Cluster 0228 — BG-6.17

BG-6.17

Sanskrit: युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु । युक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्य योगो भवति दुःखहा ॥१७॥

Literal English: For one whose food-and-recreation is regulated (yukta), whose effort in actions is regulated, whose sleep-and-waking is regulated — yoga becomes the destroyer-of-sorrow.

BG-6.17 is the constructive-positive completion of BG-6.16's negative-polemic. Cluster 0227 (BG-6.16) ruled out the two pairs of extremes — neither over-eating nor fasting, neither over-sleeping nor refusing-sleep. Cluster 0228 (BG-6.17 — this) names what holds between the extremes: the criterion yukta (regulated / yoked / measured-by-yukti), applied four-fold across āhāra-vihāra (food-and-recreation), ceṣṭā in karmas (effort-in-actions), and svapna-avabodha (sleep-and-waking). Jñāneśvar compresses the Sanskrit into the Marathi yukti-māpa (measure of yukti) and unfolds it across four ovis in a principle → three-modalities → bodily-fruit → psychological-fruit arc, closed by an inclusio image-pair (yukti as measuring-instrument at 6.349 → yukti as serving-hand at 6.352).

This cluster closes the body-and-regimen operational-block of adhyāya 6 (BG-6.10-17). Everything-needed-for-the-physical-and-physiological-substrate-of-dhyāna has now been named: the seat (BG-6.11), the operational pivot + mūla-bandha + vajrāsana (BG-6.12), the body-head-neck-and-gaze (BG-6.13), the brahmacarya-vow + manaḥ-samyama + mat-citto-yukta (BG-6.14), the yuñjann-evam-sadātmānam + śānti-nirvāṇa-paramām (BG-6.15), the anti-extremity-polemic-pair (BG-6.16), and now the yukta regimen across the four modalities with its bodily-and-psychological-fruit clauses (BG-6.17). Cluster 0229 (BG-6.18-19) will pivot to the mental-stillness-criterion and the chapter's most-iconic image — the nirvāta-dīpa (lamp-in-windless-place).

The cluster's signature interpretive-move is the operationalization of the Sanskrit yukta through the Marathi yukti — not as abstract-discernment but as an operational-act of measuring and serving. The yukti measures the portion (6.349) and then yukti's hand offers it (6.352). The indriyas are imagined as guests-at-a-meal being served measured-bhāta-portions. The body responds with dhātu-sāmya (Āyurveda tissue-equilibrium); the manas responds with santoṣa growing-of-its-own. The cluster contains the corpus's first explicit naming of an Āyurveda-tissue-equilibrium-doctrine as a yoga-criterion — the haṭha-yoga / Āyurveda interface here textually-witnessed.

Ovi 6.349

Original (Marathi): आहार तरी सेविजे । परी युक्तीचेनि मापें मविजे । क्रियाजात आचरिजे । तयाचि स्थिती ॥३४९॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
आहार तरी सेविजे	food, indeed, should be partaken
परी युक्तीचेनि मापें मविजे	but [it] should be measured by the measure-of-yukti
क्रियाजात आचरिजे	the whole-genus-of-kriyās should be performed
तयाचि स्थिती	in that-same-state

Literal translation

English: Yes, food should indeed be taken — but it should be measured by the measure-of-yukti. And the whole genus of actions should be performed in that same state.

मराठी (आधुनिक): आहार जरूर घ्यावा; पण तो युक्तीच्या मापाने मोजून घ्यावा. आणि सर्व कर्मे त्याच (युक्ती-मापित) स्थितीत करावीत.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
The māpa (measure / measuring-cup) of yukti	Yukti as an instrument-of-measurement — not an abstract-faculty but an operational-act of portion-determination	The cook's portioning-spoon — yukti is the spoon-of-discernment that determines how much goes onto each plate
Tayāchi sthitī (in that-same-state)	The yukti-measured state as a settled-condition that can be carried-over from one act (eating) to all-other-acts (kriyā-jāta)	The "calibration-state" of a tuned instrument — once tuned for one task, the same calibration-mode carries to adjacent tasks

Metaphor-family: yukti-as-measuring-hand. This image-pair opens the cluster's inclusio with 6.352 (yukti-as-serving-hand). The māpa-image renders yukti as an embodied-act-of-portioning, not an abstract-cognitive-faculty. This distinguishes Jñāneśvar's yukti from the more-cognitive viveka (discrimination): yukti is hand-work, not head-work.

