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VIVEKACUDAMANI
yogasya prathamam dvāram vän-nirodho'parigrahaḥ nirāśā ca nirīhā ca nityamekantasilată 11
The first means to yoga is control of speech, then, not acquiring anything more than what is barely necessary, absence of desire, freedom from activity and ever living by oneself (in secluded place).
The first means to yoga which is restraint of all external modifications is silence. For, by speech all forms of mental modificational activity grow.
aparigrahaḥ: Not acquiring any object of utility beyond what is absolutely necessary for living; for, if more than what is needed is acquired, the mind will be engaged in safe-guarding it etc., and restraint of mental modification will not arise,
nirāśā: freedom from desire. If there is desire, the mind is subject to agitation. Hence nirāśa i.e. vairāgya.
nirīhā: niấceştā: cessation of all karmas.. nityam ekāntaśīlata: living in an uninhabited place. These are the means to yoga.
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How living in a secluded place helps yoga is explained.
एकान्तस्थितिरिन्द्रियोपरमणे हेतुः दमश्चेतसः ___ संरोधे करणं शमेन विलयं यायादहवासना। तेनानन्दरसानुभूतिरचला ब्राह्मी सदा योगिनः
तस्माच्चित्तनिरोध एव सततं कार्यः प्रयत्नान्मुनेः ॥३६९ ॥ ekāntasthitirindriyoparamane hetur damascetasaḥ
samrodhe karanam śamena vilayam yāyād ahamvāsanā i tenānandarasānubhūtiracalā brāhmi sadā yoginaḥ .
tasmäccittanirodha eva satatam kāryaḥ prayatnāt muneħ 11
Living alone (in an uninhabited place) is the means of dama, the cessation of sense organ activity. The (dama) is the means to sama, the control of the mind. By such śama the tendency of the ego-sense is attenuated. By it accrues to the yogin the unceasing blissful experience of Brahman. Therefore, one given to meditation should always control the mind with effort. ekāntasthitih: living in an uninhabited place.
