सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी। नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन् न कारयन्॥५-१३॥
sarva-karmāṇi manasā sannyasyāste sukhaṃ vaśī | nava-dvāre pure dehī naiva kurvan na kārayann || 5.13 ||
The self-controlled one mentally renounces all actions, rests happily in the nine-gated city — not acting, not causing.
Word by word (7)
- sarva-karmāṇi
- — all actions
- manasā sannyasya
- — having renounced mentally / by mind alone
- āste sukham
- — dwells happily / rests in ease
- vaśī
- — the self-controlled one / master of self
- nava-dvāre pure
- — in the nine-gated city (the body with 9 openings)
- dehī
- — the embodied self / the soul inhabiting the body
- na eva kurvan na kārayan
- — neither doing nor causing to be done
The self-controlled, embodied soul (dehī) — mentally renouncing all actions — rests happily in the body (described as a city with nine gates: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, and two lower openings). This inner renunciant neither actually does actions nor makes others do them.
A modern analogy
The CEO of a large company who has deeply delegated everything — the company runs, produces, operates — but the CEO rests in executive awareness without being personally agitated by each transaction. The 'nine-gated city' runs; the inner ruler watches in ease.
What it does NOT mean
The body still moves; the world still turns. This is about the deepest sense of identity — the dehī (embodied Self) does not identify with the actions of the body-city. It is the King who does not personally dig the trenches, though the city operates under his governance.
Take with you
- The nine-gated city image is one of the Gita's most evocative: your body is a city; you are the king, not the gatekeeper of each sense-opening.
- Manasā sannyasya — mental renunciation — is the inner action: not withdrawing from the world but releasing the inner sense of being the agent of every bodily act.
- Sukham (happily) is the keynote: the state of vaśī is restful, not strained. True self-control produces ease, not tension.
V13 introduces the 'nava-dvāra pura' (nine-gated city) metaphor — one of the Gita's richest images. The nine gates are the body's nine openings: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, genital organ, anus. These are the points where the internal (ātman) and external (world) make contact. The dehī — the embodied Self — is not the gatekeeper of these openings; it is the inner presence that dwells without agency. The verse carefully distinguishes na kurvan (not doing) from na kārayan (not causing to be done). The second is more radical: even causation is not attributed to the Self. This echoes V14's teaching about svabhāva operating independently. The word vaśī (self-controlled) positions this not as passivity but as mastery — the controlled person has so thoroughly disciplined the instruments that there is nothing left for the ego to grip. Hence: sukham āste — dwells in ease.
Modern parallels
Plato's city-soul analogy in the Republic (the soul as a city with different parts needing governance) parallels the nine-gated city, though in reverse: Plato's ideal is the rational faculty governing lower parts; the Gita's ideal is the ātman transcending all parts, recognizing it is not the governor but the witness.
Practice
Sit upright. Become aware of each sense-gate: hearing sounds, feeling air on skin, seeing light through closed lids. Rather than 'I am sensing this,' notice 'this gate is receiving.' Then rest as the awareness in which all these gate-receptions appear. This is the nine-gated city meditation.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
"Renouncing all actions mentally, the embodied self-controlled one dwells happily in the nine-gated city — neither doing nor causing to be done." [1]
"Having mentally renounced all actions, the self-controlled embodied one rests happily in the nine-gated city, neither acting nor causing others to act." [4]
"Having mentally resigned all deeds, the self-governed, the embodied (soul) resteth blissfully in the nine-gated city, neither acting nor causing act." [5]
"The self-controlled man, who mentally renounces all works, rests in ease in the nine-gated city of his body, without either acting or causing to act." [6]
"The self-subjugated spirit, freed from wrong, dwelling within the body's town of nine gates — neither working, nor causing work — rests blissful." [7]
"The self-restrained man, who has mentally discarded all actions, rests in the nine-gated city of the body, not doing any action, and not causing any action to be done." [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The Lord creates neither doership, actions, nor fruit-unions for the world — svabhāva alone operates.
Senses < mind < intellect < Self. Know the hierarchy — the Self is highest, and from there desire can be defeated.
This has been sung by the rishis in many hymns, distinctly — and in brahma-sūtra passages, with clear reasoning!
I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
One with no ego-doer-sense, whose buddhi is untainted — even while killing all these beings, kills not, is not bound.
Action renounced through yoga, doubt cut by knowledge, self-possessed — actions cannot bind that person.