‘Na Sreyo niyamam vina’, said Krishna to Arjuna. An unregulated, unsystematic, undisciplined and disorderly life cannot experience joy, goodness or well-being. One who controls and regulates the action of others is called ‘Yama’. One who controls himself and regulates his own actions possesses the quality of ‘samyama’.

Yama has no control over a person endowed with ‘samyama’. There should be discipline and regulation in life in accordance with self imposed constraints. These self-imposed constraints constitute the ‘tapas’ of an individual. An unrestrained life is an immoral life. (SSB 1979, p. 91)