Escape or Engagement?
May 07, 2025
Is yoga meant to be an escape from the world’s chaos, or a way to prepare us to engage with it more effectively?
This question reveals a central tension between two foundational texts of yoga philosophy: Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.
In her insightful essay Arjuna is Us, Nina Zolotow explores this contrast by imagining what Krishna might have advised Arjuna if he were speaking from the perspective of Patanjali’s Classical Yoga.
As you may know, Arjuna is the warrior hero of the Bhagavad Gita, who is overwhelmed by despair at the prospect of fighting a war against his relatives and teachers. He turns to Krishna - his charioteer who also embodies divine wisdom - for counsel. She writes:
Had Krishna been advising Arjuna to follow the eight-fold path as outlined in the Yoga Sutras, he would have told Arjuna to withdraw from the battle, to live in the woods, free himself from all worldly ties, and spend all his time meditating. Instead he tells Arjuna, the householder, to stay engaged and fight for what he believes is right.
This contrast highlights two distinct paths of yoga:
The Yoga Sutras emphasize a path of renunciation and withdrawal from worldly distractions to attain inner stillness.
The Bhagavad Gita, on the other hand, presents a yoga of action, encouraging us not to retreat from the world, but to remain fully engaged in our responsibilities while cultivating inner equanimity.
This distinction illuminates something essential about our yoga practice today. Like Arjuna, we stand at a crossroads—not on a literal battlefield perhaps, but in a world that urgently needs our presence and contribution.
Perhaps our yoga practice isn't meant only to be a refuge from life's complexities but also a training ground for meeting them with greater wisdom and clarity.
While Patanjali's yoga may have been a renunciatory path, we can harness these brilliant techniques to develop one-pointedness of mind and equanimity that transforms fear and overwhelm into inspired, purposeful, and compassionate action.
This reframing—seeing yoga not as an escape from the world, but as preparation for skillful, courageous engagement—lies at the heart of the Gita’s wisdom.
Perhaps no one demonstrated this approach more powerfully than Mohandas K. Gandhi, whose nonviolent activism was deeply guided by his daily contemplation of the Gita's teachings.
As modern practitioners - householders with jobs, relationships, and communities - we might ask: What if the sanctuary yoga provides isn’t meant only for our personal peace, but to serve our collective well-being?
When we cultivate inner stillness in meditation or apply yoga’s ethical precepts on our mats, we're creating the conditions for clearer perception, wiser decisions, and more compassionate responses when we re-engage with our world. From this grounded place, we become better equipped to be of service to others.
Like Arjuna, our dharma—our right action in the world—calls not for withdrawal, but for mindful, wholehearted engagement. The steady power we discover by turning inward ultimately enables us to act with greater effectiveness and love.
This is the task of our yoga today: to bring our practice into the world, not as an escape from it, but as a sacred offering to it.
A Micro Practice to Bridge Yoga and Action
Here’s a 2-minute practice to bring your centered awareness into real-world engagement:
- Pause for two minutes before transitioning into any demanding activity or entering a challenging situation
- Sit or stand comfortably and take three conscious breaths
- Ask yourself: "What positive quality would be most helpful to bring into this situation?" (patience, clarity, courage, etc.) Choose one
- Visualize this quality as a soft light within you or repeat the word inwardly and feel it in your body
- Imagine yourself embodying this quality in this situation
- Set an intention to carry this quality into the activity ahead