To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kusa grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should be neither too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place. The yogi should then sit on it very firmly and practice yoga to purify the heart by controlling his mind, senses and activities and fixing the mind on one point.
Commentary by Srila Prabhupada
“Sacred place” refers to places of pilgrimage. In India the yogis, the transcendentalists or the devotees, all leave home and reside in sacred places such as Prayaga, Mathura, Vrindavana, Hrishikesha and Hardwar and in solitude practice yoga where the sacred rivers like the Yamuna and the Ganges flow. But often this is not possible, especially for Westerners. The so-called yoga societies in big cities may be successful in earning material benefit, but they are not at all suitable for the actual practice of yoga. One who is not self-controlled and whose mind is not undisturbed cannot practice meditation. Therefore, in the Brihan-naradiya Purana it is said that in Kali-yuga (the present yuga, or age), when people in general are short-lived, slow in spiritual realization and always disturbed by various anxieties, the best means of spiritual realization is chanting the holy name of the Lord.
harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
[Adi 17.21]
“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.”
Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur
He establishes his own asana, which has kusa on the bottom, then deer skin, and finally cloth on top. The yogi engages in meditation for purification of the consciousness (atma visuddhaye). This purification or freedom from disturbance is suitable for the very subtle realization of God. As the sruti says, drsyate tv agryaya buddhya: atma is seen by concentrated intelligence. (Katha Upanisad 1.3.12)
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