Contents
Shri Sankara's Gita Bhashya
(Sri Sankaracharya's Commentary on the Gita)
CHAPTER -6
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13. Holding erect and still the body, head and neck, and being firm, gazing at the tip of his nose and not looking around; (The sentence is completed in the next verse) Holding erect and still the body, head and neck - There is the possibility of motion when holding the body etc. erect; hence the qualification 'still'. And being firm, gazing at the Up of his nose - the word ' iva' (as it were) has to be understood (before 'at the tip'); he is to gaze, as it were, exactly at the tip of his nose; it is not intended to lay down that the lip of the nose should be actually gazed at. What else then? The descent of the eye-sight[1] (i.e. fixing it within) is meant. And this depends on the composure of the mind. If gazing at the tip of the nose be deemed to have been prescribed, the mind would have to be concentrated there alone and not on the Self. But, as a matter of fact, in the words, "keep ing the mind established in the Self"[2], the Lord prescribes the composure of the mind in the Self. Therefore, the word ' iva' (as it were) being understood, the 'fixing of eye-sight within' is meant by ' gazing'. And not looking around without looking about this side and that, now and then. And further, |
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