Sanskrit
सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी । नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥
sarvakarmāṇi manasā sannyasyāste sukhaṃ vaśī navadvāre pure dehī naiva kurvan na kārayan
Translation
Mentally renouncing all actions, the sovereign dweller in the body resteth serenely in the nine-gated city, neither acting nor causing to act.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The nava-dvāra pura, the nine-gated city, is the body itself — two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, and the two organs of excretion — and the image recasts embodiment as architecture: a fortified dwelling with the self as sovereign resident (vaśī) rather than prisoner. Mental renunciation of all action is the operative phrase — not physical inactivity but a shift in identification, the dehī, the embodied self, recognizing that it neither acts nor causes action, since both belong to the instrument rather than the indweller. The formulation anticipates the distinction drawn over the next two verses, where the Self’s stillness and nature’s activity are held firmly apart.