Next to the Bhagavadgita, in importance, comes the Anu-Gita which occurs towards the end of the Mahabharata epic. This Gita is supposed to be a tentative answer which Krishna gave to Arjuna, on the latter's request to hear the contents of the Bhagavadgita once more. Krishna's reply meant that it was impossible to summon again that power of the Absolute, by which the wisdom of the Bhagavadgita was spoken. He, however, agreed to give Arjuna a substitute which goes by the name of Anu-Gita. The contents of the Anu-Gita are not so inspiring as those of the Bhagavadgita and they touch upon the usual themes of Sankhya and Vedanta, which we shall have occasion to discuss elsewhere.  

The Anu-Gita exhorts us to overcome the world by self-mastery. King Janaka says that he does not enjoy things for his pleasure, not even the smell that attaches to his nose, and hence he has conquered the earth-principle. He does not enjoy the taste that attaches to his tongue, and hence he has conquered the water-principle. He does not enjoy the form that attaches to his eyes, and so he has conquered the fire-principle. He does not enjoy the touch that attaches to his skin, and thus he has conquered the air-principle. He does not enjoy the sounds that attach to his ears, and so he has conquered the ether-principle. He does not enjoy the objects of thought which attach to his mind, and so he has conquered the mind. Janaka says that he engages himself in action, not for his pleasure, but for the sake of the presiding deities (adhidevata) and their elemental counterparts (adhibhuta). The correlation of the subjective (adhyatma), objective (adhibhuta) and the Divine (adhidaiva) principles in the Universe has been explained under the subject of creation in our discussion of the philosophy of the Upanishads.  

The Fire of the Soul (adhyatma-agni) gets ignited by the control of the senses, by weaning the mind away from objects, and by a life lived in seclusion. The spiritual fire burns as a conflagration by self-restraint. He becomes fit for immortality, who can remain in this condition even for a minute at the time of his death. The five senses and the internal organ with its faculties of thinking and understanding are like the tongues of fire, to which the objects of sense, thought and understanding are the faggots. The Soul, as the seer, hearer, thinker, understander, etc., is like the several Ritviks or performers of a sacrifice. One should consider all objects as offerings in this sacrifice of sensation, cognition and perception. By the performance of this internal sacrifice, externality is negatived and there arises in one the power of cosmic creation. The knower, knowledge and known are the three oblations offered into the universal Fire of the Atman. The ten senses are the performers of the sacrifice. Their ten actions are the oblations in the sacrifice. Their ten deities are the fires of the sacrifice. Here, the mind is the ladle (sruk) and cognitive knowledge is the material. This sacrifice (yajna) is perpetually going on in the individual and the Universe. Hence, there is no condition of inaction anywhere.  

When the mind is prompted to speak out its thoughts, the samana fire within gets lighted up, making the prana unite with the apana. Then, by means of udana, it rises upwards towards the head. And due to the work of vyana it passes through the throat, the palate, etc., and produces audible speech. When the action of the prana subsides, it again descends into the samana.  

Like the senses, the prana also may be regarded as a performer of the universal sacrifice. The prana and the rest rise from Hiranyagarbha, the Universal prana, and return to Him again in the end. By the action of the Cosmic prana, air (Vayu) becomes apana through prana, vyana through apana, udana through vyana and samana through udana. The prana and apana move amid samana and vyana. When prana and apana are withheld, samana and vyana are simultaneously withdrawn. Udana is amid prana and apana and is the support of all the pranas. It is the Vaisvanara Agni, the Universal Fire situated in the individual as samana at the root of the navel, that rises as the powers of the senses as well as the cognitive and perceptive powers. prana and apana are like two oblations (ajya-bhaga) in the sacrifice and in their middle is the sacrificial fire in the form of udana. This is Jnana-Yajna and Yoga-Yajna.  

One who moves with the consciousness of Brahman is a Brahmachari. He has no particular attachment to any action. Brahman is his sacrificial twig (samit); Brahman is his sacrificial fire (agni); Brahman is his sacrificial grass (samstara); Brahman is his sacrificial water (apas); Brahman is his preceptor (Guru). Such a one is a Brahmachari. One who looks on all beings with equality of essence, with no desire or ambition, attains to this divine state.

When, after the long discourse of Bhishma on the principles of dharma was delivered to Yudhishthira, the king was still depressed in mood and grieved over the sins he committed in killing his kith and kin, Krishna admonished him thus:  

