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Bhagavad-gītā 5.13

सर्वकर्माणि मनसा सन्न्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी । नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥ १३ ॥
sarva-karmāṇi manasā
[sarva-karmaani manasaa]
sannyasyāste sukhaṁ vaśī
[sannyasyaaste sukham vashee]
nava-dvāre pure dehī
[nava-dvaare pure dehee]
naiva kurvan na kārayan
[naiva kurvan na kaarayan]
Word-for-word
sarva — all karmāṇi — activities manasā — by the mind sannyasya — giving up āste — remains sukham — in happiness vaśī — one who is controlled nava - dvāre — in the place where there are nine gates pure — in the city dehī — the embodied soul na — never eva — certainly kurvan — doing anything na — not kārayan — causing to be done .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
sarva-karmāṇi manasā
sarva
all
karmāṇi
activities
manasā
by the mind
sannyasyāste sukhaṁ vaśī
sannyasya
giving up
āste
remains
sukham
in happiness
vaśī
one who is controlled
nava-dvāre pure dehī
nava - dvāre
in the place where there are nine gates
pure
in the city
dehī
the embodied soul
naiva kurvan na kārayan
na
never
eva
certainly
kurvan
doing anything
na
not
kārayan
causing to be done .
Important Words
  • nava-dvāre pure — in the city of nine gates
    Nava — nine. Dvāra — gate. Pura — city. The body's nine apertures (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, anus, genitals) are the city's gates. The metaphor casts the body as municipal infrastructure, the soul as a citizen with rented quarters.
  • vaśī — one who is controlled
    From √vaś — 'to bring under one's will.' Vaśī is the master who has brought his own nature into his own hand. The same root produces avaśa (out of control), the opposite condition. Mastery of the city begins with mastery of oneself in it.
  • manasā sannyasya — mentally renouncing
    Manas — mind. Sannyasya — absolutive of sam + ni + as. 'Having renounced with the mind.' This is the Gītā's signature move: renunciation is relocated from the orange cloth to the mind's interior gesture.
  • dehī — the embodied soul
    From deha, body. Dehī — 'the one who possesses a body.' The very word distinguishes the soul from the body; you cannot 'possess' what you are. Sanskrit grammar itself preaches the verse.
  • kārayan — causing to be done
    Causative participle of √kṛ. The verse negates this term: na kārayan — not even causing action through others. The soul is not the indirect causer either. The disclaimer reaches past direct action to the subtler claim of being-the-one-behind-the-scenes.
When the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates [the material body], neither working nor causing work to be done.
Classical Sanskrit analysis शास्त्रीय विश्लेषण
How Sanskrit scholars read this verse — split, rearranged, grammar-tagged. For the plain English distilled meaning, jump to Plain meaning below.
Auto-generated study layers — original analysis of the public-domain śloka. Review against a published edition for academic work.
Plain meaning (तात्पर्य · Tātparya)
The self-controlled dehī, having mentally renounced all action, dwells at ease in the nine-gated city — the body — neither acting nor causing to act. The renunciation is interior; the body still functions, but the dweller is at rest.
Further notes (विवरण · Vivaraṇa)
Nava-dvāre pure: the body as a nine-gated city — two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, anus, urethra (some traditions count the navel instead). The image distances the dehī from the dehā: he is resident, not owner-operator. Manasā sannyasya — by mind, not by walking away. Cross-ref 18.13–17 (the five factors of action).
Prose order (अन्वय · Anvaya)
वशी देही सर्व-कर्माणि मनसा सन्न्यस्य न एव कुर्वन् न कारयन् नव-द्वारे पुरे सुखम् आस्ते ।
vaśī dehī sarva-karmāṇi manasā sannyasya na eva kurvan na kārayan nava-dvāre pure sukham āste |
The self-controlled embodied one, mentally renouncing all actions, neither acting nor causing to act, dwells happily in the city of nine gates.
Word split (पदच्छेद · Padaccheda)
सर्व-कर्माणि मनसा सन्न्यस्य आस्ते सुखम् वशी । नव-द्वारे पुरे देही न एव कुर्वन् न कारयन् ॥
sarva-karmāṇi manasā sannyasya āste sukham vaśī | nava-dvāre pure dehī na eva kurvan na kārayan ||
Grammar (व्याकरण · Vyākaraṇa)
SanskritIASTGrammarMeaning
सर्व-कर्माणि sarva-karmāṇi सर्व + कर्मन् (n.) acc.pl. (accusative plural), karmadhāraya all actions
मनसा manasā मनस् (n.) ins.sg. (instrumental singular) with the mind
सन्न्यस्य sannyasya सम् + नि + √अस् abs. (absolutive) having renounced
आस्ते āste √आस् pres. (present) 3sg.ātm. (ātmanepada / middle voice) sits, dwells
सुखम् sukham सुख (n.) acc.sg. (accusative singular), adv. happily
वशी vaśī वशिन् (adj.) nom.sg. (nominative singular)m. self-controlled
नव-द्वारे nava-dvāre नवन् + द्वार (n.) loc.sg. (locative singular), bahuvrīhi cpd. (compound) in the nine-gated
पुरे pure पुर (n.) loc.sg. (locative singular) in the city
देही dehī देहिन् (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular) the embodied one
न एव na eva ind. (indeclinable) not at all
कुर्वन् kurvan √कृ pres. (present) act. part. nom.sg. (nominative singular)m. doing
कारयन् kārayan √कृ caus. (causative) pres. (present) act. part. nom.sg. (nominative singular)m. causing to do
Purport

