Shloka 13

अक्षरब्रह्मयोगः | Akṣara-Brahma-Yoga

The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman

Devanagari script

सम॑ कायशिशरोग्रीवं धारयन्नचलं स्थिर: । सम्प्रेक्ष्य नासिकाग्रं स्वं दिशश्वानवलोकयन्‌

Transliteration

samaṁ kāyaśirogrīvaṁ dhārayann acalaṁ sthiraḥ | samprekṣya nāsikāgraṁ svaṁ diśaś cānavalokayan ||

Translation

ကိုယ်ခန္ဓာ၊ ခေါင်းနှင့် လည်ပင်းကို တန်းညီစွာ မလှုပ်မယှက် ထိန်းထား၍ တည်ငြိမ်စွာ ရပ်တည်ကာ မိမိနှာခေါင်းအဖျားကိုသာ မျက်စိတည်စေပြီး အခြားအရပ်များသို့ မကြည့်စေ။

Word by Word

• समम्: evenly, equally
• समम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• काय: body
• काय: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: काय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• शिरः: head
• शिरः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिरस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• ग्रीवम्: neck
• ग्रीवम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: ग्रीवा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• धारयन्: holding, maintaining
• धारयन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: धृ (धातु)
• Form: शतृ (वर्तमान कृदन्त), परस्मैपदी-प्रयोग (कर्तरि), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• अचलम्: motionless
• अचलम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अचल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• स्थिरः: steady
• स्थिरः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्थिर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• सम्प्रेक्ष्य: having fixed (the gaze), having looked at
• सम्प्रेक्ष्य: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्+प्रेक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: ल्यप् (क्त्वान्त/अव्ययीभाव-प्रयोग), कर्तरि, true

• नासिका-अग्रम्: tip of the nose
• नासिका-अग्रम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: नासिका + अग्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• स्वम्: one's own
• स्वम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• दिशः: directions
• दिशः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिश् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च
• Form: true

• अनवलोकयन्: not looking (at), not glancing
• अनवलोकयन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अनु+अवलोक् (धातु)
• Form: शतृ (वर्तमान कृदन्त), कर्तरि, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

अर्जुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• nose-tip (nāsikāgra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches physical and mental steadiness as a foundation for ethical clarity: align the body, keep it motionless, and focus attention narrowly (on the nose-tip) to prevent the mind from scattering toward external distractions.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma Parva’s battlefield setting, Arjuna describes a yogic practice of posture and gaze-control—how one should sit/hold oneself and direct the eyes—indicating a turn inward toward disciplined concentration amid outward turmoil.