Nāth-yogic layer

Referent: yuktīcheni māpēm mavije — yukti-as-measure as the operational-criterion of yoga-regimen; the tayāchi sthitī clause extends the regimen across all kriyās — the yoga-regimen is regimen-of-yukti-across-all-action. Confidence: medium. Note: Marathi yukti (operational-discernment, related to Sanskrit yukta via the same root yuj) is the precise Marathi-cognate of the Sanskrit yukta of BG-6.17 — the Sanskrit's adjective-clause is rendered through the Marathi noun-clause: yukta (one-whose-X-is-regulated) becomes yuktī (the regulating-faculty itself). Doctrinal-locus: Yogasūtra 2.46-2.48 sthira-sukham-āsanam-adjacent; technical-vocabulary: operational-Marathi rather than overt-tantric.

Cross-references

Internal: 6.348 (developed-further — cluster-handoff from 0227: negative-polemic → positive-regimen pivot), 6.345 (parallel-image — adhikāra-exclusion-list at 0227 opening → adhikāra-positive-criterion yuktīcheni māpēm here).
Tukaram parallel: abhang 2836 (thematic-parallel-on-paramita-bhojana-as-sādhaka-discipline — paramita-bhojana names measure in bhakti-key; cognate of Jñāneśvar's yuktīcheni māpēm).
Source citation: BG-6.17 (direct-paraphrase — yukta-āhāra-vihārasya yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu compressed into āhāra sevije + yuktīcheni māpēm mavije + kriyā-jāta tayāchi sthitī); BG-6.16 (echo — negative-polemic → positive-regimen pivot); Yogasūtra 2.46 (echo — sthira-sukham āsanam measure-between-extremes principle).

Modern application

The diet-discipline that does not become an eating-disorder. You have been told by a clinician or coach to "moderate" your food. The instruction is genuine but abstract. Jñāneśvar's yuktīcheni māpēm names the operational-form: not a calorie-rule (which gives the eat-too-much / starve-too-much oscillation that BG-6.16 names as the na-ati-na-ati failure-mode) but a measure-by-yukti that lets the sādhaka develop the spoon-of-discernment over time. The discipline becomes available as a trained instrument, not as a borrowed-rule.
The single-portion test at dinner. Tonight at dinner, before serving, look at the plate-as-canvas and ask one question: what would yukti put on this plate? — neither what hunger puts (the eat-too-much extreme) nor what willpower puts (the eat-too-little extreme), but what yukti's-hand puts. Notice the portion that the third faculty (yukti) names. Eat that portion. Notice the after-state.
The carry-over to other actions. Kriyā-jāta tayāchi sthitī — the whole genus of kriyās in that same state. Once you have noticed the yukti-state at dinner, see what happens if you carry it into the next action: the email you write after dinner, the conversation with your child, the time you sit down to read. The settled-condition of yukti carries-over without your having to re-engineer it for each task.

Sādhanā

At dinner today, before serving food onto your plate, pause for ten seconds and ask: what portion would yukti put here, neither what hunger puts nor what willpower puts? Serve that portion. After the meal, note one observation: did the yukti-portion produce something different from your habitual portion?

Arc

Opens the cluster: the BG-6.17 yukta-criterion is named at the principle-level (yuktīcheni māpēm) and generalized (kriyā-jāta tayāchi sthitī — the whole genus of kriyās in that-same-state). 6.350 will unpack the generalization into three specific modalities: speech, gait, sleep.

