Lord Krishna
Divine TeacherThe 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 8, Verse 12
Verse 12
The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman
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.
Context & Meaning
The mechanics of the final practice: close all sense-gates, withdraw the mind into the heart, and then draw the life-force (prāṇa) upward to the crown. This is the body of yogic mastery — the ability to consciously withdraw from the outer world and gather oneself inward at will.
Scholar Commentaries
1 commentary · Public domainAdi Shankaracharya
AdvaitaThe "doors" are the sense organs — eyes, ears, nose, skin, tongue. Withdrawing from all of them and fixing the mind in the heart is pratyāhāra. Lifting the prāṇa to the crown is the pinnacle of dhāraṇā (concentration). Together they constitute yogic preparation for death as liberation.