Garuda Mahā Purana - Achara Khaṇḍa
238 - Essence of the Gita
The Lord said:
1. O Pártha, the eight components of Yoga are Yama (restraint), Niyama (ritualistic observances), Asana (the Yogic Posture), Pranayama (breath-control), Pratyahára (abstraction), Dhyana (meditation), Dhåraņā (retention) and Samadhi (trance). These are conducive to salvation.
2. Ahimsă (non-violence) is the virtue of refraining from inflicting injury upon living beings by actions, thoughts and speech at all times. It accords happiness.
3. Even an injury inflicted in accordance with Vedic injunctions is also Ahimsa. The eternal virtue is the telling of truth, the telling of the pleasant. One shall not tell even truths which are unpleasant and untruths which may be pleasant.
4. Seizing of another man's wealth by stealth or by force is called Steya (theft). Not doing it is called Asteya. It is a righteous thing.
5. Abjuring sexual intercourse by actions, thoughts and speech in all states, at all times and everywhere is called Brahmacarya (celibacy).
6. Acceptance of wealth must be avoided carefully. Non acceptance of the same willingly even in danger is called Aparigraha.
7. Saucha or purification is of two varieties: the external one by means of earth and water and the internal one by means of good feelings and thoughts. Santosha (contentment) is the sense of satiety over what is casually secured. It gives everlasting happiness.
8. Tapas or austerity is the concentration of mind and the sense organs. It is also the voluntary withering up of the body by holy rites-Krucchra, Chandrayana, etc.
9. Learned men call the recital of Vedic passages, Shatarudriya, Pranava, etc which purify the soul Şhvådhyaya.
10. Ishvarachintana is the unflinching devotion to Hari by means of eulogy, remembrance and adoration as well as by speeches, thoughts and actions.
11. Asana is the posture such as Svastika, Padma and Ardhasana. Prána is the air within the body. Ayåma is the suppression of the same.
12. O Pandava, the restraint and diversion of the sense organs that stray into evil objects, is called Pratyåhåra.
13. Dhyana (meditation) is the contemplation of the embodied or disembodied Brahman. At the beginning of the practice of Yoga, Hari can be meditated upon in the embodied or disembodied form.
14. The deity of Vayu must be contemplated upon as stationed in the middle of the zone of Agni. The four armed deity (Vişhnu) must be meditated upon as bearing Shankha, Chakra, Gada and Padma and also as having Kaustubha.
15. I, endowed with Kaustubha and known as Brahman and Vanamálin shall be meditated upon as such. This is called Dhāraņå because the deity is retained in the mind.
16. The state in which one is conscious 'I am Brahman' is called Samadhi. Men get salvation through the knowledge generated by the Vedic statement 'I am Brahman'.
The two words 'I' and 'Brahman' must be taken to mean the implied sense and the feeling of identity realised.
Summary of chapter 238 of the Garuda Mahā Purana - Achara Khaṇḍa is as follows:
Bhagavān Vishṇu declares the formal Phalaśruti for the complete Āchāra Khaṇḍa, detailing the divine rewards granted to faithful reciters and practitioners. As it happens, the Divine Master promises longevity, righteous offspring, material abundance, freedom from disease, and Vaikuṇṭha liberation to all devout seekers.