Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 17
युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु।
युक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्य योगो भवति दुःखहा।।
युक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्य योगो भवति दुःखहा।।
yuktāhāra-vihārasya yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu
yukta-svapnāvabodhasya yogo bhavati duḥkha-hā
also searched as "yuktahara viharasya yukta cheshtasya karmasu"
Translation
Yoga becomes the destroyer of sorrows for those who are temperate in food and recreation, temperate in their actions, and temperate in their sleep and wakefulness.
Vāṇi's rendering
Measured in food and rest, measured in effort, measured in sleep and waking — for that one, yoga ends sorrow.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| युक्त-आहार-विहारस्यyuktāhāra-vihārasya | of one measured in food and in rest or recreation (yukta + āhāra join as ā) |
| युक्त-चेष्टस्यyukta-ceṣṭasya | of one measured in exertion, in how hard he pushes |
| कर्मसुkarmasu | in his actions, in the work he does |
| युक्त-स्वप्न-अवबोधस्यyukta-svapnāvabodhasya | of one measured in sleeping and in waking (svapna + avabodha join as ā) |
| योगःyogaḥ | yoga (appears as yogo before the soft sound that follows) |
| भवतिbhavati | becomes, turns out to be |
| दुःख-हाduḥkha-hā | the destroyer of sorrow |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 17 mean?
It means yoga becomes the ender of sorrow for one whose ordinary habits are measured — food, rest, effort, sleep, waking. Krishna is not prescribing austerity. He is prescribing proportion. The inner steadiness described in this chapter grows out of a body and a schedule that are not at war with themselves.
What is the meaning of yuktahara viharasya yukta cheshtasya karmasu?
Yukta means yoked, fitted, held to the right measure. Āhāra is what you take in, vihāra is your rest and recreation, ceṣṭā is your exertion in work. Krishna repeats the one word across all of them. The discipline is not in any single act but in the proportion running through all of them.
Does this verse tell me to fast or sleep less?
No — the opposite. The previous verse rules out both too much and too little, of eating and of sleeping. Krishna asks for the middle, not the extreme. Punishing the body is another way of being obsessed with it. Measured means enough, taken at the right time, and then let go of.
How can regulating food and sleep end sorrow?
Because most of what you call inner turbulence is a body pushed past its measure. An exhausted mind cannot sit still, and a mind fed on excess will not want to. Krishna calls yoga duḥkha-hā, the sorrow-killer — and locates its foundation in your hours, not your ideas.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Four times Krishna says the same word: yukta. Yoked, measured, fitted to the task. Not fasting — eating rightly. Not sleeplessness — sleeping rightly. The verse before this shut the door on extremes; this one opens the door on proportion. Notice what is missing: no mention of sitting, no posture, no breath. Krishna is talking about your day. What you eat, how hard you push, when you lie down. The extraordinary state he has been describing rests on ordinary hours, arranged well. Sorrow ends here, he says — not in the sitting, but in the life around the sitting. Begin with dinner and bedtime.