The embodied soul lives in the city of nine gates. The activities of the body, or the figurative city of body, are conducted automatically by its particular modes of nature. The soul, although subjecting himself to the conditions of the body, can be beyond those conditions, if he so desires. Owing only to forgetfulness of his superior nature, he identifies with the material body, and therefore suffers. By Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can revive his real position and thus come out of his embodiment. Therefore, when one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one at once becomes completely aloof from bodily activities. In such a controlled life, in which his deliberations are changed, he lives happily within the city of nine gates. The nine gates are mentioned as follows: nava-dvāre pure dehī haṁso lelāyate bahiḥ vaśī sarvasya lokasya sthāvarasya carasya ca “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is living within the body of a living entity, is the controller of all living entities all over the universe. The body consists of nine gates [two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, one mouth, the anus and the genitals]. The living entity in his conditioned stage identifies himself with the body, but when he identifies himself with the Lord within himself, he becomes just as free as the Lord, even while in the body.” ( Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.18) Therefore, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person is free from both the outer and inner activities of the material body.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
13. Renouncing the activities by the mind while engaging in them, controlling the senses, he remains comfortable in the body which is a city with nine gates, knowing that he does nothing, nor causes anyone to do anything
Commentary

If one performs actions without attachment, as previously stated in verse 3, he is the real sannyāsī. If one performs actions with the external body, but renounces in the mind, one resides happily, controlling the senses (vaśī). Where? One resides in the city of nine gates, in the body devoid of the misconception of “this is me.” The dweller in the body, the jīva (dehī), having attained knowledge, does nothing at all, knowing that he is not the cause of happiness through his actions and that he is not the cause of others doing actions.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
13. Offering all the activities into pradhāna by the mind, while engaging in those activities and controlling the senses, the jīva with knowledge of ātmā remains comfortable in the body which is a city with nine gates. He knows that he does nothing, nor causes anyone else to do anything
Commentary

Though performing activities externally with the body and senses, having offered (saṁnyasya) all activities into that pradhāna with the discriminating mind, being in control of his senses (vaśi), he remains happy. The body is like a city with nine gates. Seven gates consisting of two eyes, two nostrils, two ears and mouth, are in the head. Two gates, the anus and genital are in the lower part of the body. The dehī, the jīva who has attained knowledge, understands that the ātmā, separate from the body (on its own), is not the doer or the cause of anyone else doing anything.

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

Establishes the role of Jivatma

THEME: One in knowledge sees the body, not the self as the performer and cause of work. Activities of body

are conducted automatically by its modes.

Purpose of discussion is to convince the embodied living entity that ‘I am not the only doer’
Embodied living entity resides happily in the city of nine gates, neither working nor causing work to be done, when he
Controls his nature and
Mentally renounces all actions
Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
5.13 Aste, he continues; sukham, happily; sannyasya, having given up; sarva-karmani, all actions-nitya, naimittika, kamya and nisiddha (prohibited actions); [See note on p. 128.-Tr.] manasa, mentally, through discriminating wisdom-i.e. having given up (all actions) by seeing inaction in action, etc. Freed from the activities of speech, mind and body, effortles, placid in mind, and devoid of all external wants which are different from the Self, he continues happily. This is what has been said. Where and how does the vasi, man of self-control, i.e. one who has his organs under control, remain? This is being answered: Nava-dvare pure, in the town with nine gates, of which seven [Two ears, two eyes nostrils, and mouth.] are in the head for one's own experiences, and two are below for urination and defecation. As possessed of those gates, it is called the 'town with nine gates'. Being like a town, the body is called a town with the Self as its only master. And it is inhabited by the organs, mind, intellect and objects, like citizens, as it were, which serve its needs and which are productive of many results and experience. Renouncing all actions, the dehi, embodied one, resides in that town with nine gates. Objection: What is the need of this specification? For all embodied beings, be they monks or not, reside in bodies to be sure! That being so, the specification is needless. The answer is: The embodied one, however, who is unenlightened, who perceives merely the aggregate of the body and organs as the Self, he, in his totality, thinks, 'I am in a house, on the ground, or on the seat.' For one who experiences the body alone as the Self, there can certainly be no such conviction as, 'I am in the body, like one's being in a house.' But, for one who realizes the Self as distinct from the aggregate of body etc. it becomes reasonable to have the conviction, 'I am in the bdoy. It is reasonable that as a result of knowledge in the form of discriminating wisdom, there can be a mental renunciation of the actions of others, which have been ignorantly superimposed on the supreme Self. Even in the case of one in whom has arisen discriminating wisdom and who has renounced all actions, there can be, like staying in a house, the continuance in the body itself-the town with nine gates-as a conseence of the persistence of the remnants of the results of past actions which have started bearing fruit, because the awareness of being distinct (from the body) arises while one is in the body itself. Form the point of veiw of the difference between the convictions of the enlightened and the unenlightened persons, the alifying words, 'He continues in the body itself', do have a purpose to serve. Although it has been stated that one continues (in the body) by relinishing actions of the body and organs ignorantly superimposed on the Self, still there may be the apprehesion that direct or indirect agentship inheres in the Self. Anticipating this, the Lord says: na eva kurvan, without himself doing anything at all; and na karayan, not causing (others) to do, (not) inducing the body and organs to activity. Objection: Is it that the direct or indirect agentship of the embodied one inheres in the Self and ceases to be after renunciation, as the movement of a traveller ceases with the stoppage of his movement? Or, is it that they do not exist owing to the very nature of the Self? As to this, the answer is: The Self by Its nature has neither direct nor indirect agentship. For it was stated, 'It is said that৷৷.This (Self) is unchangeable' (2.25). 'O son of Kunti, although existing in the body, It does not act, nor is It affected' (13.31). And it is also stated in the Upanisad, 'It seems to meditate, as it were; It seems to move, as it were' (Br. 4.3.7).
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
5.13 The embodied self who is self-controlled, renounces all actions to the city of nine gates, i.e., the body with its sensory and motor functions which are nine in number. He discriminates that all actions are due to conjunction of the self with the body which is rooted in previous Karmas, and is not by Its own nature. [It means that the self merely rests in the body, without any identification with bodily activities.] Sri Krsna now teaches the natural condition of the self as It is:
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
5.13 Sarva - etc. [He would view as] : 'Just as for a person within a house there is no connection with dilapidation etc., that are found in the house, in the same way for me too residing in the body-house beautified with nine windows in the form of openings like the eyes etc., there is no connection with its attributes.' For -
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
5.13 Mentally renouncing all actions and self-controlled, the embodied one rests happily in the nine-gated city, neither acting nor causing others (body and senses) to act.
Commentary

