Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 6: The Path of Meditation

Bhagavad Gita 6.2

yaṃ saṃnyāsamiti prāhuryogaṃ taṃ viddhi pāṇḍava | na hyasaṃnyastasaṅkalpo yogī bhavati kaścana ||

What people call renunciation, Arjuna, know that to be yoga. No one becomes a yogi without giving up selfish intentions.

Modern context

Renunciation and yoga are the same thing seen from two sides, and what they share is the giving up of sankalpa. Sankalpa is the mind's constant scheming about what it wants: the plans for advantage, the imagined outcomes, the inner bargaining. A person can sit perfectly still and be full of it. A person can be very busy and free of it. No one becomes a yogi while that scheming continues.