Ovi 6.350

Original (Marathi): मितला बोलीं बोलिजे । मितलिया पाउलीं चालिजे । निद्रेही मानु दीजे । अवसरें एकें ॥३५०॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
मितला बोलीं बोलिजे	speak in measured speech
मितलिया पाउलीं चालिजे	walk in measured steps
निद्रेही मानु दीजे	even sleep — give it respect (mānu)
अवसरें एकें	at one [proper] occasion

Literal translation

English: Speak in measured speech; walk in measured steps; even to sleep give its respect — at its one proper occasion.

मराठी (आधुनिक): मोजून बोलावे; मोजून चालावे; निद्रेलाही मान द्यावा — पण एका योग्य अवसराला.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi. The construction is parallel-application of the mitala (measured) criterion across three modalities — a doctrinal-pattern, not an extended-image. The pattern itself is significant (cross-modal application of yukti), but it is rhetorical-construction rather than metaphor.

Nāth-yogic layer

Referent: mitala (measured) as the cross-modal yukti-criterion — applied to speech, gait, and sleep; BG-6.17 yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu unfolded as measured-speech + measured-walking + measured-sleep — the regimen of yukti applies across all four ceṣṭās. Confidence: medium. Note: Marathi mitala (from mita = measured; cognate of Sanskrit mita) is the precise Marathi-cognate of the Sanskrit yukta used in the regimen-register. The respectful third-position on sleep — nidrēhī mānu dīje avasarēm ēkē (sleep too, given its respect at one proper occasion) — is the positive-revision of cluster 0227's anti-jāgaraṇa polemic at 6.347: neither over-indulged nor over-suppressed, but honored-at-its-time.

Cross-references

Internal: 6.349 (developed-further — principle named; here unpacked across three modalities), 6.347 (contradicts-and-revises — anti-jāgaraṇa polemic of cluster 0227 revised into respectful-sleep-position here).
Tukaram parallel: (empty — no substantive Tukaram parallel for this specific cross-modal-mitala application identified; the closest, Tukaram 2836 paramita-bhojana, was already cited at 6.349 for the food-modality, not the speech-gait-sleep modalities; not duplicating per discipline rule.)
Source citation: BG-6.17 (direct-paraphrase — yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu unfolded as three concrete karma-loci: bol, pāuḷa, nidrā); Yogasūtra 2.30 (echo — yamas cross-modal-discipline principle).

Modern application

The measured-speech experiment. A meeting, a call with a difficult relative, an Instagram comment-thread. Notice what happens if you apply the mitala bolīm criterion to your next utterance: not more-words (the over-talker's default), not no-words (the avoider's default), but the measured-portion of words that yukti's-hand serves. Watch how the conversation re-tunes around the measured-portion.
The measured-gait moment. You are walking from your desk to the kitchen, or from the parking-lot to the building. Apply mitaliyā pāuḷīm chālije — neither rushing (the speed-default) nor sluggishness (the depleted-default), but the measured-step that yukti walks. Notice what happens to the breath and to the mind during a thirty-second walk done in mitala mode.
The respectful-third-position on sleep. You have been told that sleep is "wasteful" by hustle-culture or that sleep is "the most important thing" by sleep-evangelists. Both positions miss Jñāneśvar's mitalu — sleep is neither denigrated (BG-6.16 jāgrato naiva — never-sleeping extreme) nor venerated (BG-6.16 ati-svapna-śīla — over-sleeping extreme) but honored at its proper occasion. Tonight, give sleep its mānu (respect): a clean go-to-bed time, a clean wake-time, neither stretched nor starved.

Sādhanā

Today, choose one modality — speech, walking, or sleep — and apply the mitala criterion for just one cycle. For speech: in your next conversation, apply mitala bolīm for five minutes — neither over- nor under-talking, the measured-portion. For walking: for one walk today, apply mitaliyā pāuḷīm — neither rushed nor dragging. For sleep: tonight, give sleep its mānu — clean bedtime, clean wake-time. Observe what shifts.

Arc

Unpacks the BG-6.17 yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu into three concrete modalities (speech, gait, sleep) — the regimen-of-yukti is cross-modal. 6.351 will close the fourth modality (jāgaraṇa) and name the bodily-fruit (dhātu-sāmya).

