincerely and constantly meditating upon it for a number of years. What exactly is the behaviour that unconsciously takes a seeker away from the grand road to success? No scientific theory is complete unless it enumerates the various precautions that are to be taken for achieving complete success. The next few stanzas warn us of all the possible pitfalls on the path of the Dhyana Yoga.

Moderation in indulgence and activities at all levels of one’s personality is an imperative requisite, which alone can assure true success in meditation. Intemperance would bring discordant and riotous agitations in the various matter layers of the personality, shattering the harmonious melody of integration. Therefore, strict moderation in food, sleep and recreation is enjoined: everything should be well-measured and completely defined.

YOGA IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR HIM WHO EATS TOO MUCH NOR FOR HIM WHO DOES NOT EAT AT ALL — Here, the term ‘eat’ should be understood in its comprehensive meaning as including all sense enjoyments, mental feelings, and intellectual perceptions. It is not only the process of consuming things through the mouth; it includes the enjoyments gained through all the avenues of sense perceptions and inward experiences.

Drawing our conclusions from these standards, we may understand the rule to be: “Eat whatever comes to us handy, without creating unnecessary destruction to the living kingdom just for our personal existence, and intelligently consume a quantity which does not load the stomach.” This is the golden rule of diet for a successful meditator.

It is rightly said that neither ‘too much sleep’ — which unnecessarily dulls our faculties and renders the individual more and more gross — nor ‘no sleep at all’ is the right policy for a student in spiritual life. Intelligent moderation is the law.

THIS STANZA MIGHT CONFUSE THE DULL-WITTED, AND THEREFORE, THE FOLLOWING VERSE ANSWERS THE QUESTION: “HOW THEN CAN YOGA BE ACHIEVED?”

(Tu, but) O Arjuna, Yoga na asti, is not; atiasnatah, for one who eats too much, for one who eats food more than his capacity; na ca, nor is Yoga; anasnatah, for one who does not eat; ekantam, at all. This accords with the Vedic text, ‘As is well known, if one eats that much food which is within one’s capacity, then it sustains him, it does not hurt him; that which is more, it harms him; that which is less, it does not sustain him’ (Sa. Br.; Bo. Sm. 2.7.22). Therefore, a yogi should not eat food more or less than what is suitable for him. Or the meaning is that Yoga is not for one who eats more food than what is prescribed for a yogi in the scriptures on Yoga. Indeed, the quantity has been mentioned in, ‘One half of the stomach is to be filled with food including curries; the third quarter is to be filled with water; but the fourth quarter is to be left for the movement of air,’ etc. Similarly, Yoga is not for ati svapna-silasya, one who habitually sleeps too long; and Yoga is na eva, surely not; jagratah, for one who keeps awake too long. How, again, does Yoga become possibel? This is being stated: