Mūla — the verse
Gita Press numberingTranslation
Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣyaHolding the body, head, and neck erect and still, being steady, looking at the tip of his own nose and not looking around.
हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda
काया, सिर और ग्रीवा को समान और अचल धारण किये हुए स्थिर होकर अपनी नासिका के अग्र भाग को देखकर अन्य दिशाओं को न देखता हुआ।।
Pronunciation — Vaamshii
from VaamshiiWord by word
padārthaThemes
from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad GītāMeaning — Questions & Solutions
from Q&A with KnA“Gazing at the tip of the nose (nāsikāgraṁ), not looking about.” Two readings have long been offered. The literal one takes it as the physical nose-tip: the half-closed eyes rest there, which quietens the restless outward glance and draws the attention inward without the strain of full closure (which invites sleep). The subtler reading takes nāsikāgra as the root of the nose, the point between the brows — the seat named again at 5.27 and 8.10 — as the focus of attention. Both work; the first is a steadying of the eyes, the second a fixing of the inner gaze. Beginners do well with the first.