Chapter VI · Śloka 12
तत्रैकाग्रं मनः कृत्वा यतचित्तेन्द्रियक्रियः |
उपविश्यासने युञ्ज्याद्योगमात्मविशुद्धये ||
उपविश्यासने युञ्ज्याद्योगमात्मविशुद्धये ||
tatraikāgraṃ manaḥ kṛtvā yata-cittendriya-kriyaḥ |
upaviśyāsane yuñjyād yogam ātma-viśuddhaye ||
upaviśyāsane yuñjyād yogam ātma-viśuddhaye ||
There, having made the mind one-pointed and with the activity of mind and senses restrained, one should sit on the seat and practice yoga for the purification of the self.
Ekāgratā — one-pointedness — is the core quality being cultivated. Not emptiness, not blankness, but the gathering of scattered attention into a single, stable focus. This focused awareness is itself the purifying agent; it burns through the residues of past impressions like a steady flame.