"All that pertains to desire is subject to death. The seat of Brahman is immaculate, above all desires. This is the object of the highest knowledge. You have done no actions; you have conquered no enemies. How can you be said to have overcome your enemies, when the great enemy within you, viz., the mind, has not been detected by you? In regard to this the following story is narrated: A great battle was going on between Indra and Vritra. Vritra occupied the whole of the earth. Seeing that the earth, the very object of the sense of smell, has been occupied, Indra got enraged, for a foul smell was made to fill the earth by the enemy who had entered it. Indra cast his fierce weapon, Vajra, on the enemy hiding within the earth; but Vritra immediately entered the principle of water. The object of taste had been occupied, and Indra again hurled his Vajra into the water, whereupon Vritra left water and entered the principle of fire, occupying thereby the object of sight, the essence behind all forms. When attacked again by Indra, Vritra rose up from fire and entered at once the principle of air, controlling thereby all objects of touch. Pierced by Vajra even in air, Vritra entered the principle of ether. But even there he was pursued by the Vajra. Finding it impossible to live anywhere in the world on account of fear from Indra's Vajra, Vritra entered Indra himself, and overpowered him from all sides. When his very person was thus overwhelmed, Indra got confused in mind, and knew not his duty. He had then to be awakened by the Sage Vasishtha, with the Rathantara Saman. Indra regained his consciousness by the influence of Vasishtha, and destroyed the enemy inside, with an invisible non-material Vajra, the power of the mind."  

The Lord continued: "Disease, here, is of two kinds: physical and mental. They influence each other, and without such mutual dependence they are not seen to arise. When the disease manifests itself in the body, it is called physical, and when it appears in the mind, it is called mental. Phlegm, bile and wind are the humours of the body; the harmony of these properties is called physical health; and their disturbance is called disease. Phlegm is contradicted by bile, and bile is affected by phlegm. The equilibrium of the qualities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas is the indication of health. When their equilibrium is disturbed, there is ill-health. It is seen that grief can be overpowered by joy, and joy in turn by grief. One who is in a state of sorrow broods upon the joy that is past or is in expectation. And another who is in a state of happiness retrospects over the grief that he has overcome. You are neither happy nor sorry by your own making, for Providence is more powerful and controls all things. You should not grieve over your past misfortunes, for this is a defect of the mind. That war in which you were engaged in battle with Bhishma and Drona has now broken out again, wherein you will have to fight with your mind alone. In this battle no arrows, no physical valour, no soldiers, no relatives can be of any help, for, here, you have to fight single-handed, in order to go beyond the muddle of this confusion. When you win victory in this battle, you attain to a state by knowing which you would have done all that is required to be done in the world. Establish yourself in this exalted understanding and try to know the essential truth of all these beings.  

"One does not attain perfection by merely abandoning external possessions; not even by the rejection of one's body. It is by the discipline and control of the mind that real perfection is attained. The virtues that are practised and the happiness that is experienced by one who has renounced external things but clings to the internal ones are really a vice, and the happiness a real sorrow. The causes of immortality and death are both to be found within a person;-selfishness is death and unselfishness leads to the immortal. All actions in which a person finds himself engaged are ultimately impelled by these two motives within. He who, having obtained the whole earth as his possession, feels no attachment to it in any way - of what use is the earth to him? On the other hand, he who lives in a forest, eating roots and tubers, leaves and fruits, but cherishes a desire for things of the world, is really in the mouth of death.  

"There is, in this world, no enterprise or undertaking not motivated by some desire. And all desires originate from the mind which a wise man controls with discrimination. The following kama Gita is quoted in this instance:  

"Kama says: 'I am not capable of being overcome by anyone who does not resort to proper means. I rise again in him who strives to strike me with the force of his strength and thereby tries to kill me. I rise again in him who tries to destroy me by means of sacrifices, gifts, etc. I rise up in him who tries to overcome me by the study of the Vedas and the learning of the Vedanta. He does not understand me who tries to destroy me by sheer determination, for I exist behind his thoughts and feelings. I rise up in him who, by austerity and self-mortification, tries to put an end to me. When one tries, again, to bring me to an end by directing his mind to moksha, I, looking at his desire for moksha, dance and laugh in joy. Among all beings, here, I am the one indestructible power.' Therefore, O Yudhishthira, focus your desire on righteousness, so that it may move in that direction, and rest there."  

By way of elucidation, it may be mentioned here that the two important prerequisites for attaining success in the control of the mind are Vairagya or dispassion and Abhyasa or practice. The student of Yoga ought to try his best to be free from desire for pleasure, seen or unseen, and this dispassion can be had through constant perception of the patent defects in objects. Dispassion is an aversion to sense enjoyment, both here and hereafter. The detachment under consideration is of two kinds - the lower and the higher. A distinction is drawn between the inferior and superior types of Vairagya. The former is a distaste for the things in life, due to the experience that they cannot be acquired or preserved without trouble, while their loss causes pain, and the quest is never free from egoistic feelings; the latter is based on a clear perception of the difference between the intelligence that is the Spirit within, and the objects that appear in its light.  

The determination to refrain from sense-pleasures is the first stage of Vairagya. In the second state certain objects lose their charm for the aspirant and he attempts to overcome the attraction for others, also. In the third stage the senses are controlled, but a vague longing for enjoyment yet lingers in the mind. In the fourth stage, however, the student of Yoga loses completely all interest in external objects, physical and even conceptual. This is the condition of true desirelessness, which leads to supreme independence, wherein one renounces all psychic powers, and sets little store even with such temptations as all-knowingness.