Ovi 6.351

Original (Marathi): जागणें जरी जाहलें । तरी होआवें तें मितलें । येतुलेनि धातुसाम्य संचलें । असेल सहजें ॥३५१॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
जागणें जरी जाहलें	if wakefulness occurs
तरी होआवें तें मितलें	then it too should be measured
येतुलेनि धातुसाम्य संचलें	by this much, dhātu-sāmya (constitutional equilibrium of the seven tissue-dhātus) gathers
असेल सहजें	will be of its own (sahaja)

Literal translation

English: If wakefulness occurs, that too should be measured; by this much, dhātu-sāmya (the equilibrium of the seven bodily tissue-dhātus) will gather sahaja (of its own, spontaneously).

मराठी (आधुनिक): जागणे झाले तरी ते मोजकेच असावे; एवढ्याने धातु-साम्य आपोआप (सहजच) जमून येईल.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
Dhātu-sāmya samchalēm sahajēm (dhātu-equilibrium gathers spontaneously)	The body's tissue-level-equilibrium is not engineered by direct manipulation but arrives as the self-organizing fruit of the yukti-regimen — sahaja (spontaneous, by-itself)	The garden that comes into balance not by daily-intervention but by consistent-conditions-maintained-over-time — water, light, soil at measured-amounts; the garden's flourishing is sahaja

Metaphor-family: dhatu-samya-sahaja-emergence. This is the cluster's first explicit bodily-physiological-fruit image — the BG-6.17 yukta-regimen is operationally-tested against the precise Āyurveda-haṭha-yoga criterion dhātu-sāmya. The sahaja clause is the Nātha-Sahajiyā technical-vocabulary of spontaneous-non-engineered emergence.

Nāth-yogic layer

Referent: dhātu-sāmya — the equilibrium-of-the-bodily-dhātus (the seven Āyurveda tissue-constituents: rasa, rakta, māṃsa, medas, asthi, majjā, śukra); the BG-6.17 yukta-regimen's physiological-fruit is named here as dhātu-sāmya samchalēm sahajēm (dhātu-equilibrium spontaneously gathered) — Nāth-haṭha-yoga's foundational bodily-balance-as-precondition doctrine. Confidence: high. Note: Dhātu-sāmya is unambiguous Āyurveda-haṭha-yoga technical-vocabulary; sahajēm is unambiguous Nātha-sahaja vocabulary. The cluster's first overt naming of an Āyurveda-tissue-equilibrium-doctrine as the yoga-regimen's bodily-criterion. The haṭha-yoga / Āyurveda interface here textually-witnessed in the corpus.

Cross-references

Internal: 6.350 (developed-further — three modalities named; here fourth modality + bodily-fruit), 6.346 (contradicts-and-revises — anti-fasting polemic of cluster 0227 revised into measured-regimen-with-dhātu-sāmya-fruit here).
Tukaram parallel: abhang 2806 (thematic-parallel-on-yukta-bhojana-as-bhakti-substrate — food-is-pure-when-eaten-in-Hari-chintana; bhakti-key formulation of the bodily-substrate that here is named in Āyurveda-key as dhātu-sāmya).
Source citation: BG-6.17 (direct-paraphrase — yukta-svapna-avabodhasya completed: 6.350 named svapna-side, 6.351 names avabodha-side); Caraka Samhitā Sūtra-sthāna 9.4 (echo — doṣa-sāmya foundational Āyurveda-axiom); Haṭha-yoga-pradīpikā 1.58 (echo — mitāhāra technical-locus for the mitala doctrine).

