Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 20
यत्रोपरमते चित्तं निरुद्धं योगसेवया।
यत्र चैवात्मनाऽऽत्मानं पश्यन्नात्मनि तुष्यति।।
यत्र चैवात्मनाऽऽत्मानं पश्यन्नात्मनि तुष्यति।।
yatroparamate cittaṁ niruddhaṁ yoga-sevayā
yatra caivātmanātmānaṁ paśyann ātmani tuṣyati
also searched as "yatroparamate chittam niruddham yogasevaya"
Translation
Where the mind, controlled through the practice of Yoga, rests, and where one sees the Self by the Self and is delighted by the Self alone.
Vāṇi's rendering
Thought grows still through practice. Then you see the self by the self — and that is enough.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यत्रyatra | where; in that state (joined with the next word by sandhi) |
| उपरमतेuparamate | comes to rest, ceases its restless movement |
| चित्तम्cittaṁ | the thinking mind, the inner instrument of thought |
| निरुद्धम्niruddhaṁ | held in, gathered, no longer running outward |
| योग-सेवयाyoga-sevayā | by the faithful serving of yoga — steady, tended practice rather than force |
| यत्रyatra | and where |
| चca | and |
| एवeva | indeed, precisely |
| आत्मनाātmanā | by the self (as the means of seeing) |
| आत्मानम्ātmānaṁ | the self (as what is seen) |
| पश्यन्paśyan | seeing, while seeing |
| आत्मनिātmani | in the self (as the place of resting) |
| तुष्यतिtuṣyati | is satisfied, wants nothing further |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 20 mean?
It marks the moment thought stops moving. The mind, gathered by long practice, settles — and in that settling one sees the self by the self and is content there. Krishna is not naming an achievement but a resting place. Nothing is added; the restlessness simply ends, and what remains is enough.
What does yatroparamate chittam niruddham yogasevaya teach?
That stillness is served, not seized. Sevayā means attendance, the daily tending you give something you love. Krishna does not tell Arjuna to crush the mind. He describes what happens when practice is kept faithfully: the mind quiets by itself, the way a lamp steadies when the wind drops.
How can the self see the self?
Ordinarily seeing needs two things — a looker and something else. Here there is only one. You are not inspecting an object called ātman; you are the knowing that no longer looks outward for its object. That is why no proof is offered in the verse. Nothing outside is left to confirm it.
What does it mean to be satisfied in the self?
It means the wanting has no next place to go. Every ordinary contentment leans on something — a person, an outcome, a word of praise. This one leans on nothing. Krishna says tuṣyati: he is satisfied. Not thrilled, not exalted. Simply finished with looking elsewhere.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna is describing a place, not a feat. Not the mind conquered but the mind come to rest — the way a bucket set down stops swinging. Practice does this; nothing else does. Sevayā is a word for service, not force: you attend to the sitting daily, the way you'd tend a fire, and stillness arrives on its own schedule. The seer and the seen are the same. You look with the self at the self, and there is no third thing needed to confirm it. Notice what is missing here — no reward, no witness, no report to anyone. Contentment that asks nothing further.