श्रीमद्भगवद्गीताShrimad Bhagavad Gita 📖 Read as a flipbook

Bhagavad Gita · Dhyana Yoga (Atma-samyama Yoga)Chapter 6, Shloka 13 (6.13)

Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्

समं कायशिरोग्रीवं धारयन्नचलं स्थिरः
सम्प्रेक्ष्य नासिकाग्रं स्वं दिशश्चानवलोकयन्
॥ 6.13 ॥

samaṃ kāyaśirogrīvaṃ dhārayannacalaṃ sthiraḥ
samprekṣya nāsikāgraṃ svaṃ diśaścānavalokayan

Translation

"Holding the trunk, head and neck straight and unmoving, steady, (as if) looking at the tip of one's own nose, and not looking around in any direction — (continued in 6.14)"

Interpretation

Shankaracharya — the dropped "iva" (as if). Samaṃ dhārayataḥ calanaṃ saṃbhavati ataḥ viśinaṣṭi acalam iti — even while holding it straight, movement is possible, so "unmoving" is also said. Important: svaṃ nāsikāgraṃ saṃprekṣya samyak prekṣaṇaṃ darśanaṃ kṛtveva iti, iva-śabdo lupto draṣṭavyaḥ — "as if looking" — the word "iva" (as if) should be understood as hidden here. Na hi sva-nāsikāgra-saṃprekṣaṇam iha vidhitsitam, kiṃ tarhi cakṣuṣo dṛṣṭi-saṃnipātaḥ — staring at the tip of the nose is not the instruction; the meaning is that the eyes' gaze settles and stays steady. The argument: sva-nāsikāgra-saṃprekṣaṇam eva ced vivakṣitam manaḥ tatraiva samādhīyeta nātmani — if looking at the tip of the nose were the goal, the mind would settle on the nose, not on the self; and 6.25 says ātma-saṃsthaṃ manaḥ kṛtvā.

Acharya Ramanuja (6.13–6.14 combined). Kāya-śiro-grīvaṃ samam acalaṃ sāpāśrayatayā sthiraṃ dhārayan — trunk, head and neck straight, unmoving, steady with a support; diśaś ca anavalokayan svaṃ nāsikāgraṃ saṃprekṣya.

The difference: Shankara's "iva" explanation is very important in practice — the gaze is not to be forced onto the nose; Ramanuja again stresses sāpāśraya (support).

AI-assisted draft translation — under review.

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