5.13 सर्वकर्माणि all actions? मनसा by the mind? संन्यस्य having renounced? आस्ते rests? सुखम् happily? वशी the selfcontrolled? नवद्वारे in the ninegated? पुरे in the city? देही the embodied? न not? एव even? कुर्वन् acting? न not? कारयन् causing to act.Commentary All actions -- (1) Nitya Karmas These are obligatory duties. Their performance does not produce any merit but their nonperformance produces demerit. Sandhyavandana? etc.? belong to this category.(2) Naimittika Karmas These Karmas are performed on the occurrence of some special events such as the birth of a son? eclipse? etc.(3) Kamya Karmas These are optional. They are intended for the attainment of some special ends (for getting rain? son? etc.)(4) Nishiddha Karmas These are forbidden actions such as theft? drinking liour? etc.(5) Prayaschitta Karmas Actions performed to neutralise the effects of evil actions or sins.The man who has controlled the senses renounces all actions by discrimination? by seeing inaction in action and rests happily in this body of nine openings (the ninegated city)? because he is free from cares? worries? anxieties and fear and his mind is ite calm and he enjoys the supreme peace of the Eternal. In this ninegated city the Self is the king. The senses? the mind? the subconscious mind? and the intellect are the inhabitants or subjects.The ignorant wordly man says? I am resting in the easychair. The man of wisdom who has realised that the Self is distinct from the body which is a product of the five elements? says? I am resting in this body. (Cf.XVIII.17?50)

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
5.13 The embodied man of self-control, having given up all actions mentally, continues happily in the town of nine gates, without doing or causing (others) to do anything at all.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
5.13 Mentally renouncing all actions, the self-controlled soul enjoys bliss in this body, the city of the nine gates, neither doing anything himself nor causing anything to be done.
Related values & verses
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Abhaya (Fearlessness)
Related verses
BG 5.14 BG 3.27 BG 13.32 SB 11.22.49 SB 3.26.8 SB 7.13.9 CC Madhya 20.108 CC Madhya 22.25 CC Madhya 19.138 Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.18Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.1
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
The embodied soul, mentally renouncing all activities, neither acts nor causes action — simply resides in the city of nine gates.
Practical Applications
  • Practice the meditation: I am the resident of the body, not the body.
  • Visualize the body as a city you live in temporarily.
  • Notice when residency turns into ownership and re-establish the right relation.
Reflection Questions
  • How would my self-care change if I treated the body as a city I rent?
  • Where do I confuse residency with proprietorship?
Analogy

A man who lives in a rented apartment cleans it, decorates it, sleeps in it, but never confuses it with himself. When the lease ends he walks out without grief. The body is such a rental — a city of nine gates — and the soul is its resident, not its owner. Live in it well; do not become it.

Stories
Bharata Mahārāja and the deer

Bharata, the great king after whom Bhārata-varṣa is named, retired to the forest in old age. He performed austerities, fixed his mind on the Lord, lived as a renunciate. One day a pregnant doe leapt across a river and dropped her fawn while dying. Bharata, moved by pity, took the fawn home.

He began caring for it — feeding it, sleeping with it, worrying about it. The Bhāgavatam records that at his death his last thought was of the deer. He had forgotten he was the resident; he had taken himself for the body's neighbor, then its lover, then nearly its captive. He took birth as a deer in his next life as a result.

The negative of this verse: when residency turns into ownership, the city of nine gates becomes a prison. Bharata's life is both warning and, in his later recovery as Jaḍa Bharata, the verse's eventual fulfillment.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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