Dhāraṇā¶

The yogic discipline of holding attention steadily on a chosen object.

Version: v2 · 2026-09-19 · History
Domain-specific #: 4141
Domain group: Humanities
Origin domain: Religious Studies & Theology
Subdomain: Yoga Philosophy → Religious Studies & Theology

Core Idea¶

Patañjali’s sixth limb follows sensory withdrawal and precedes meditation; later traditions vary in object, breath association and relation to dhyāna. Attention is repeatedly returned to one bounded locus or idea until distraction is reduced and continuity of concentration becomes stable. The abstraction is therefore identified by a declared carrier, a transformation or constraint over that carrier, and an invariant that tells an analyst whether the named structure is genuinely present.

The load-bearing residual is not the broad topic of yoga philosophy. It is the domain-specific identity fixed by the source and tradition, Sanskrit term and translation, practitioner, object or locus, prerequisites, attentional operation, duration and continuity, relation to pratyahara and dhyana and interpretive variation are explicit.

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Coming Back to One Thing

Dhāraṇā is a word from yoga that means keeping your attention on one thing, like one spot or one picture in your mind. Your mind will wander off, and each time it does, you gently bring it back to that one thing. With practice, your attention stays there longer and longer without drifting away.

Yoga's Focus Step

Dhāraṇā is a Sanskrit word from the yoga tradition, usually translated as 'concentration.' In Patañjali's list of eight steps, or limbs, of yoga, it is the sixth. It comes after a step where you pull your attention away from your senses and before the step of meditation. In dhāraṇā, you choose one spot or one idea to focus on, and each time your mind drifts, you bring it back. Over time, distractions fade and your focus becomes steady and continuous. Different later yoga traditions describe the details, like what to focus on, in different ways.

Yogic Concentration (Sixth Limb)

Dhāraṇā is the sixth of the eight limbs of yoga in Patañjali's system, commonly translated as concentration. It follows pratyāhāra, the withdrawal of the senses from their objects, and comes before dhyāna, meditation. The practice consists of fixing attention on one bounded locus or idea and repeatedly returning attention there whenever it strays, until distraction lessens and concentration becomes stable and continuous. It is different from dhyāna, which is usually understood as the next stage; the exact boundary between them, the choice of object and any link to the breath differ across later traditions. So a careful account says which source and tradition it follows.

In Patañjali's eight-limbed yoga, dhāraṇā is the sixth limb, following pratyāhāra (sensory withdrawal) and preceding dhyāna (meditation). Its core operation is attentional: the practitioner binds attention to a single bounded locus or idea and repeatedly returns it there, reducing distraction until continuity of concentration becomes stable. The Sanskrit term is usually rendered 'concentration', though translations vary. Later traditions diverge on the object or locus used, on whether and how it is associated with breath, and on how it relates to and shades into dhyāna. A precise treatment therefore specifies the source and tradition, the term and translation, the object, prerequisites such as prior sensory withdrawal, the attentional operation, the duration and continuity involved, and the position relative to pratyāhāra and dhyāna. General talk of focus or mindfulness without this placement is not the specific concept.

Scope of Application¶

Dhāraṇā belongs to yoga philosophy and is useful where the analyst can specify the typed yoga philosophy carrier, including objects, relations, parameters, conventions, evidence, and comparison cases, then evaluate the source and tradition, Sanskrit term and translation, practitioner, object or locus, prerequisites, attentional operation, duration and continuity, relation to pratyahara and dhyana and interpretive variation are explicit. The scope is broad within that domain but bounded by the need for the source and tradition, Sanskrit term and translation, practitioner, object or locus, prerequisites, attentional operation, duration and continuity, relation to pratyahara and dhyana and interpretive variation are explicit. Descriptive philosophical and religious identity only; it is not medical or therapeutic instruction.

Clarity¶

The abstraction clarifies a crowded vocabulary by making the source and tradition, Sanskrit term and translation, practitioner, object or locus, prerequisites, attentional operation, duration and continuity, relation to pratyahara and dhyana and interpretive variation are explicit the center of the account. A claim should name the carrier, the governing operation or relation, the applicable assumptions, and the recognition test. A bare label is insufficient because the name Dhāraṇā can be used for a formal identity, an implementation, or a neighboring result unless carrier and convention are stated.

Manages Complexity¶

Without the abstraction, an analyst must reason directly over many local details: the carrier roles, admissibility assumptions, competing conventions, derived invariants, boundary cases, and proof or validation obligations specific to Dhāraṇā. Dhāraṇā compresses them into the roles in the structural signature. That compression permits comparison across instances without erasing the variables that determine validity. It also exposes which details may be varied safely and which are constitutive.

Abstract Reasoning¶

Identify the carrier. State what the elements, states, objects, or observations are: the typed yoga philosophy carrier, including objects, relations, parameters, conventions, evidence, and comparison cases. Reject examples whose alleged carrier belongs to a different problem.
Lock the constitutive rule. Express the source and tradition, Sanskrit term and translation, practitioner, object or locus, prerequisites, attentional operation, duration and continuity, relation to pratyahara and dhyana and interpretive variation are explicit independently of one notation or implementation.

Knowledge Transfer¶

Knowledge transfers strongly among subfields of yoga philosophy because they reuse the typed yoga philosophy carrier, including objects, relations, parameters, conventions, evidence, and comparison cases, Attention is repeatedly returned to one bounded locus or idea until distraction is reduced and continuity of concentration becomes stable., and type the carrier, state every parameter and convention in the definition, test that the source and tradition, Sanskrit term and translation, practitioner, object or locus, prerequisites, attentional operation, duration and continuity, relation to pratyahara and dhyana and interpretive variation are explicit, compare the nearest accepted identity, and report counterexamples, uncertainty, and limiting cases.

Relationships to Other Abstractions¶

Current abstraction Dhāraṇā Domain-specific

Parents (1) — outgoing typed relations

Dhāraṇā is a kind of Attention Prime

It remains its own entry because its identity is fixed by the source and tradition, Sanskrit term and translation, practitioner, object or locus, prerequisites, attentional operation, duration and continuity, relation to pratyahara and dhyana and interpretive variation.

Hierarchy path (1) — routes to 1 parentless root

Dhāraṇā → is a kind of Attention

Neighborhood in Abstraction Space¶

Dhāraṇā sits in a moderately populated region (41^st percentile for distinctiveness): it has near-neighbors but no dense thicket of look-alikes.

Family — Truth, Meaning & Argumentation (37 abstractions)

Nearest neighbors

Computed from structural-signature embeddings · 2026-10-25