स्थिरं सुखं समं तस्मिन्नासीतर्ज्वङ्ग ओमिति ॥३१॥
deÅ›e Å›ucau same rÄjan
saá¹sthÄpyÄsanam Ätmanaḥ
sthiraá¹ sukhaá¹ samaá¹ tasminn
ÄsÄ«tarjv-aá¹…ga om iti
deÅ›e - in a place; Å›ucau - very sacred; same - level; rÄjan - O King; saá¹sthÄpya - placing; Äsanam - on the seat; Ätmanaḥ - one's self; sthiram - very steady; sukham - comfortably; samam - equipoised; tasmin - on that sitting place; ÄsÄ«ta - one should sit down; á¹›ju-aá¹…gaḥ - the body perpendicularly straight; oá¹ - The Vedic mantra praṇava; iti - in this way.
My dear King, in a sacred and holy place of pilgrimage one should select a place in which to perform yoga. The place must be level and not too high or low. There one should sit very comfortably, being steady and equipoised, keeping his body straight, and thus begin chanting the Vedic praṇava.
Generally the chanting of om is recommended because in the beginning one cannot understand the Personality of Godhead. As stated in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (1.2.11):
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvaá¹ yaj jñÄnam advayam
brahmeti paramÄtmeti
bhagavÄn iti Å›abdyate
“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, ParamÄtmÄ or BhagavÄn.†Unless one is fully convinced of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one has the tendency to become an impersonalist yogÄ« searching for the Supreme Lord within the core of his heart (dhyÄnÄvasthita-tad-gatena manasÄ paÅ›yanti yaá¹ yoginaḥ). Here the chanting of oá¹kÄra is recommended because in the beginning of transcendental realization, instead of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra, one may chant oá¹kÄra (praṇava). There is no difference between the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra and oá¹kÄra because both of them are sound representations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeá¹£u. In all Vedic literatures, the sound vibration oá¹kÄra is the beginning. Oá¹ namo bhagavate vÄsudevÄya. The difference between chanting oá¹kÄra and chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is that the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra may be chanted without consideration of the place or the sitting arrangements recommended in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (6.11):
Å›ucau deÅ›e pratiá¹£á¹hÄpya
sthiram Äsanam Ätmanaḥ
nÄty-ucchritaá¹ nÄtinÄ«caá¹
cailÄjina-kuÅ›ottaram
“To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kuÅ›a grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should neither be too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place.†The Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra may be chanted by anyone, without consideration of the place or how one sits. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu has openly declared, niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kÄlaḥ. In chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra there are no particular injunctions regarding one’s sitting place. The injunction niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kÄlaḥ includes deÅ›a, kÄla and pÄtra — place, time and the individual. Therefore anyone may chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, without consideration of the time and place. Especially in this age, Kali-yuga, it is very difficult to find a suitable place according to the recommendations of Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ. The Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra, however, may be chanted at any place and any time, and this will bring results very quickly. Yet even while chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra one may observe regulative principles. Thus while sitting and chanting one may keep his body straight, and this will help one in the chanting process; otherwise one may feel sleepy.
