Dhāraṇā is the binding of the mind to a single point.

With this sutra begins the Vibhūti Pāda, the book of powers. Patañjali defines dhāraṇā, the sixth limb of yoga.

Deśa means place or point. Bandha means binding, fixing. Citta is the mind. Dhāraṇā is literally “binding the mind to a place.”

This point can be external (a candle flame, a yantra, an image of a deity) or internal (a chakra, the breath at the nostrils, the space between the eyebrows).

The mind, which naturally jumps from object to object, is trained to remain at a single place. It is not yet meditation—it is the sustained effort of returning again and again to the chosen point.

Dhāraṇā is concentration with effort. When that effort disappears and attention flows naturally, dhyāna arises.