mantras and rhythmically repeated" like Om that is audibly or silent contemplated on. The direction of deep meditation, in the text, is towards detaching the mind from sensory distractions and disturbances outside of oneself, submerging it instead on the indwelling spirit and one's soul towards the state of Samadhi, a state of bliss (Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 6: Yoga of Meditation). The Gita presents a synthesis of the Brahmanical concept of Dharma with bhakti, the yogic ideals of liberation through jnana, and Samkhya philosophy. It is the "locus classicus" of the "Hindu synthesis" which emerged around the beginning of the Common Era, integrating Brahmanic and shramanic ideas with theistic devotion. The Bhagavad Gita talks of four branches of yoga: Karma Yoga: The yoga of work in the world Jnāna yoga: The yoga of knowledge and intellectual endeavor Bhakti Yoga: The yoga of devotion Dhyāna Yoga: The yoga of meditation (sometimes called Raja yoga or Ashtanga yoga) The Dhyana Yoga system is specifically described by Krishna in chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (dated ca. 400 CE), a key text of the Yoga school of Hindu philosophy, Dhyana is the seventh limb of this path, following Dharana and preceding Samadhi. Dhyana is integrally related to Dharana, one leads to other. Dharana is a state of mind, Dhyana the process of mind. Dhyana is distinct from Dharana in that the meditator becomes actively engaged with its focus. Patanjali defines contemplation (Dhyana) as the mind process, where the mind is fixed on something, and then there is "a course of uniform modification of knowledge". Bronkhorst states that Buddhist influences are noticeable in the first chapter of the Yogasutras, and confirmed by sutra 1.20 because it mentions asamprajnata samadhi is preceded by "trust (sraddha), energy (virya), mindfulness (smriti), concentration (samadhi), and insight (prajna)". According to Bronkhorst, "the definition of Yoga given in the first chapter of the Yoga Sutra does not fit the descriptions contained in the same chapter," and this may suggest the sutra incorporated Buddhist elements as described in the four jhanas. Wynne, in contrast to Bronkhorst's theory, states that the evidence in early Buddhist texts, such as those found in Suttapitaka, suggest that these foundational ideas on formless meditation and element meditation were borrowed from pre-Buddha Brahamanical sources attested in early Upanishads and ultimately the cosmological theory found in