What is Drishti?
Drishti (Sanskrit dṛṣṭi, 'gaze') is the yoga practice of fixing the eyes at a prescribed point during postures and meditation. The gaze point is not a free choice: each posture in traditional practice has a specific drishti assigned to it. The purpose is practical. A steady gaze reduces sensory input, gives the mind a single object to rest on, and supports the inward movement that meditation requires. The earliest written gaze instruction in Indian scripture appears in the Bhagavad Gita (VI.13), where Krishna tells Arjuna to hold the body erect and gaze steadily at the tip of the nose. In modern yoga, the practice is most systematically codified in the Ashtanga Vinyasa method of Pattabhi Jois (Mysore, mid-20th century).
Drishti vs adjacent practices
Drishti is sometimes confused with trataka, the Hatha yoga practice of gazing steadily at a single object, typically a candle flame, for extended periods. Trataka is a standalone technique counted among the shatkarmas (purification practices). Drishti is different: it moves with posture and breath. It is not sustained on a single object but shifts as postures change.
Drishti is also not the same as a fixed 'third-eye gaze' on the eyebrow centre. Bhrumadhye, gaze at the eyebrow centre, is one of the eight drishtis in the Ashtanga system, used in specific postures only. The broader drishti system is a practical tool for attention management, not a mystical technique.
Classical sources
The *Yoga Sūtras* of Patanjali (probably 2nd–4th century CE) do not use the word drishti, but their fifth and sixth limbs define the territory. The fifth limb, *pratyahara*, is the withdrawal of the senses from their objects. The sixth, *dharana*, is the holding of attention on a single object. Drishti is a physical means of initiating both: by settling the eyes on a point, the practitioner reduces incoming sense data and gives attention a foothold.
The Joga Pradīpikā (1737 CE), a systematic Hatha yoga text, specifies two drishtis — nasagre (tip of nose) and bhrumadhye (eyebrow centre) — for each of the 84 postures it documents. This is the earliest known comprehensive drishti specification in Hatha literature.
The eight drishtis of Ashtanga Vinyasa
The most systematic modern treatment comes from the Ashtanga Vinyasa tradition codified by Pattabhi Jois in Mysore during the mid-20th century, working within the lineage of his teacher Krishnamacharya. The system assigns one of eight drishtis to every posture in the Primary and Intermediate Series. The eight points are: nasagre (tip of nose), bhrumadhye (eyebrow centre), nabi chakra (navel), hastagrai (fingertips), padhayoragrai (toes), parshva (side), angusthamadhye (thumbs), and urdhva (upward).
Together with ujjayi breathing and the energetic locks (bandha), drishti forms the three-point foundation of the Ashtanga method, called tristhana. The instruction is that these three are held simultaneously in every posture. *Light on Yoga* by BKS Iyengar, representing the parallel Iyengar tradition from the same Krishnamacharya lineage, takes a lighter approach. It specifies gaze directions for individual postures without adopting the systematic eight-point framework.
Drishti in the eight-limbed path
Pratyahara and dharana are the fifth and sixth of Patanjali's eight limbs. Drishti connects them to the body. By settling the eyes, the practitioner reduces the flood of sensory information. By choosing a specific point, the mind gains a foothold for concentration. The posture becomes more than a physical shape: it becomes a training in attention.
Sadhguru's *Inner Engineering* describes yogic practice as the simultaneous management of body, breath, mind, and energy. In this frame, drishti is the instrument that begins the transition from outer engagement to inner awareness. The classical sources agree on scope: drishti is preparatory. It steadies the platform so that dhyana (meditation) can proceed.
What it isn't
Drishti is not staring or straining. Traditional instruction calls for a soft, settled focus: the eyes rest on a point rather than bore into it. It is also not the same as concentrating visually on an object of meditation, as in trataka: the gaze point is a support for inner attention, not the content of contemplation itself. Many seated meditation practices use eyes closed; drishti is the open-eyes variant, used primarily while the body is in motion.
