---
type: Concept
bundle: yoga-darshana
bundle_version: "0.2.0"
id: dharana
title: "Dhāraṇā"
iast: "Dhāraṇā"
devanagari: "धारणा"
description: "The sixth limb: binding citta to a single object — not generic meditation, not mere focus."
darshana:
  - Pātañjala Yoga
  - Sāṃkhya
text_source: "YS 3.1"
tags:
  - Yoga
  - Patanjali
  - dharana
  - concentration
  - ashtanga
  - samyama
  - dharana-dhyana-samadhi
not:
  - term: "meditation"
    why: "meditation in English covers the entire inner practice (dhāraṇā through samādhi); dhāraṇā is specifically the first stage — the binding of citta to a single point or object; dhyāna (sustained unbroken engagement) and samādhi (dissolution of subject-object split) are distinct stages after dhāraṇā"
    instead: "Keep Dhāraṇā untranslated; do not substitute the English term."
  - term: "focus"
    why: "focus implies trying to pay attention harder; dhāraṇā is the architectural act of *binding* citta to a chosen object (*deśa-bandha*); the effort is in the binding, not in increased intensity of attention"
  - term: "concentration"
    why: "closest English equivalent but loses the technical distinctions: dhāraṇā vs. dhyāna vs. samādhi are three distinct phases with precise experiential markers in the Yoga Bhāṣya; collapsing them into \"concentration\" erases these distinctions"
  - term: "mindfulness"
    why: "mindfulness (particularly in its Buddhist usage) is awareness of the present moment's arising and passing; dhāraṇā is the deliberate single-pointed binding to a chosen object; the quality of attention and the relationship to the object are structurally different"
related:
  - /concepts/pratyahara.md
  - /concepts/samprajnata-samadhi.md
  - /concepts/samapatti.md
  - /concepts/nirodha.md
  - /concepts/chitta-vritti.md
  - /concepts/parinama.md
timestamp: "2026-06-20"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Dhāraṇā — धारणा

**Not:** meditation, focus, concentration, mindfulness

The sixth of the eight limbs — the deliberate binding (*bandha*) of citta to a single point or object (*deśa*). The first of the three inner limbs that together constitute *saṃyama*. Dhāraṇā is distinguished from the dhyāna and samādhi that follow it by the presence of effort and the possibility of interruption: dhāraṇā holds the object; dhyāna sustains the engagement without gap; samādhi dissolves the distinction between holder and held.

## Etymology

- *dhṛ* — to hold, to carry, to bear, to support
- *dhāraṇā* — the act of holding; a fixing in place; a retention

The same root produces *dhāraṇam* (support, bearing weight), *dharaṇī* (the Earth — she who bears/holds), and *dhātu* (element, support-substance). Dhāraṇā is the mind doing what the Earth does: holding, bearing, maintaining without releasing.

## YS 3.1 — The Definition

*deśabandhaś cittasya dhāraṇā*

"Dhāraṇā is the binding of citta to a place/point."

- **Deśa** — place, space, point; the chosen object or region of focus (navel center, tip of nose, a flame, a mantra, a subtle object, any coherent field)
- **Bandha** — binding, tying; the architectural act of making citta *hold* the object rather than wander
- The definition is architectural, not experiential: it describes what is done to citta, not what it feels like

## Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, and Samādhi as a Continuum (YS 3.2-3.3)

*tatra pratyayaikatānatā dhyānam* (3.2)  
"Dhyāna is the unbroken continuity of cognition (*pratyaya*) there (on the same object)."

*tadevoarthamātranirbhāsaṃ svarūpaśūnyamiva samādhiḥ* (3.3)  
"Samādhi is that same (dhyāna), where the object alone shines, as if emptied of its own (subject-) form."

The progression:
- **Dhāraṇā:** citta is bound to the object; the binding requires effort; citta may wander and be brought back
- **Dhyāna:** citta engages in an unbroken stream with the object; no gap between successive cognitive moments; effort is self-sustaining
- **Samādhi:** only the object's form remains in cognition; the practitioner's "own form" (*svarūpa*) — the sense of being a separate knower — disappears

The three form a continuum from effort-full to effort-less to effortless-dissolution.

## Saṃyama — The Three as a Unit (YS 3.4-3.6)

*trayam ekatra saṃyamaḥ* (3.4)  
"The three together (dhāraṇā, dhyāna, samādhi) on one object is saṃyama."

Patañjali names the integrated three-fold inner practice *saṃyama* — the full engagement that produces the extraordinary perceptions described in Vibhūti-Pāda (YS Ch. 3). Saṃyama on any object reveals that object's deepest nature — from gross form to subtle essence to dharma-pariṇāma sequence to the nature of Puruṣa itself.

The practitioner can apply saṃyama to progressively subtler objects:
- Gross physical objects → knowledge of their structure and subtle-elemental nature
- The body's subtle channels → prāṇic mastery
- Asmitā → perception of Puruṣa distinct from citta
- Distinction between Sattva and Puruṣa → viveka-khyāti → kaivalya

## Dhāraṇā and the Inner-Outer Distinction (YS 3.7-3.8)

*trayam antaraṅgaṃ pūrvebhyaḥ* (3.7)  
"The three (dhāraṇā, dhyāna, samādhi) are internal compared to the previous (outer) limbs."

*tadapi bahiraṅgaṃ nirbījasya* (3.8)  
"Even that (saṃyama) is external compared to the seedless (asamprajñāta samādhi)."

Dhāraṇā is "inner" relative to yama-niyama-āsana-prāṇāyāma-pratyāhāra, but it remains within the Prakṛtic-cognitive domain. Even the most refined saṃyama is "outer" relative to asamprajñāta, which transcends all object-engagement.

## Cross-References

- [Pratyāhāra](pratyahara.md) — the bridge limb that must be established before dhāraṇā is sustainable
- [Samprajñāta Samādhi](samprajnata-samadhi.md) — the samādhi that dhāraṇā and dhyāna ripen into; the four stages of object-supported absorption
- [Samāpatti](samapatti.md) — the cognitive coincidence-process that dhāraṇā initiates and samādhi completes
- [Nirodha](nirodha.md) — dhāraṇā creates nirodha-saṃskāras; it is the first stage of direct nirodha-practice
- [Pariṇāma](parinama.md) — the three pariṇāma-s (nirodha, samādhi, ekāgratā) are the citta-transformations produced by dhāraṇā → dhyāna → samādhi

## Audience Metaphor

Dhāraṇā is like threading a needle. You need good light (pratyāhāra — senses withdrawn, no distraction), steady hands (prāṇāyāma — breath and nervous system calm), and a deliberate act of aiming the thread at the eye of the needle (binding citta to the chosen object). The thread doesn't automatically stay in — you hold it there. Dhyāna is when the thread is through and you've settled into a sustained sewing rhythm. Samādhi is when you've forgotten you're holding the needle.

## Citations

1. [Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali](/references/yoga-sutras.md) 3.1-3.3
2. [Yoga Bhāṣya of Vyāsa](/references/yoga-bhasya.md) on YS 3.1-3.3
3. [Tattvavaiśāradī](/references/tattvavaisharadi.md) of Vācaspatimiśra on saṃyama
