This śloka continues the teaching of 6.3. The previous śloka said that karma-yoga is the means for the seeker who wants to rise to dhyāna-yoga or jñāna-yoga, and that śama — withdrawal or reduction of extroverted activity — becomes the means for one who has become prepared. Now the natural question is: How do I know that I am ready to make this shift?

There is no fixed number of years for karma-yoga. One cannot say that every seeker must remain in karma-yoga for a specific number of years, months, and days. Inner maturity does not grow at the same speed for everyone. One person may become mature quickly; another may remain physically old but inwardly still bound by desire, expectation, and insecurity. Therefore, Bhagavān gives a litmus test for inner maturity. The PDF explains this exact transition: after karma-yoga prepares the mind, the question is how to know when one is ready to reduce action and enter Vedāntic inquiry; the answer is given through this verse.

The test is detachment.

Yadā hi nendriyārtheṣu na karmasvanuṣajjate — when a person is no longer attached to sense objects or to the actions meant to obtain them. Indriyārthāḥ are sense objects: sound, touch, form, taste, and smell, and by extension the pleasures and enjoyments connected with them. In practical life, this includes food, comfort, entertainment, possessions, money, status, sensory pleasure, and all artha-kāma pursuits. Artha means security, wealth, resources, and power; kāma means pleasure, enjoyment, and entertainment.

The teaching does not say that a mature seeker must hate sense objects. Hatred is not maturity. Hatred toward sense pleasures is as much bondage as craving for them. The mature person is not frightened of the world and not fascinated by the world. He can use what comes appropriately, but he is not enslaved by it.

A helpful example is the child’s toy. As a child, one may have been deeply attached to marbles, toys, or games. At that time, losing a toy may have felt like a tragedy. But as an adult, one can play the same game with a child and leave it halfway without disturbance. There is no hatred for the toy and no dependence on it. That is maturity. The PDF gives this kind of example: one may once have been possessive about toys or marbles, but later one can play with a child without fear of attachment and without disturbance if the game stops. That is vairāgyam, growing out.

Therefore, na indriyārtheṣu anuṣajjate does not mean “he never sees, hears, eats, enjoys, or uses anything.” It means “he is not hooked.” Sense objects are no longer the center of his life.

The next phrase is na karmasu — nor is he attached to karmas, meaning the actions required to secure those enjoyments. If artha and kāma are the ends, then the actions performed to gain them are the means. A person attached to wealth will be attached to wealth-producing activities. A person attached to pleasure will be attached to pleasure-seeking arrangements. A person attached to status will be attached to status-building efforts. When the end loses its hold, the means also lose their hold.

This does not mean neglecting duty. It means freedom from obsession. A mature person may still earn, work, eat, travel, care for family, and function in society. But he is no longer inwardly possessed by artha-kāma. His deeper interest has shifted toward dharma and mokṣa.

Sarvasaṅkalpasaṁnyāsī means one who has renounced all binding saṅkalpas. In the previous śloka, saṅkalpa was explained as future-oriented worry, projection, and psychological obsession. Here, sarva-saṅkalpa includes the whole network of imagined dependencies: “I must get this. I must not lose that. My happiness depends on this person, this money, this comfort, this status, this pleasure, this future condition.” The mature seeker gives up this inner slavery.

This is especially connected to security. A person may save money, have insurance, take care of health, and plan responsibly. But none of these gives absolute security. A person can feel insecure with little money, and also insecure with great wealth. The sense of security must become an inner condition born of trust in Bhagavān and clarity about life. The teaching points out that external arrangements can be made, but total security does not come from them. The proper attitude is surrender to Bhagavān’s order.

Thus, yogārūḍhaḥ tadā ucyate — then such a person is called yogārūḍha, one who has reached the stage of readiness for dhyāna-yoga or jñāna-yoga. He has grown out of obsession with sense pleasures and the activities meant to secure them. His mind is no longer running outward all the time. Such a mind can now turn inward.

The śloka does not glorify suppression. It describes maturity. The immature mind says, “I need this to be happy.” The suppressed mind says, “I must not see this, or I will fall.” The mature mind says, “It may be there or not be there; I am not dependent on it.” That maturity is the sign that the seeker is ready to move from karma-yoga-centered life to a life centered more on śravaṇam, mananam, and nididhyāsanam.