श्रीमद्भगवद्गीताShrimad Bhagavad Gita 📖 Read as a flipbook

Bhagavad Gita · Dhyana Yoga (Atma-samyama Yoga)Chapter 6, Shloka 12 (6.12)

Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्

तत्रैकाग्रं मनः कृत्वा यतचित्तेन्द्रियक्रियः
उपविश्याऽऽसने युञ्ज्याद् योगमात्मविशुद्धये
॥ 6.12 ॥

tatraikāgraṃ manaḥ kṛtvā yatacittendriyakriyaḥ
upaviśyā''sane yuñjyād yogamātmaviśuddhaye

Translation

"Sitting on that seat, making the mind one-pointed, restraining the activities of the mind and senses, let one practise yoga for the purification of the self."

Interpretation

Shankaracharya. Sarva-viṣayebhyaḥ upasaṃhṛtya ekāgraṃ manaḥ kṛtvā — gathering the mind in from all objects and making it one-pointed; cittaṃ ca indriyāṇi ca … teṣāṃ kriyāḥ saṃyatā yasya — one whose activities of mind and senses are restrained; the aim, ātma-viśuddhaye antaḥkaraṇasya viśuddhy-artham — for the purification of the inner being. And further: bāhyam āsanam uktam adhunā śarīra-dhāraṇaṃ katham — the outer seat has been described, now how to hold the body (6.13).

Acharya Ramanuja (6.11–6.12 combined). Yoga-ekāgram avyākulam manaḥ kṛtvā — a mind one-pointed in yoga and untroubled; sarvātmanā upasaṃhṛta-cittendriya-kriyaḥ — the activities of mind and senses fully gathered in; ātma-viśuddhaye bandha-vimuktaye yogaṃ yuñjyāt ātmāvalokanaṃ kurvīta — for the purification of the self, that is, for freedom from bondage, let one practise the vision of the self.

The difference: "Ātma-viśuddhi" — Shankara: purification of the inner being (the mind); Ramanuja: the self's freedom from bondage. For both, the goal of meditation is inner transformation, not mere relaxation.

AI-assisted draft translation — under review.

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