तत्रैकाग्रं मनः कृत्वा यतचित्तेन्द्रियक्रियः | उपविश्यासने युञ्ज्याद्योगमात्मविशुद्धये || १२ ||
tatraikāgraṃ manaḥ kṛtvā yata-cittendriya-kriyaḥ upaviśyāsane yuñjyād yogam ātma-viśuddhaye
tatra—thereupon; eka-agram—with one attention; manaḥ—mind; kṛtvā—making; yata-citta—controlling the mind; indriya—senses; kriyaḥ—and activities; upaviśya—sitting on; āsane—on the seat; yuñjyāt—should execute; yogam—yoga practice; ātma-viśuddhaye—for purifying the mind.
“There, sitting on that seat, making the mind one-pointed and controlling the activities of the mind and senses, one should practise yoga for the purification of the self.”
The purpose of meditation is stated clearly: ātma-viśuddhaye — purification of the inner self. The technique is ekagrata — one-pointedness of mind. The senses are withdrawn from their objects and the scattered rays of the mind are gathered into a single focused beam. This is not an immediate achievement but the direction of sustained practice. Each session of gathering the wandering mind back to its object is itself the practice of yoga.
Each time your mind wanders during meditation — and it will — the return itself is the practice. Do not be discouraged by wandering; be encouraged by noticing. The moment of noticing is a moment of awareness, which is precisely what you are cultivating.