yuktÄhÄra-vihÄrasya
yukta-ceá¹£á¹asya karmasu
yukta-svapnÄvabodhasya
yogo bhavati duḥkha-hÄ
yukta - regulated; ÄhÄra - eating; vihÄrasya - recreation; yukta - regulated; ceá¹£á¹asya - of one who works for maintenance; karmasu - in discharging duties; yukta - regulated; svapna-avabodhasya - sleep and wakefulness; yogaḥ - practice of yoga; bhavati - becomes; duḥkha-hÄ - diminishing pains.
Extravagance in the matter of eating, sleeping, defending and mating – which are demands of the body – can block advancement in the practice of yoga. As far as eating is concerned, it can be regulated only when one is practiced to take and accept prasÄdam, sanctiï¬ed food. Lord Kṛṣṇa is offered, according to the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.26), vegetables, flowers, fruits, grains, milk, etc. In this way, a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness becomes automatically trained not to accept food not meant for human consumption, or not in the category of goodness. As far as sleeping is concerned, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person is always alert in the discharge of his duties in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and therefore any unnecessary time spent sleeping is considered a great loss. Avyartha-kÄlatvam: a Kṛṣṇa conscious person cannot bear to pass a minute of his life without being engaged in the service of the Lord. Therefore, his sleeping is kept to a minimum. His ideal in this respect is ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ«, who was always engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa and who could not sleep more than two hours a day, and sometimes not even that. ṬhÄkura HaridÄsa would not even accept prasÄdam nor even sleep for a moment without ï¬nishing his daily routine of chanting with his beads three hundred thousand names. As far as work is concerned, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not do anything which is not connected with Kṛṣṇa’s interest, and thus his work is always regulated and is untainted by sense gratiï¬cation. Since there is no question of sense gratiï¬cation, there is no material leisure for a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And because he is regulated in all his work, speech, sleep, wakefulness and all other bodily activities, there is no material misery for him.