सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी । नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥
sarvakarmāṇi manasā sannyasyāste sukhaṃ vaśī | navadvāre pure dehī naiva kurvanna kārayan ||
Translation
The self-controlled one, having renounced all actions mentally, dwells happily in the city of nine gates — the embodied one — neither acting nor causing others to act.
Interpretation
The body is described as the 'city of nine gates' — the nine openings of the human body (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth, and two lower openings). The dweller within is the Self (dehi — the one who dwells in the body). The realized being understands that they are the witness-Self residing in this city, not the mayor who commands action. This is the deepest level of inner renunciation: not outward withdrawal, but the profound recognition that 'I am the witnessing consciousness, not the doer.'