Lord Krishna

Divine Teacher

The Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.

Speaking: Chapter 5, Verse 13

Verse 13

Hard Verse

The Yoga of Renunciation

When the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates [the material body], neither working nor causing work to be done.

Context & Meaning

The soul dwelling in the body — the city of nine gates (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, and two lower openings) — who mentally renounces all actions lives in ease, neither acting nor causing others to act.

Scholar Commentaries

1 commentary · Public domain

Adi Shankaracharya

Advaita Vedanta

The "city of nine gates" is one of the Gita's most vivid images for the body. The soul is the sovereign within the city — it neither acts nor causes action by its own nature. All activity belongs to the body-mind complex and the gunas of prakriti. The wise person understands this and abides in that understanding, living peacefully without identifying with the city's bustle.