Complete learning edition. The Sanskrit source remains separate from attributed word meanings, translation, explanation and commentary witnesses. Diagrams and memory aids are study tools, not replacements for the source text.
शुचौ देशे प्रतिष्ठाप्य स्थिरमासनमात्मनः। नात्युच्छ्रितं नातिनीचं चैलाजिनकुशोत्तरम्।।6.11।।
śhuchau deśhe pratiṣhṭhāpya sthiram āsanam ātmanaḥ nātyuchchhritaṁ nāti-nīchaṁ chailājina-kuśhottaram
Having chosen a holy place, let him sit in a firm posture on a seat that is neither too high nor too low, and cover it with a grass mat, a deer skin, and a cloth.
English rendering by Shri Purohit Swami. Each source voice remains named.
Build the sentence from its parts
Read across once, then cover the meanings and recover them from the Sanskrit forms.
| Sanskrit form | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| śhuchau | in a clean |
| deśhe | place |
| pratiṣhṭhāpya | having established |
| sthiram | steadfast |
| āsanam | seat |
| ātmanaḥ | his own |
| na | not |
| ati | too |
| uchchhritam | high |
| na | not |
| ati | too |
| nīcham | low |
| chaila | cloth |
| ajina | a deerskin |
| kuśha | kuśh grass |
| uttaram | one over the other |
In this verse the Lord has prescribed the external seat for practising meditation. Details of the pose are given in verse 13.
Attributed explanatory witness: Swami Sivananda. Chapter lens: Sequence preparation, discipline, mind, meditation, difficulty, failure and the chapter’s final comparison of yogīs.
Three named reading witnesses
Śaṅkara edition witness
Swami GambiranandaHaving firmly established in a clean place his seat, neither too high nor too low, composed of cloth, skin, and kusa-grass placed successively one below the other;
Rāmānuja edition witness
Swami AdidevanandaHaving established for himself, in a clean spot, a firm seat that is neither too high nor too low, and covering it with cloth, deer-skin, and Kusa grass in reverse order:
Sivananda commentary witness
Swami SivanandaIn this verse the Lord has prescribed the external seat for practising meditation. Details of the pose are given in verse 13.
These are concise, attributed reading witnesses from identified editions. They are presented for comparison and are not merged into one anonymous interpretation.
Meaning map
Follow the thought
- 1
Having chosen a holy place, let him sit in a firm posture on a seat that is neither too high nor too low
- 2
cover it with a grass mat, a deer skin
- 3
śhuchau: in a clean
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Sequence preparation, discipline, mind, meditation, difficulty, failure and the chapter’s final comparison of yogīs.
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- 1
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- 2
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- 3
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