Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.22
॥
Devanāgarī
बाह्यं प्राणं समाकृष्य पूरयित्वोदरेण च । नासाग्रे नाभिमध्ये च पादाङ्गुष्ठे च धारयेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
bāhyaṃ prāṇaṃ samākṛṣya pūrayitvodareṇa ca | nāsāgre nābhimadhye ca pādāṅguṣṭhe ca dhārayet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
बाह्यं प्राणं समाकृष्यbāhyaṃ prāṇaṃ samākṛṣyahaving drawn in the outer breath
पूरयित्वा उदरेण चpūrayitvā udareṇa caand filled with the belly
नासा-अग्रे नाभि-मध्ये चnāsā-agre nābhi-madhye caat the tip of the nose, in the middle of the navel
पाद-अङ्गुष्ठे च धारयेत्pāda-aṅguṣṭhe ca dhārayetand at the big toe, let him hold
Translation
"Having drawn in the outer breath and filled the belly, let him hold [it] at the tip of the nose, in the middle of the navel, and at the big toe."
Version
c9ef90f50b2d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Dharana, "holding," begins: breath, held within, is directed by attention to a definite place. It is worth explaining what is actually meant, for the description may seem cryptic. The matter is to concentrate attention on a single point of the body, while holding the breath. The breath goes nowhere; it is the attention that shifts, and with it the sensation.
This technique is accessible to anyone and verifiable: if one concentrates on the tip of a finger, within a minute one begins to feel it more distinctly than the rest. Worth noting is that the three named points are three extremities: top (nose), middle (navel), bottom (toe). That is, attention is drawn along the whole length of the body.
The Vaishnava side says little of such work with attention, but one of its remarks fits here. Attention, it says, is the one thing a person fully has at his disposal. He did not choose his body, did not choose his circumstances, did not choose his inclinations; but where to look he chooses every minute.
Hence its books insist that what decides is not strength and not capacity, but smarana, "remembrance," that is, simply what a person thinks of. The Gita ends its eighth chapter with this, repeating twice: "at all times remember Me" (8.7), "one who at the hour of departure remembers Me goes to My being" (8.5).