View source for Ekagrata

{{Hinduism}}
'''Ekāgratā''' ({{langx|sa|एकाग्रता}}, "one-pointedness"; [[Pali]]: [[ekaggatā]]) is intent pursuit of one object, close and undisturbed  attention. <ref>{{cite web|title=Sanskrit Dictionary|publisher=Spokensanskrit.de|url=http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=+ekagrata&trans=Translate&direction=AU }}</ref> [[Yoga]] emphasises regular practice (''[[Abhyasa]]'') of [[meditation]] and self-imposed discipline to acquire {{IAST|ekāgratā}}.{{cn|date=July 2015}}

== Overview ==
The faculty called {{IAST|ekāgratā}} may be increased by integrating the psycho-mental flux ({{IAST|sarvārthatā}} or variously-directed, discontinuous, and diffuse attention) so that one gains genuine will<ref>{{cite book|title=From Medicine Men to Muhammad|author=Mercia Eliade|publisher=Harper and Row|page=73|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sY0uH75vwW8C&q=ekagrata|isbn=9780060621384|date=October 1974}}</ref> and a happiness different from the experience of pleasure from sense-objects.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Sivananda companion to Meditation|publisher= Sivananda Yoga Center|page=58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ImI9p7msCQC&q=ekagrata&pg=PA58|isbn= 9781451603866|date= 2010-06-15}}</ref> It is harder to achieve if the body is in a tiring or uncomfortable posture or if the breathing is improper.<ref>{{cite book|title=Suggestopedia and Language|author=W.Jane Boncroft|publisher=Routledge|page=136|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXiNAgAAQBAJ&q=ekagrata&pg=PT136|isbn=9781135300173|date=2005-06-27}}</ref>

Austerity (''[[Tapas (Sanskrit)|tapas]]'') is allied to this conception of {{IAST|ekāgratā}}.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Illumination of Knowledge|author=Ravinder Kumar Soni|publisher=GBD Books|pages=146|oclc=470877223}}</ref>

[[Badarayana]]'s [[Brahma Sutras]] (chapter 3) uses the term to mean [[dharana|concentration]]: it is held to be a quality resulting from practices discussed in the previous chapter, which are briefly mentioned in the [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] and [[Chandogya Upanishad]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Brahma Sutra Bhasya|author=Sankaracarya|publisher=Advaita Ashrama|pages=812–833|url=  http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/brahma-sutra-bhasya-of-shankaracharya-IDJ504/ }}</ref>  

According to the [[Bhagavad Gita]] the seeker after Truth should meditate with his mind fixed on the Lord ({{IAST|machchittāh}}) and absorbed in Him ({{IAST|matparāh}}). This is ''ekagrata''. The term ''nityayuktāh'' refers to devotees who keep their mind fixed on God uninterruptedly.<ref>{{cite book|title=Srimadbhagavadagita Tattvavivecani|author= Jayadayal Goyandaka|publisher=Gita Press, Gorakhpur|page=400}}</ref>

[[Patanjali]] highlights the importance of continuous practice of prescribed methods to gain ekagrata, the state of the meditative mind free of diverted attention etc.; and thereafter explains that:
{{quote|ततः पुनःशान्तोदितौ तुल्यप्रत्ययौ चित्तस्यैकाग्रतापरिणामः|Yoga Sutra 3.12}}

Attention on a single point ({{IAST|ekāgratā}}) of the mind (''[[citta]]'') gives rise to equilibrium of placid states (previously accumulated impressions) and aroused states (present eagerness to gain more knowledge), which are modifications (of the mind). These two states of mind remain unchanged and are brought to the state of stillness.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A Scientific Exposition |author=Vinod Verma|publisher=Clarion Books|page=116|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lax-nToYgt8C&q=ekagrata&pg=PA116|isbn=9788185120522|year=1996}}</ref> {{IAST|Ekāgratā}} and ''[[dhāraṇā]]'' do not differ from each other, or else {{IAST|dhāraṇā}} is achieving and maintaining {{IAST|ekāgratā}}.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Philosophy of Classical Yoga|author=Georg Feuerstein|publisher=Inner Traditions|page=84|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iuWI9M9WC6MC&q=ekagrata&pg=PA84|isbn=9780892816033|date=June 1996}}</ref> {{IAST|Dhāraṇā}} converges on a particular concept or object. In the state of {{IAST|ekāgratā}} there is clarity and right direction: yoga begins with ekagrata and culminates in ''nirodha'', a stillness of consciousness.<ref>{{cite book|title=Religiousness in Yoga|author=T.K.V.Desikachar|publisher=University Press of America|page=228,251|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SZxCpDG7Mp4C&q=ekagrata&pg=PA251|isbn=9780819109675|year=1980}}</ref> {{IAST|Dhāraṇā}} gives the ability to see one’s own mind, one starts looking inwards deeply.<ref>{{cite book|title=Yoga: ANatural Way of Being|author=Vinod Verma|publisher=Gayatri Books|page=120 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WscRyyoLyMIC&q=ekagrata&pg=PA128|isbn=9788190172226|date=April 2006}}</ref> If {{IAST|ekāgratā}} is lost the full power of intention to achieve goals to be achieved is lost. Intentions afflicted by doubts, fears and reactive thoughts break and diffuse the energy of intentions.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Secret Spiritual World of Children|author=Tobin Hart|publisher=New World Library|page=195|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5z87fHw60PMC&q=ekagrata&pg=PA195|isbn=9781577318590|date=2010-10-06}}</ref> The mind which is the cause of ''Sankalpa'' ('notion')-''Vikalpa'' ('alternative') must be controlled, it must be bound. {{IAST|Ekāgratā}} assists in keeping one’s own mind bound and still.

== See also ==
* [[Dhāraṇā]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Indian philosophy|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Yoga concepts]]
[[Category:Vaishnavism]]
[[Category:Krishna]]
[[Category:Meditation]]
[[Category:Spiritual practice]]
[[Category:Sanskrit words and phrases]]