Meditation is the unbroken flow of attention there.

Written and reviewed by The Kriya Yogi · Updated 21 September 2026

Sanskrit, in transliteration

tatra pratyaya-ekatānatā dhyānam

Our own plain rendering, checked against the standard published translations.

What the verse says

The difference between dhāraṇā and dhyāna is continuity, not intensity. Concentration is repeatedly placing attention; meditation is when it stops needing to be replaced.

In practice

This is why the texts treat meditation as something that happens to a concentrated mind rather than something you can start doing directly.

How it gets misquoted

Modern usage calls any quiet sitting "meditation". By this definition most of what we do is dhāraṇā, and there is no shame in that.

This verse sits in Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, chapter 3 — read our commentary on the whole chapter.