Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 1.5
॥
Devanāgarī
प्राणायामस्तथा ब्रह्मन्प्रत्याहारस्ततः परम् । धारणा च तथा ध्यानं समाधिश्चाष्टमं मुने
Transliteration (IAST)
prāṇāyāmastathā brahmanpratyāhārastataḥ param | dhāraṇā ca tathā dhyānaṃ samādhiścāṣṭamaṃ mune
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्राणायामः तथा ब्रह्मन्prāṇāyāmaḥ tathā brahmanbreath control, likewise, O brahmin
प्रत्याहारः ततः परम्pratyāhāraḥ tataḥ paramwithdrawal of the senses, next
धारणा च तथा ध्यानंdhāraṇā ca tathā dhyānaṃand concentration, and contemplation
समाधिः च अष्टमं मुनेsamādhiḥ ca aṣṭamaṃ muneand absorption — the eighth, O sage
Translation
"…breath control, O brahmin, withdrawal of the senses next, concentration and contemplation, and absorption — the eighth, O sage."
Version
6761608d6f8f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The list is now complete: pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi. These are worth explaining in simple words, since the book will examine each one further on, and it is better to enter that examination already knowing the general shape. Pranayama — "the holding of breath": breath is the only bodily function that can be governed at will, and hence through it one approaches what does not yield to the will at all.
Pratyahara — "drawing back": the senses are drawn back from their objects, as a tortoise draws in its limbs; the comparison is taken from the Gita (2.58). Dharana — "holding": the mind is set upon a single point and held there. Dhyana — "contemplation": the holding becomes continuous, like the flow of oil, not of drops.
Samadhi — "placing together": one object alone remains, and the awareness of oneself as a separate onlooker falls still. This ladder, on inspection, moves from outside inward: conduct, body, breath, senses, mind, and finally what lies beyond mind. The order is reasonable, and anyone who has tried starting in the middle knows why it is so.
The point of dispute is the question of the last rung: what exactly remains there. The nondualist answer: nothing remains but nondual consciousness, and the distinction between the one who contemplates and the object contemplated vanishes. The Vaishnava answer: an object of contemplation remains, and it is precisely for this that samadhi has value. The Bhagavatam defines it directly: samadhir yad amala-dhiyah — perfect concentration is that in which the mind is unceasingly occupied with the Lord; and hence it is said there not "the mind emptied," but "the mind is occupied."
The difference between "emptied" and "occupied by one" is, in substance, the whole dispute over the goal of yoga; and it cannot be settled by the word samadhi alone, for the word means "a placing together," and what is placed with what must be sought in the books themselves.