Sanskrit
नात्यश्नतस्तु योगोऽस्ति न चैकान्तमनश्नतः । न चातिस्वप्नशीलस्य जाग्रतो नैव चार्जुन ॥
nātyaśnatas tu yogo'sti na caikāntam anaśnataḥ na cātisvapnaśīlasya jāgrato naiva cārjuna
Translation
Verily yoga is not for him who eateth too much, nor who abstaineth to excess, nor who is too much addicted to sleep, nor even to wakefulness, O Arjuna.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The famous moderation verse, and it’s a direct rebuke of ascetic extremism — yoga fails equally for overindulgence and for excessive abstinence, whether in food or in sleep. Verse 17 gives the positive restatement of the same principle. The rejection of ekāntam anaśnataḥ — “one who does not eat at all” — is pointed: the Gita’s yoga is not the fasting austerity it is often mistaken for. The middle is the method.
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Word by word
- nātyaśnatas tu yogo'stiनात्यश्नतस् तु योगोऽस्ति
- yoga is not for one who eats too much (na + ati-aśnataḥ + tu + yogaḥ + asti)
- na caikāntam anaśnataḥन चैकान्तं अनश्नतः
- nor for one who does not eat at all (na + ca + ekāntam + anaśnataḥ)
- na cātisvapnaśīlasyaन चातिस्वप्नशीलस्य
- nor for one given to too much sleep (na + ca + ati-svapna-śīlasya)
- jāgrato naiva cārjunaजाग्रतो नैव चार्जुन
- nor for the wakeful, O Arjuna (jāgrataḥ + na + eva + ca + arjuna)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The verse’s structure is symmetrical on purpose: too much eating fails exactly like too much abstaining, too much sleep fails exactly like too much wakefulness. It would have been easier to warn only against excess or only against denial — instead Krishna names both failure modes as equally disqualifying, which quietly rules out using extreme discipline as a badge of seriousness.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- If you're proud of how little you eat, sleep, or rest as proof of your discipline, this verse says that's failing the same test as indulgence — the goal was never extremity in either direction, it was regulation. Check whether you're performing discipline or actually practicing it.
Professional
- Working through every lunch and staying until midnight isn't more disciplined than slacking off — both are failure modes of the same kind. Sustainable output requires the regulated middle, not the extreme that looks most impressive to observers.
Family & Social
- Depriving yourself to prove your devotion to a family member's needs fails the same test as neglecting them — neither extreme actually serves the relationship. Aim for sustainable regulation, not a visible sacrifice.
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