Bhagavad Gita 8.12 सर्वद्वाराणि संयम्य मनो हृदि निरुध्य च

Bhagavad Gita 8.12 — word by word

Explanation

Closing all the gates of the body, confining the mind within the heart, drawing the life-breath up into the head, and remaining established in yogic concentration — The sentence continues in the next verse, which names the practice and its result.

This verse begins a sentence completed in 8.13. The body's nine gates (eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth and the two lower openings) are a familiar image from 5.13 and the Upanishads. Shutting them means withdrawing attention from the senses (pratyahara). Shankara explains that the mind is held in the heart and the breath then raised through the subtle channel to the crown of the head. Ramanuja reads the passage as the special discipline of those who seek the self. Modern readers often take it as a description of deep meditation, not only of dying.

भावार्थ

इन्द्रियों के सब द्वारों को रोककर, मन को हृदय में स्थिर करके, प्राण को मस्तक में स्थापित करके, योग-धारणा में स्थित होकर — यह वाक्य अगले श्लोक में पूरा होता है।

Frequently asked questions