What the Bhagavad Gita Reveals About Krishna That Patanjali Never Wrote

What if the first yogi was not a sage meditating in the Himalayas, but a charioteer standing in the middle of a battlefield?

What if the calmest mind in history existed not in a cave - but in the chaos of war?

Long before Patanjali wrote his Yoga Sutras, defining the eightfold path of Ashtanga Yoga: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi - Krishna had already lived and revealed each of these principles in the Bhagavad Gita.

The Gita is often called a spiritual dialogue, but it is far more. It is a map of consciousness, spoken by one who was already at its highest peak. Krishna did not teach yoga as a practice; he embodied it as a state of being. Every verse he spoke to Arjuna was an instruction in inner alignment, balance, and transcendence.

When Arjuna trembled with confusion and despair, Krishna’s words did not just awaken his courage; they revealed the timeless method that leads every human from conflict to clarity - the same method later codified as Ashtanga Yoga.

The first limb, Yama, teaches universal moral principles: truth (Satya), non-violence (Ahimsa), non-stealing (Asteya), celibacy (Brahmacharya), and non-possessiveness (Aparigraha).

Krishna establishes these values as the foundation of Dharma itself. When he says, “Adrohaḥ sarvabhūteṣu maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca” (Gita 12.13), meaning “One who has no hatred towards any being, who is friendly and compassionate,” he defines the core of Ahimsa. Truth and integrity shine in his statement, “Satyam śaucam kṣamā dānam” (16.1), qualities of the divine nature. Krishna doesn’t just preach moral conduct — he roots the entire practice of yoga in moral clarity and universal compassion.

Niyama refers to self-discipline and inner observances: cleanliness (Śaucha), contentment (Santosha), austerity (Tapas), self-study (Svādhyāya), and surrender to God (Ishvara Pranidhana).

In the Gita, Krishna emphasizes these through the ideal of self-mastery: “Uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet” (6.5) — “Let a man raise himself by his own self, let him not degrade himself.” He calls for internal purity and balance, teaching that self-discipline is the true path to freedom. The ultimate Niyama is Ishvara Pranidhana, surrender to the divine. Krishna’s central message — “Surrender unto Me” (Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja) — is the very heart of this limb.

In modern yoga, Asana refers to physical postures, but its deeper meaning is “a steady and comfortable seat.” Krishna’s vision of steadiness is not limited to the body but extends to the mind and action. He says, “Sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ sva-sthaḥ sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcanaḥ” (6.8) — the yogi who remains steady in pleasure and pain, in gold and stone alike, has found his true Asana.

In the battlefield of life, Krishna stood as the perfect Asana — unmoved by chaos, calm amidst war. His composure was the living posture of yoga.

Pranayama means control of Prana, the life force carried through breath. In the Gita, Krishna explains that even breath can become an offering. “Apāne juhvati prāṇaṁ prāṇe’pānaṁ tathāpare” (4.29) — “Some offer the outgoing breath into the incoming breath.” This is not a physical technique alone; it is symbolic of harmony between all dualities — inhalation and exhalation, life and death, self and universe.

Through awareness and balance of breath, Krishna reveals how one can transcend attachment and enter the rhythm of cosmic order.

The fifth limb, Pratyahara, is the inward turning of the senses — detachment from the external world to connect with the inner self. Krishna teaches this when he says, “Yadā saṁharate cāyaṁ kūrmo’ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ” (2.58) — “When like a tortoise withdrawing its limbs, a man withdraws his senses from sense-objects, he attains steadiness.”

For Krishna, this was not isolation but control. He does not reject the world; he uses the senses as instruments of duty, not indulgence. This disciplined withdrawal is what makes him perfectly poised even in the face of temptation, war, and sorrow.

Dharana means concentration - the ability to hold the mind steadily on one point. Krishna’s entire counsel to Arjuna centers on Ekāgratā (one-pointedness). In the sixth chapter, he describes the yogi who “fixes his mind on Me, the Supreme, with unwavering devotion.” This is Dharana in its purest form - concentration not for control, but for communion.

When the mind is fixed on the divine, distractions lose their power. Krishna presents Dharana as both the method and the goal of yoga, the unwavering focus that leads to union.

Dhyana is meditation, the continuous flow of awareness toward the object of contemplation. Krishna speaks of it not as withdrawal, but as living meditation - being anchored in the divine while engaging in life. “Ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate” (9.22); “Those who meditate on Me alone with steadfast devotion, to them I provide all that they need.”

For Krishna, Dhyana is not confined to caves or silence. It is the stillness of mind amidst movement — meditation in motion.

The final limb, Samadhi, is the state of oneness where the distinction between self and divine disappears. Krishna’s teachings reach this culmination in “Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā” (18.54) — “One who has attained Brahman becomes full of joy, free from sorrow, and equal toward all beings.”

Krishna’s own state throughout the Gita reflects this transcendence. He is both in the world and beyond it — the perfect embodiment of Samadhi. His every word comes from the stillness of the infinite, unshaken by birth or death, victory or loss.