Bhagavad Gita 6.16 · BG 6.16
Chapter 6Verse 16
Dhyana Yoga
नात्यश्नतस्तु योगोऽस्ति न चैकान्तमनश्नतः। न चातिस्वप्नशीलस्य जाग्रतो नैव चार्जुन॥
nātyaśnatas tu yogo 'sti na caikāntam anaśnataḥ, na cāti-svapna-śīlasya jāgrato naiva cārjuna
Translation
There is no yoga for one who eats too much, and none for one who eats too little. It isn't for one who sleeps too much, or for one who stays awake too much.
Discipline isn't extremity in either direction. Balance is the practice.
What does this mean?
Discipline here isn't extremity in either direction. Depriving yourself is treated the same as overindulging: both throw you off balance.
In simple words
Krishna says this practice isn't for someone who eats too much or someone who eats too little, or for someone who oversleeps or barely sleeps at all. Going to extremes in either direction throws you off. Depriving yourself is treated as just as unbalanced as overindulging.
The deeper idea
The verse rules out harsh asceticism as a path, which is notable, given how often spiritual seriousness gets equated with severe self-denial. Both poles, excess and deprivation, are named as obstacles because both disturb the steadiness the practice needs. The framing is that the body and its basic rhythms are part of the work, not an enemy to be starved into submission. Moderation here isn't a compromise. It's the actual requirement.
How it applies to life
People trying to get serious about something often swing to a punishing extreme, the crash diet, the four-hours-of-sleep grind, the total cutoff from rest and enjoyment, and then collapse back. This verse says that swing was never the path. Whatever you're building, discipline that ignores your body's real needs isn't more virtuous, it's just less sustainable. The middle is where it holds.