|| 6.11 ||
शुचौ देशे प्रतिष्ठाप्य स्थिरमासनमात्मनः। नात्युच्छ्रितं नातिनीचं चैलाजिनकुशोत्तरम्।।
śucau deśe pratiṣṭhāpya sthiram āsanam ātmanaḥ nāty-ucchritaṁ nāti-nīcaṁ cailājina-kuśottaram
Word by Word
śucau (in a clean) — deśe (place) — pratiṣṭhāpya (placing) — sthiram (firm) — āsanam (seat) — ātmanaḥ (his own) — na (not) — ati (too) — ucchritam (high) — na (not) — ati (too) — nīcam (low) — caila-ajina-kuśa-uttaram (made of a cloth, a deerskin, and kusa grass)
Translation
To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kusha 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.
Meaning
Kṛṣṇa specifies the physical setup for formal meditation. One should find a ‘śucau deśe’, a sacred and clean place. The environment must be pure to support a pure mind. The seat should be ‘sthiram’, firm and steady, and situated neither too high nor too low.
The seat is made of three layers: ‘kuśa’ grass at the bottom for insulation, a deerskin in the middle to repel insects, and a soft cloth on top for comfort. This specific design ensures that the yogī can sit for a long time without being disturbed by the ground’s temperature or by small pests.
This attention to detail shows that spirituality is a science that takes the physical world into account. The body must be supported so that the mind can be forgotten. By establishing a proper ‘āsanam’, the yogī creates a stable base for the difficult work of internal observation that is about to follow.