6.11 Cloth, deerskin, kusha grass Krishna speaks
शुचौ देशे प्रतिष्ठाप्य स्थिरमासनमात्मनः
नात्युच्छ्रितं नातिनीचं चैलाजिनकुशोत्तरम्
śhuchau deśhe pratiṣhṭhāpya sthiram āsanam ātmanaḥ
nātyuchchhritaṁ nāti-nīchaṁ chailājina-kuśhottaram
Having set a firm seat in a clean place, neither too high nor too low, spread with cloth, deerskin and kusha grass,
Explanation
Cloth, deerskin, kusha grass.
A seat neither too high nor too low, in a clean place. After five verses of the sublime, the text turns to furniture.
It is one of the most reassuring passages in the book. Whatever this practice is, it is the kind of thing that has requirements you could go and buy.
Going further
Word by word
- śhuchau
- in a clean
- deśhe
- place
- pratiṣhṭhāpya
- having established
- sthiram
- steadfast
- āsanam
- seat
- ātmanaḥ
- his own
- na
- not
- ati
- too
- uchchhritam
- high
- na
- not
- ati
- too
- nīcham
- low
- chaila
- cloth
- ajina
- a deerskin
- kuśha
- kuśh grass
- uttaram
- one over the other
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Cloth, deerskin, kusha grass. A seat neither too high nor too low. A clean place.
After five verses of the sublime, the text turns to furniture. This is worth taking as seriously as the metaphysics: the Gita assumes the practice has physical preconditions and is willing to be dull about them. It is the same instinct that produces 6.16.