Bhagavad Gita 6.28
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 28 of 47
युञ्जन्नेवं सदात्मानं योगी विगतकल्मषः | सुखेन ब्रह्मसंस्पर्शमत्यन्तं सुखमश्नुते ||२८||
yuñjann evaṃ sadātmānaṃ yogī vigatakalmaṣaḥ | sukhena brahmasaṃsparśam atyantaṃ sukham aśnute || 28 ||
The yogi, constantly engaging thus and freed from taint, attains infinite bliss of Brahman-contact — with ease.
Word by word (3)
- yuñjan evaṃ sadā ātmānaṃ yogī vigata-kalmaṣaḥ
- — the yogi, constantly engaging the self thus, freed from taint · yuñjan = engaging, yoking, practising (present participle of √yuj). evaṃ = thus (referring back to the V23-26 practice instructions). sadā = always, constantly — the practice is not occasional but integrated. ātmānaṃ = the self. vigata-kalmaṣa = freed from taint (vigata = departed, gone away; kalmaṣa = impurity, taint, stain). The taint that has departed is the ego-overlay of avidyā. V28 confirms V27's 'akalmaṣa' (stainless) — the two verses are portraits of the same state from different angles.
- sukhena brahma-saṃsparśam atyantam sukham aśnute
- — with ease, attains the infinite bliss of contact with Brahman · sukhena = easily, with ease (sukha = ease/bliss, but here used adverbially). brahma-saṃsparśa = the touch/contact with Brahman (saṃsparśa = contact, touch — an unusually tactile metaphor for the highest state). atyantam = infinite, extreme, without end (ati + anta = beyond limit). sukham = bliss. aśnute = attains, reaches (from √aś, to pervade, to attain). The pairing: sukhena (with ease) and atyantam sukham (infinite bliss) — ease attaining infinity. What cost enormous effort in early practice (V23-26's 'sadā', 'niścaya') now becomes effortless. The yogi doesn't strain to reach Brahman — they simply touch it, easily, like touching something that was always within reach.
- brahma-saṃsparśa (key term)
- — the touch of Brahman — intimate contact with the Absolute · The Gita uses remarkable sensory language here: saṃsparśa (touch, contact) rather than the abstract 'union' or 'knowledge'. The tactile metaphor suggests intimacy, immediacy, presence — Brahman is not a distant goal but something that can be touched. The 'touch of Brahman' is V28's contribution to the Gita's poetic vocabulary of the highest state: V20 says the Self sees itself, V21 says boundless joy is grasped by the intellect, V27 says bliss comes to the yogi, V28 says the yogi touches Brahman. Together these build a multi-sensory portrait of what transcends all senses.
The yogi who steadies the self this way, freed from every stain, easily attains the boundless bliss of touching Brahman.
A modern analogy
Learning to ride a bicycle requires enormous effort and concentration at first. Then one day — with no new effort — the balance becomes automatic. Riding is now easy, natural, effortless. This verse's 'sukhena' is like that: the yogi has done the disciplined work of firm-resolve practice, releasing desires, and returning the mind; now Brahman-contact is as natural as a practised skill.
What it does NOT mean
This verse's 'sukhena' (with ease) does NOT mean the path was easy — the earlier meditation verses made clear it requires niścaya (firm determination) and anirviṇṇa-cetasā (undiscouraged mind). 'With ease' describes the quality of the destination, not the journey: once the conditions are met (stainlessness, consistent practice), Brahman-contact comes effortlessly.
Take with you
- The 'sadā' (always, constantly) here confirms that the practice of releasing desires and returning the mind is not reserved for meditation sessions — it is integrated into the yogi's entire life. The practice that begins in sitting gradually pervades all activity.
- Brahma-saṃsparśa (Brahman-contact) as a daily touchstone: the yogi can check 'am I in contact with Brahman right now?' not as a metaphysical quiz but as an experiential inquiry — 'is there a quality of depth and completeness in this moment?'
- This verse pairs with the earlier teaching that yoga is the disconnection from suffering's conjunction: once the disconnection is complete (vigata-kalmaṣaḥ — taint gone), what remains is not neutral emptiness but the positive bliss of Brahman-contact.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
The yogi, always engaging the self thus, freed from taint, with ease attains the infinite bliss of contact with Brahman. [1]
The Yogi, freed from taint (of good and evil), constantly engaging the mind thus, with ease attains the infinite bliss of contact with Brahman. [4]
The self-harmonised Yogi, freed from sin, easily obtains contact with the Eternal — contact which brings unending happiness. [5]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Supreme bliss comes naturally to the yogi whose mind is fully at peace, passion quieted, stainless — Brahman-become.
Equal vision everywhere: the yogi sees the Self in all beings, and all beings within the Self — the same, everywhere.
Yoga is the disconnection from suffering — practise it with firm resolve and a mind that does not despond.
Practising thus always, with a controlled mind — the yogi reaches the supreme peace of nirvāṇa, abiding in the Supreme.
The yogi abandons fruit and attains lasting peace. The non-yogi, bound to fruit by desire, is fettered.
Joy within, delight within, light within — that yogi, become Brahman, attains brahma-nirvāṇa.
Verse 28 of 47 · back to Chapter 6