Verse 8.12
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
सर्वद्वाराणि संयम्य मनो हृदि निरुध्य च | मूर्ध्न्याधायात्मनः प्राणमास्थितो योगधारणाम् ||१२||
Transliteration (IAST)
sarva-dvārāṇi saṁyamya mano hṛdi nirudhya ca | mūrdhny ādhāyātmanaḥ prāṇam āsthito yoga-dhāraṇām ||12||
Word-by-Word Meanings
sarva-dvārāṇi-all the gates (of the body)
saṁyamya-controlling
manaḥ-the mind
hṛdi-in the heart
nirudhya-confining
mūrdhni-on the head
prāṇam-life force
yoga-dhāraṇām-yogic concentration
Translation
Closing all the gates of the body, confining the mind in the heart, and fixing the life force in the head, established in yogic concentration -
Commentary
This verse describes the preparatory technique for departing the body consciously. The 'gates' refer to the nine openings of the body (eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, and two lower apertures). Shankaracharya explains that withdrawing the senses, centering the mind in the heart, and raising prana to the crown constitutes the yogic method of conscious death.
Themes
yogamoksha