Modern application

The wakefulness-discipline at the laptop. You have stayed up late for several nights to push through a project. The body's dhātu-sāmya — the equilibrium that lets you feel rested, digest food, think clearly, sleep on schedule — has been depleted. Jñāneśvar names the criterion: even jāgaraṇa (wakefulness, late-work) must be mitala — measured. The dhātu-sāmya does not return by direct-intervention (a single rest-day, a single vitamin); it returns sahaja, of its own, over time, when the measure is maintained.
The sahaja-discovery after a retreat. You have been on a sustained retreat (silent days, regulated meals, regulated sleep). On day-five or day-seven you notice that the body feels organized in a way you did not engineer. The clarity, the steadier sleep, the cleaner digestion — these were not the products of a single action. Dhātu-sāmya samchalēm sahajēm: the equilibrium has gathered, of its own, while the yukti-regimen was held.
The Āyurveda-yoga interface. A modern reader trained in Western medicine encounters the Āyurveda tissue-doctrine (rasa-rakta-māṃsa-medas-asthi-majjā-śukra) and wonders whether it is metaphor or biology. Jñāneśvar is treating it as operational-substrate of the yoga-regimen: when you eat / move / sleep / wake by mitala, the body's tissue-equilibrium is the witness that the regimen is correct. The Āyurveda framework is the body-language in which the yoga-regimen's success is read.

Sādhanā

Tonight, set a clean bedtime (not the latest-you-can-manage, not the earliest-virtuous-bedtime, but the mitala bedtime that yukti names). Tomorrow morning, observe one thing: not "did I sleep well?" but did the body feel gathered? did the digestion show up on its own? was there a small sahaja-quality to the morning? This is the dhātu-sāmya-test in miniature.

Arc

Completes the BG-6.17 svapna-avabodha pair (6.350 named svapna, 6.351 names avabodha) and names the cluster's first explicit physiological-criterion (dhātu-sāmya samchalēm sahajēm). 6.352 will name the matching psychological-fruit (santōṣāsī vāḍhatēm manachi karī) and close the cluster with the inclusio-image (yukti-as-serving-hand).

Ovi 6.352

Original (Marathi): ऐसें युक्तीचेनि हातें । जें इंद्रियां वोपिजे भातें । तैं संतोषासी वाढतें । मनचि करी ॥३५२॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
ऐसें युक्तीचेनि हातें	thus, by the hand of yukti
जें इंद्रियां वोपिजे भातें	whatever bhāta (cooked-rice-portion, served-food) is offered to the indriyas
तैं संतोषासी वाढतें	then, growing santoṣa (contentment)
मनचि करी	the manas itself produces

Literal translation

English: Thus, by the hand of yukti, whatever portion is offered to the indriyas — then the manas itself produces growing santoṣa.

मराठी (आधुनिक): अशा प्रकारे, युक्तीच्या हाताने जे काही इंद्रियांना (मापित) भात (वाटा) दिले जाते — तेव्हा मन स्वतःच वाढता संतोष निर्माण करते.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
Yuktīcheni hātēm (by the hand of yukti)	Yukti as the embodied-serving-hand — not abstract-discernment but the operational-act of portioning-out sense-experience	The host's hand at a dinner-party — measuring out portions to each guest at the table
Indriyām vōpije bhātēm (offered as bhāta-portion to the indriyas)	The indriyas as guests-at-a-meal receiving measured-portions — sense-experience as served-portion, not as unlimited-access nor withheld-meal	The diner who is served a portion (by the kitchen, by the host) rather than the diner who self-serves (over-portions) or who refuses-to-eat (under-portions)
Santōṣāsī vāḍhatēm manachi karī (the manas itself produces growing santoṣa)	The manas as gardener-of-santoṣa — when the indriyas are yukti-fed, the manas produces santoṣa in a growing-mode (vāḍhatēm); santoṣa is not a fixed-state but a self-amplifying-condition	The seedling that, once planted in good soil with measured-water, grows on its own — the gardener does not make the growth, only the conditions; the manas, given yukti-fed indriyas, grows santoṣa

Metaphor-family: yukti-hand-offers-bhata-to-indriyas + santosha-grown-by-manas. This is the cluster's signature image — yukti is anthropomorphized as the serving-hand (closing the inclusio with 6.349's yukti-as-measuring-instrument); the indriyas are guests-at-a-meal; the manas is the gardener-of-santoṣa. The image-system is unified and load-bearing.

