Devanagari
सर्वद्वाराणि संयम्य मनो हृदि निरुध्य च ।
मूध्न्र्याधायात्मन: प्राणमास्थितो योगधारणाम् ॥ १२ ॥
Verse text
sarva-dvārāṇi saṁyamya
mano hṛdi nirudhya ca
mūrdhny ādhāyātmanaḥ prāṇam
āsthito yoga-dhāraṇām
Synonyms
sarva-dvārāṇi
—
all the doors of the body
;
saṁyamya
—
controlling
;
manaḥ
—
the mind
;
hṛdi
—
in the heart
;
nirudhya
—
confining
;
ca
—
also
;
mūrdhni
—
on the head
;
ādhāya
—
fixing
;
ātmanaḥ
—
of the soul
;
prāṇam
—
the life air
;
āsthitaḥ
—
situated in
;
yoga-dhāraṇām
—
the yogic situation.
Translation
The yogic situation is that of detachment from all sensual engagements. Closing all the doors of the senses and fixing the mind on the heart and the life air at the top of the head, one establishes himself in yoga.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
12-13. He who leaves his body while withdrawing the senses from senses objects, concentrating the mind in the heart, fixing the prāṇa at the ājṣā-cakra, completely absorbing his thoughts in Me, uttering “om” and remembering Me constantly, attains My planet.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
12-13. He who leaves his body while withdrawing the senses from senses objects, concentrating the mind in the heart, fixing the prāṇa at the ajṣa cakra, completely absorbing his thoughts in Me, uttering “om” and remembering Me constantly, attains My planet.
Purport
To practice yoga as suggested here, one first has to close the doors of all sense enjoyment. This practice is called pratyāhāra, or withdrawing the senses from the sense objects. The sense organs for acquiring knowledge – the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and touch – should be fully controlled and should not be allowed to engage in self-gratification. In this way the mind focuses on the Supersoul in the heart, and the life force is raised to the top of the head. In the Sixth Chapter this process is described in detail. But as mentioned before, this practice is not practical in this age. The best process is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If one is always able to fix his mind on Kṛṣṇa in devotional service, it is very easy for him to remain in an undisturbed transcendental trance, or in samādhi.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Elaborating what was previous spoken, the Lord describes the method of yoga. Withdrawing the openings of all the senses (sarva-dvārāṇi) from the external objects; confining the mind to the heart, with no desire for other objects; fixing the prāṇa between the brows (mūrdhni); and taking shelter of Me completely (yoga-dhāraṇām); uttering just one syllable, om, the form of Brahman; and meditating continuously upon Me (mām anusmaran) represented by om— giving up his body, he attains sālokyam (paramāṁ gatim). [Note: From this statement it would appear that this yoga-miśra-bhakta attains a similar state as the three types of sakāma-bhaktas mentioned in chapter 7.]
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
This verse speaks of the method of yoga. One should control all the external doors of knowledge (the senses such as the ear), withdrawing them (pratyahara) from the sense objects such as sound, receiving the sense objects by senses disinterested in enjoyment by repeatedly seeing their faults. But even in controlling the senses, the mind will wander. Therefore, concentrate the mind, the door to internal knowledge, upon Me, situated in the heart, even though by the mind one remembers the sense objects. Then, one should control the prāṇa, the door to actions, in the lotus of the heart, and then one should gradually, as one gains control, establish it at the ājṣā cakra and then at the top of the head (mūrdhṇy ādhāya), on the path of the suṣumna moving upwards, under the instruction of the guru. Doing this, one should carry out the practice of thinking (yoga dhāraṇām) of Me (ātmanaḥ) from foot to head.
One should pronounce internally om, representing brahman. Om is praised with the words eka akṣaram. Om is the chief sound (eka) which is indestructible (akṣaram). Then one should meditate (anusmaran means dhyāna) on Me, paramātmā, indicated by that sound. Meditating in this way, when he departs, giving up the body, he attains liberation in the form of attaining My planet—sālokya (paramam gatim). [Note: Perhaps there is a distinction between the yoga miśra bhakta and the aṣṭaṅga yogī described in chapter 6, who attained liberation through vision of ātmā and paramātmā.]