वक्त्रेणापूर्य वायुं हुतवहनिलयेऽपानमाकृष्य धृत्वा स्वाङ्गुष्ठाद्यङ्गुलीभिर्वरकरतलयोः षड्भिरेवं निरुध्य । श्रोत्रे नेत्रे च नासापुटयुगलमतोऽनेन मार्गेण सम्यक्पश्यन्ति प्रत्ययाशं प्रणवबहुविधध्यानसंलीनचित्ताः
vaktreṇāpūrya vāyuṃ hutavahanilaye'pānamākṛṣya dhṛtvā svāṅguṣṭhādyaṅgulībhirvarakaratalayoḥ ṣaḍbhirevaṃ nirudhya | śrotre netre ca nāsāpuṭayugalamato'nena mārgeṇa samyakpaśyanti pratyayāśaṃ praṇavabahuvidhadhyānasaṃlīnacittāḥ
"Having filled [oneself] with air through the mouth, having drawn up the apāna into the dwelling of fire and held it, and having thus closed, with one's own fingers beginning with the thumb, the ears, eyes, and both nostrils — by this path those whose minds are absorbed in the manifold meditation on the praṇava see [what is sought] fully."
f40849778a11 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The ṣaṇmukhī-mudrā, "the seal of the six gates," is described: with the fingers one closes the ears, eyes, nostrils, and mouth. This device is known in yogic books and is also called yoni-mudrā; its purpose, as we examined when reading the Varāha (5.43), is to cut off all entrances at once: three paths are shut, one is opened.
Let us repeat here, in briefest form, the objection of the Vaiṣṇava side, for it applies directly to this passage. If all six gates are shut and nothing is opened, the result is not concentration but darkness; and anyone who has plugged his ears knows that his own noise grows louder. Hence its rule requires that there first be somewhere to go: first the object, then the cutting-off of the rest.
Let us add that the verse here itself implies this. For it does not simply say "having closed," but praṇava-bahu-vidha-dhyāna-saṃlīna-cittāḥ, "whose minds are absorbed in the manifold meditation on the praṇava." That is, the object is named, and the closing is performed with it, not instead of it.
Read this way, the device becomes meaningful; and it is worth noting that here they close the ears — and inside they listen, for the next verse will speak of nāda, "the inner hum."