22 Beyond Birth and Death
yad aksararn veda-vido vadanti
vianti yad yatayo vita-ragah
yad icchanto brahmacaryam caranti
tat te padam sangrahena pravaksye
sarva-dvarani samyamya
mano hydi-nirudhya ca
murdhny adhayatmanah pranam
asthito yoga-dharanam
“Persons learned in the Vedas, who utter omkara and
who are great sages in the renounced order, enter into
Brahman. Desiring such perfection, one practices
celibacy. I shall now explain to you this process by
which one may attain salvation. The yogic situation
is that of detachment from all sensual engagements.
Closing all the doors of the senses and fixing the mind
on the heart and the life air at the top of the head,
one establishes himself in yoga.’’ (Bg. 8.11-12)

In the yoga system this process is called pratya-
hara, which means, “just the opposite.’ Although
during life the eyes are engaged in seeing worldly
beauty, at death one has to retract the senses from
their objects and see the beauty within. Similarly,
the ears are accustomed to hearing so many sounds
in the world, but at the moment of death one has to
hear the transcendental omkara from within.

om ity ekaksaram brahma-
vyaharan mam anusmaran
yah prayati tyajan deham
Sa yati paramam gatim