Nāth-yogic layer

Referent: yuktīcheni hātēm ... indriyām vōpije bhātēm — by the hand of yukti, the portion is offered to the indriyas; the indriyas re-imagined as guests-being-served by the yukti-hand. The santōṣāsī vāḍhatēm manachi karī names the psychological-fruit complementing the bodily-fruit (dhātu-sāmya) of 6.351: yukti-measured-indriya-feeding → bodily-equilibrium + manas-grown-santoṣa. Confidence: high. Note: The yukti-hand-offering-bhata-to-indriyas image is a distinctive Marathi-domestic metaphor that operationalizes the BG-6.17 yukta-āhāra-vihāra in precise psychological-mechanism vocabulary. Santoṣa is Yogasūtra 2.42 (santoṣād anuttama-sukha-lābhaḥ) technical-term — but Jñāneśvar adds the vāḍhata (growing) clause: santoṣa is named in a self-amplifying-mode. The image-pair across 6.349 (yukti-as-measure) and 6.352 (yukti-as-serving-hand) forms a cluster-inclusio.

Cross-references

Internal: 6.351 (developed-further — bodily fruit dhātu-sāmya named; here matching psychological fruit santoṣa-grown-by-manas), 6.349 (parallel-image — yukti-as-measure at cluster opening; yukti-as-serving-hand at cluster close; inclusio that frames the cluster).
Tukaram parallel: abhang 2867 (thematic-parallel-on-santosha-as-the-actual-mode-of-the-sādhaka — chitti-samādhāna in bhakti-key; cognate of santōṣāsī vāḍhatēm manachi karī in yoga-key).
Source citation: BG-6.17 (direct-paraphrase — yogo bhavati duḥkha-hā operationally-specified as bodily-fruit + psychological-fruit pair across 6.351-6.352); Yogasūtra 2.42 (echo — santoṣād anuttama-sukha-lābhaḥ santoṣa-as-niyama-fruit doctrine).

Modern application

The yukti-hand at the smartphone. The indriyas (sight, hearing, attention) receive bhāta-portions of stimulus all day — news, messages, videos, scrolling. Jñāneśvar names the criterion: yuktīcheni hātēm vōpije bhātēm — let yukti's hand portion these out, not the algorithm's hand. Notice what happens to santoṣa (the steady, grown-contentment) when the bhāta-to-indriyas is yukti-portioned for one half-day versus algorithm-portioned for one half-day. The growing-mode of santoṣa requires that yukti hold the spoon.
The dinner-party-self test. Imagine yourself as the host at a dinner-party where your own indriyas are the guests. Are you over-serving the eye-guest (visual-stimulation), under-serving the body-guest (food, rest), over-serving the ego-guest (social-media-reaction)? The yukti-host has a different default: each guest gets its measured-portion. The growing-santoṣa is the report-card the manas writes at the end of the evening.
The growing-mode of santoṣa. Santoṣa-as-growing (vāḍhata) — not as a fixed quantum you "have" or "lack" — is the corrective to the consumer-economy's framing of contentment as a static-state-to-be-achieved. Jñāneśvar names santoṣa as a garden-of-the-manas: when the indriyas are yukti-fed, the manas does the growing, of its own. The work of the sādhaka is not to produce-santoṣa-directly but to maintain-the-yukti-hand at the indriyas; the santoṣa grows-itself in the soil so prepared.

Sādhanā

Today at one meal — not necessarily the largest — eat as the host-of-your-own-indriyas. The eye-guest gets the sight of the food (no phone, no screen). The ear-guest gets a quiet room (or measured-conversation). The tongue-guest gets the food at measured-bites. The body-guest gets the cushion-of-the-chair without the urgency. After the meal, sit for one minute and notice whether the manas reports a small-growing-quality (vāḍhata) of santoṣa.

