Shloka 21
The Lord in the Heart and the Discipline of Yoga-Bhakti
तस्माद् भ्रुवोरन्तरमुन्नयेत निरुद्धसप्तायतनोऽनपेक्ष: । स्थित्वा मुहूर्तार्धमकुण्ठदृष्टि- र्निर्भिद्य मूर्धन् विसृजेत्परं गत: ॥ २१ ॥
tasmād bhruvor antaram unnayeta niruddha-saptāyatano ’napekṣaḥ sthitvā muhūrtārdham akuṇṭha-dṛṣṭir nirbhidya mūrdhan visṛjet paraṁ gataḥ
Selepas itu bhakti-yogī mengangkat prāṇa ke antara kening. Dengan menutup tujuh saluran keluarnya prāṇa dan tanpa keterikatan, dia bertahan setengah muhūrta dengan pandangan teguh; kemudian menembusi lubang di ubun-ubun, mencapai Yang Maha Tinggi dan melepaskan ikatan jasmani.
The process of giving up all material connections and returning home, back to Godhead, the Supreme, is recommended herein. The condition is that one should be completely freed from desire for material enjoyment. There are different grades of material enjoyments in respect to duration of life and sensual gratification. The highest plane of sensual enjoyment for the longest period of life is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.20) . All are but material enjoyments, and one should be thoroughly convinced that he has no need of such a long duration of life, even in the Brahmaloka planet. He must return home, back to Godhead, and must not be attracted by any amount of material facilities. In the Bhagavad-gītā (2.59) it is said that this sort of material detachment is possible to attain when one is acquainted with the supreme association of life. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate. One cannot be freed from material attraction unless he has complete understanding of the nature of spiritual life. The propaganda by a certain class of impersonalists that spiritual life is void of all varieties is dangerous propaganda to mislead the living beings into becoming more and more attracted by material enjoyments. As such, persons with a poor fund of knowledge cannot have any conception of the param, the Supreme; they try to stick to the varieties of material enjoyments, although they may flatter themselves as being Brahman-realized souls. Such less intelligent persons cannot have any conception of the param, as mentioned in this verse, and therefore they cannot reach the Supreme. The devotees have full knowledge of the spiritual world, the Personality of Godhead and His transcendental association in unlimited spiritual planets called Vaikuṇṭhalokas. Herein akuṇṭha-dṛṣṭiḥ is mentioned. Akuṇṭha and vaikuṇṭha convey the same import, and only one who has his aim fixed upon that spiritual world and personal association with the Godhead can give up his material connections even while living in the material world. This param and the paraṁ dhāma mentioned in several places in the Bhagavad-gītā are one and the same thing. One who goes to the paraṁ dhāma does not return to the material world. This freedom is not possible even by reaching the topmost loka of the material world.
FAQs
This verse instructs focusing the life-air at the point between the eyebrows with steady concentration, as part of a disciplined yogic process aimed at reaching the supreme destination.
Because Parīkṣit had only a short time before death, Śukadeva explains practical, scriptural methods of fixing consciousness and departing in remembrance of the Supreme.
Practice sense-restraint, reduce external dependence, and cultivate steady concentration in meditation—using the verse as inspiration to live and die with focused spiritual awareness.