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Bhagavad Gita · 6.35 · Path of Meditation·35 of 47

श्री भगवानुवाच असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलंअभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते

śhrī bhagavān uvācha asanśhayaṁ mahā-bāho mano

durnigrahaṁ chalam abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa cha gṛihyate

Sanskrit recitation

When the mind will not stay · 6.33–6.47 · Teaching

Translation

The Blessed Lord said, "Undoubtedly, O mighty-armed Arjuna, the mind is difficult to control and restless; but with practice and dispassion, it can be restrained."

Meaning

The constant or repeated effort to keep the wandering mind steady by constant meditation on the Lakshya (centre, ideal, goal or object of meditation) is Abhyasa or practice. The same idea or thought of the Self or God is constantly repeated. This constant repetition destroys Vikshepa or the vacillation of the mind and desires, and makes it steady and onepointed.Vairagya is dispassion or indifference to senseobjects in this world or in the other, here or hereafter, seen or unseen, heard or unheard, achieved through constantly looking into the evil in them (DoshaDrishti). You will have to train the mind by constant reflection on the immortal, allblissful Self. You must make the mind realise the transitory nature of the wordly enjoyments. You must suggest to the mind to look for its enjoyment not in the perishable and changing external objects but in the immortal, changeless Self within. Gradually the mind will be withdrawn from the external objects.

After Swami Sivananda

When the mind will not stay· 6.33–6.47

Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.

Word-by-word
tu
but
cha
and
chalam
restless
manaḥ
the mind
kaunteya
Arjun, the son of Kunti
abhyāsena
by practice
gṛihyate
can be controlled
asanśhayam
undoubtedly
durnigraham
difficult to restrain
mahā-bāho
mighty-armed one
vairāgyeṇa
by detachment
śhrī-bhagavān uvācha
Lord Krishna said

Related verses

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