📿 Shloka Collection

Sarva-karmani Manasa

Gita 5.13 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5 — Karma Sannyasa Yoga
सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी ।
नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥
Sarva-karmani manasa sannyasyaste sukham vashi
Nava-dvare pure dehi naiva kurvan-na karayan
सर्वकर्माणि
all actions
मनसा
by the mind
संन्यस्य
having renounced
आस्ते
rests
सुखम्
happily
वशी
the self-controlled one
नवद्वारे
in the nine-gated
पुरे
city
देही
the embodied soul
न एव
certainly not
कुर्वन्
doing
न कारयन्
nor causing to be done

Krishna introduces a vivid image. The self-controlled embodied soul mentally renounces all actions and rests happily in the nine-gated city — the body. Neither acting, nor causing others to act.

The body has nine gates: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth, and two lower openings. This is our city. Whoever becomes the true master of this city — whoever mentally surrenders all action to God — lives in this very body with contentment and ease.

This shloka presents the body as a nine-gated city — one of the Gita's most distinctive and memorable images. The key phrase is 'manasa sannyasya' — renunciation by the mind, not by the body. Tradition sees this as a pointer beyond body-identification: the dehi (soul) dwells in the body but is not the body.

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