🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 8.12

Chapter 8 · अक्षरब्रह्मयोग · Akṣara-Brahma-Yoga · "The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman" · Verse 12 of 28

सर्वद्वाराणि संयम्य मनो हृदि निरुध्य च।

मूर्ध्न्याधायात्मनः प्राणमास्थितो योगधारणाम्।।8.12।।
— Bhagavad-Gītā 8.12 · Devanāgarī root text

🪷 English Translations

5 received English translations are available for this śloka. Each voice is labelled; no single rendering is presented as the Sanskrit itself.

Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 edition attribution in the received data
8.12 Closing the gates of the body, drawing the forces of his mind into the heart and by the power of meditation concentrating his vital energy in the brain;
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
8.12 Having closed all the gates, confined the mind in the heart and fixed the life-breath in the head, engaged in the practice of concentration.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
8.12 Samyamya, having controlled; sarva-dvarani, all the passages, the doors of perception; niruddhya, having confined; the manah, mind; hrdi, in the heart-not allowing it to spread out; and after that, with the help of the mind controlled therein, rising up through the nerve running upward from the heart, adhaya, having fixed; atmanah, his own; pranam, vital force; murdhni, in the lead; (and then) asthitah, continuing in; yogadharanam, the firmness in yoga-in order to make it steady-. And while fixing it there itself,
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
8.12 - 8.13 Subduing all the senses like ear etc., which constitute the 'doorways' for sense impressions, i.e., withdrawing them from their natural functions; holding the mind in Me, the imperishable 'seated within the lotus of the heart'; practising 'steady abstraction of mind (Dharana) which is called concentration or Yoga,' i.e., abiding in Me alone in a steady manner; uttering the sacred 'syllable Om,' the brahman which connotes Me; remembering Me, who am expressed by the syllable Om; and fixing his 'life-breath within the head' - whosoever abandons the body and departs in this way reaches the highest state. He reaches the pure self freed from Prakrti, which is akin to My form. From that state there is no return. Such is the meaning. Later on Sri Krsna will elucidate: 'They describe that as the highest goal of the Atman, which is not destroyed when all things are destroyed, which is unmanifest and imperishable' (8.2021). Thus, the modes of contemplation on the Lord by the aspirants after prosperity and Kaivalya (Atmann-consciousness) have been taught according to the goal they lead to. Now, Sri Krsna teaches the way of meditation on the Lord by the Jnanin and the mode of attainment by him.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
8.12. Properly controlling all the gates [in the body]; well restraining the mind in the heat; fixing one's own prana in the head; taking resort to the firmness of the Yoga;

🪷 Hindi Translation · हिन्दी अनुवाद

Received Hindi rendering attributed in the source data to Swami Rāmsukhdās ji.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Hindi rendering · source-data attribution
।।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।

🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices

5 received English commentary layers are available for this śloka. Open only the voice you wish to study.

Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
8.12 सर्वद्वाराणि all gates? संयम्य having controlled? मनः mind? हृदि in the heart? निरुध्य having confined? ट and? मूर्ध्नि in the head? आधाय having placed? आत्मनः of the self? प्राणम् breath? आस्थितः established (in)? योगधारणाम् practice of concentration.Commentary 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).
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
8.12 Samyamya, having controlled; sarva-dvarani, all the passages, the doors of perception; niruddhya, having confined; the manah, mind; hrdi, in the heart-not allowing it to spread out; and after that, with the help of the mind controlled therein, rising up through the nerve running upward from the heart, adhaya, having fixed; atmanah, his own; pranam, vital force; murdhni, in the lead; (and then) asthitah, continuing in; yogadharanam, the firmness in yoga-in order to make it steady-. And while fixing it there itself,
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
8.12 - 8.13 Subduing all the senses like ear etc., which constitute the 'doorways' for sense impressions, i.e., withdrawing them from their natural functions; holding the mind in Me, the imperishable 'seated within the lotus of the heart'; practising 'steady abstraction of mind (Dharana) which is called concentration or Yoga,' i.e., abiding in Me alone in a steady manner; uttering the sacred 'syllable Om,' the brahman which connotes Me; remembering Me, who am expressed by the syllable Om; and fixing his 'life-breath within the head' - whosoever abandons the body and departs in this way reaches the highest state. He reaches the pure self freed from Prakrti, which is akin to My form. From that state there is no return. Such is the meaning. Later on Sri Krsna will elucidate: 'They describe that as the highest goal of the Atman, which is not destroyed when all things are destroyed, which is unmanifest and imperishable' (8.2021). Thus, the modes of contemplation on the Lord by the aspirants after prosperity and Kaivalya (Atmann-consciousness) have been taught according to the goal they lead to. Now, Sri Krsna teaches the way of meditation on the Lord by the Jnanin and the mode of attainment by him.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
8.12 See Comment under 8.14
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।8.12।। See Commentary under 8.13.

🪷 Hindi Vyākhyā · हिन्दी व्याख्या

Received Hindi vyākhyā attributed in the source data to Swami Rāmsukhdās ji.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Hindi vyākhyā · source-data attribution
।।8.12।। व्याख्या--'सर्वद्वाराणि संयम्य'--(अन्तसमयमें) सम्पूर्ण इन्द्रियोंके द्वारोंका संयम कर ले अर्थात् शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप, रस और गन्ध-- इन पाँचों विषयोंसे श्रोत्र, त्वचा, नेत्र, रसना और नासिका-- इन पाँचों ज्ञानेन्द्रियोंको तथा बोलना, ग्रहण करना, गमन करना, मूत्र-त्याग और मल-त्याग-- इन पाँचों क्रियाओंसे वाणी, हाथ, चरण, उपस्थ और गुदा--इन पाँचों कर्मेन्द्रियोंको सर्वथा हटा ले। इससे इन्द्रियाँ अपने स्थानमें रहेंगी।

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APA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. (n.d.). Bhagavad-Gītā 8.12. Vidhyāmitra. Retrieved 2026-08-17, from https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/8/12
Chicago: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 8.12." Vidhyāmitra. Accessed 2026-08-17. https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/8/12.
MLA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 8.12." Vidhyāmitra, 2026, https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/8/12.
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This page is rendered from the pinned 701-address witness documented on the Gītā index. Publication and search-indexing authorization for every bundled translation and commentary layer was confirmed on 4 August 2026; the exact received recension boundary remains disclosed separately.

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सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)