Arc

Closes the cluster with the psychological-fruit clause (santōṣāsī vāḍhatēm manachi karī) and completes the inclusio image-pair (yukti-as-measure at 6.349 ↔ yukti-as-serving-hand at 6.352). The cluster's principle → three-modalities → bodily-fruit → psychological-fruit arc is closed; cluster 0229 will pivot from body-and-regimen-substrate to the mental-stillness-criterion (BG-6.18-19 yadā viniyatam cittam ātmany-evāvatiṣṭhate + the nirvāta-dīpa image).

Cluster summary

Core teaching. BG-6.17 names the yukta (regulated, measured-by-yukti) criterion that converts BG-6.16's negative-polemic (yoga is not for the over-eater nor the faster, not for the over-sleeper nor the never-sleeper) into a positive operational regimen. When food-and-recreation, effort-in-actions, and sleep-and-waking are all yukta, yoga becomes duḥkha-hā (sorrow-destroying). Jñāneśvar's four-ovi unfolding compresses the Sanskrit into the Marathi yukti-māpa (measure of yukti) and yukti-hātēm (hand of yukti), framing the cluster with an inclusio: yukti is both measuring-instrument (6.349) and serving-hand (6.352).

Theme tags. bg-6.17-yukta-criterion · yukti-as-measure · yukti-as-serving-hand · mitala-cross-modal-discipline · measured-speech-gait-sleep · respectful-sleep-third-position · dhatu-samya-ayurveda-tissue-equilibrium · sahaja-emergence-of-bodily-balance · santosha-grown-by-manas · psychological-fruit-of-yukta-regimen · bg-6.16-to-bg-6.17-negative-to-positive-pivot · inclusio-yukti-measure-to-yukti-hand · mitahara-hatha-yoga-doctrine · paramita-bhojana-bhakti-cognate

Contains extended metaphor: yes — the yukti-as-measure / yukti-as-serving-hand inclusio (6.349 ↔ 6.352), the dhātu-sāmya-sahaja-emergence image (6.351), and the indriyas-as-guests-receiving-bhāta + manas-as-gardener-of-santoṣa image-pair (6.352).

Chapter arc position. Cluster 0228 closes the body-and-regimen operational-block of adhyāya 6 (BG-6.10-17). Everything-needed-for-the-physical-and-physiological-substrate-of-dhyāna has now been named across the eight clusters: solitude-and-aparigraha (BG-6.10) → seat-and-cloth-skin-grass (BG-6.11) → operational-pivot + mūla-bandha + vajrāsana (BG-6.12) → body-head-neck-and-gaze (BG-6.13) → brahmacarya-vow + manaḥ-samyama + mat-citto-yukta (BG-6.14) → yuñjann-evam-sadātmānam + śānti-nirvāṇa-paramām (BG-6.15) → anti-extremity-polemic (BG-6.16) → yukta-āhāra-vihāra regimen + dhātu-sāmya + santoṣa-grown-by-manas (BG-6.17). The cluster contains the corpus's first explicit naming of an Āyurveda-tissue-equilibrium-doctrine (dhātu-sāmya) as a yoga-regimen criterion — the haṭha-yoga / Āyurveda interface textually-witnessed.

Connects to next śloka. Cluster 0229 (BG-6.18-19 — yadā viniyatam cittam ātmany-evāvatiṣṭhate niḥspṛhaḥ sarva-kāmebhyo yukta ity ucyate tadā ‖ yathā dīpo nivāta-stho nengate sopamā smṛtā yogino yata-cittasya yuñjato yogam ātmanaḥ) will give the mental-stillness-criterion and the chapter's most-iconic image: the nirvāta-dīpa (lamp-in-windless-place). The 0228 → 0229 transition is the body-and-regimen-yukta → mental-stillness-yukta progression. Where 0228 closes with santōṣāsī vāḍhatēm manachi karī (the manas itself produces growing santoṣa) — the manas as grower of santoṣa — 0229 will name the manas's terminal-state: not-moving like a lamp in a windless place. The single Sanskrit word yukta carries the entire arc, from regulated-regimen (BG-6.17) to the unmoving-lamp (BG-6.19).