Devanagari
स्नात्वानुसवनं तस्मिन् कालिन्द्या: सलिले शिवे ।
कृत्वोचितानि निवसन्नात्मन: कल्पितासन: ॥ ४३ ॥
Verse text
snātvānusavanaṁ tasmin
kālindyāḥ salile śive
kṛtvocitāni nivasann
ātmanaḥ kalpitāsanaḥ
Synonyms
snātvā
—
after taking bath
;
anusavanam
—
three times
;
tasmin
—
in that
;
kālindyāḥ
—
in the river Kālindī (the Yamunā)
;
salile
—
in the water
;
śive
—
which is very auspicious
;
kṛtvā
—
performing
;
ucitāni
—
suitable
;
nivasan
—
sitting
;
ātmanaḥ
—
of the self
;
kalpita
—
āsanaḥ — having prepared a sitting place .
Translation
Nārada Muni instructed: My dear boy, in the waters of the Yamunā River, which is known as Kālindī, you should take three baths daily because the water is very auspicious, sacred and clear. After bathing, you should perform the necessary regulative principles for aṣṭāṅga-yoga and then sit down on your āsana [sitting place] in a calm and quiet position.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
After bathing in the auspicious water of the Yamunā three times a day, you should perform necessary prayers to the Lord, and making an āsana, sit upon it.
Ucitani means offering suitable respects to the deity. He should do this even though he has not undergone study of the Vedas.
Purport
It appears from this statement that Dhruva Mahārāja had already been instructed how to practice the eightfold
yoga
system, which is known as
aṣṭāṅga-yoga.
This system is explained in our
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is,
in the chapter entitled “Dhyāna-yoga.” It is understood that in
aṣṭāṅga-yoga
one practices settling the mind and then concentrating it on the form of Lord Viṣṇu, as will be described in the following verses. It is clearly stated here that
aṣṭāṅga-yoga
is not a bodily gymnastic exercise, but a practice to concentrate the mind on the form of Viṣṇu. Before sitting on his
āsana,
which is also described in
Bhagavad-gītā,
one has to cleanse himself very nicely in clear or sacred water thrice daily. The water of the Yamunā is naturally very clear and pure, and thus if anyone bathes there three times, undoubtedly he will be very greatly purified externally. Nārada Muni, therefore, instructed Dhruva Mahārāja to go to the bank of the Yamunā and thus become externally purified. This is part of the gradual process of practicing mystic
yoga.