Shloka 12

अक्षरब्रह्मयोगः | Akṣara-Brahma-Yoga

The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman

Devanagari script

तत्रैकाग्रं मन: कृत्वा यतचित्तेन्द्रियक्रिय: । उपविश्यासने युगठ्ज्याद्‌ योगमात्मविशुद्धये

Transliteration

tatraikāgraṁ manaḥ kṛtvā yatacittendriyakriyaḥ | upaviśyāsane yuñjyād yogaṁ ātmaviśuddhaye ||

Translation

ထိုနေရာ၌ သင့်လျော်သော အာသနပေါ်၌ ထိုင်၍ စိတ်နှင့် အာရုံတို့၏ လှုပ်ရှားမှုကို ထိန်းချုပ်ကာ စိတ်ကို တစ်ချက်တည်း စူးစိုက်စေ၏။ အတွင်းစိတ်ကို သန့်စင်ရန် ယောဂကျင့်စဉ်ကို လေ့ကျင့်အပ်၏။

Word by Word

• तत्र: there; in that place/context
• तत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र

• एकाग्रम्: one-pointed; concentrated
• एकाग्रम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एकाग्र
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• मनः: mind
• मनः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनस्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• कृत्वा: having made
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund)

• यतचित्तेन्द्रियक्रियः: one whose mind and sense-activities are restrained
• यतचित्तेन्द्रियक्रियः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यत-चित्त-इन्द्रिय-क्रिया
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उपविश्य: having sat down
• Type: Verb
• Root: उप-विश्
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund)

• आसने: on a seat; in a posture
• आसने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आसन
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• युञ्ज्यात्: should practice; should yoke/apply (himself)
• Type: Verb
• Root: युज्
• Form: Vidhi-lin (optative), Present-system, 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• योगम्: yoga; disciplined practice
• योगम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: योग
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• आत्मविशुद्धये: for purification of the inner self
• आत्मविशुद्धये: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्म-विशुद्धि
• Form: Feminine, Dative, Singular

Speaker

अर्जुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• āsana (seat/posture)
• yoga

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches disciplined preparation for yoga: sit properly, restrain the mind and senses, and cultivate one-pointed concentration, because inner purification is the foundation for ethical clarity and steady action.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Bhīṣma Parva setting, the instruction turns to inner discipline: the speaker presents a practical method for meditation—posture, restraint, and concentration—framing yoga as a means to cleanse the inner instrument (mind/heart) amid the larger pressures of the war narrative.