Bhagavad Gita 8.12सर्वद्वाराणि संयम्य मनो हृदि निरुध्य च।मूर्ध्न्याधायात्मनः प्राणमास्थितो योगधारणाम् ॥
sarva-dvārāṇi sanyamya mano hṛidi nirudhya cha
mūrdhnyādhāyātmanaḥ prāṇam āsthito yoga-dhāraṇām
Sanskrit recitation
What you remember at the end · 8.1–8.13 · Teaching
Translation
Having closed all the gates, confined the mind in the heart, and fixed the life-breath in the head, engage in the practice of concentration.
Hindi translation
।।8.12 -- 8.13।। (इन्द्रियोंके) सम्पूर्ण द्वारोंको रोककर मनका हृदयमें निरोध करके और अपने प्राणोंको मस्तकमें स्थापित करके योगधारणामें सम्यक् प्रकारसे स्थित हुआ जो 'ऊँ' इस एक अक्षर ब्रह्मका उच्चारण और मेरा स्मरण करता हुआ शरीरको छोड़कर जाता है, वह परमगतिको प्राप्त होता है।
Meaning
The gates are the senses of knowledge. Closing the gates means control of all senses by the practice of Pratyahara or withdrawal of the consciousness from them. Even if the senses are controlled, the mind will be dwelling on the sensual objects. Therefore the mind is confined or fixed in the lotus of the heart and thery all the thoughts or mental modifications are also controlled. The whole lifreath is now taken up and fixed at the crown of the head (Brahmarandhra or the hole of Brahman).
After Swami Sivananda
What you remember at the end· 8.1–8.13→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 8.1Arjuna said, "What is Brahman? What is Adhyatma? What is action, O best among men? What is…
- 8.2Who and how is Adhiyajna here in this body, O destroyer of Madhu? And how, at the time of…
- 8.3The Blessed Lord said, "Brahman is the Imperishable, the Supreme; its essential nature is…
- 8.4Adhibhuta—knowledge of the elements—pertains to My perishable nature, and the Purusha, or…
- 8.5And whoever, leaving their body, goes forth remembering Me alone at the time of death,…
- 8.6Whoever at the end leaves the body, thinking of any being, to that being only does he go,…
- 8.7Therefore, at all times, remember Me only and fight. With your mind and intellect fixed on…
- 8.8With the mind not moving towards any other thing, made steadfast through the practice of…
- 8.9Whosoever meditates on the Omniscient, the Ancient, the Ruler of the whole world, minuter…
- 8.10At the time of death, with an unwavering mind, endowed with devotion, by the power of…
- 8.11That which is declared to be Imperishable by those who know the Vedas, that which the…
8.12Having closed all the gates, confined the mind in the heart, and fixed the life-breath in…
- 8.13Uttering the one-syllabled Om, the Brahman, and remembering Me, he who departs, leaving…
Word-by-word→
- cha
- and
- hṛidi
- in the heart region
- manaḥ
- the mind
- mūrdhni
- in the head
- nirudhya
- confining
- sanyamya
- restraining
- ādhāya
- establish
- prāṇam
- the life breath
- ātmanaḥ
- of the self
- āsthitaḥ
- situated (in)
- sarva-dvārāṇi
- all gates
- yoga-dhāraṇām
- the yogic concentration
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