Display
Devanagari is shown only when this page stored it. Harvard-Kyoto and ASCII are generated from the IAST verse.
Vanisource / Original texts
Bhagavad-gītā 6.34
DonateSave this passage to keep a private note on this device. Notes are not sent to Vedawiki.
Cite
Source navigation
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 34
- चञ्चलं हि मनः कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवद् दृढम् ।
- तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिव सुदुष्करम् ॥३४॥
- cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa
- pramāthi balavad dṛḍham
- tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye
- vāyor iva su-duṣkaram
cañcalamflickering — flickering; hicertainly — certainly; manaḥmind — mind; kṛṣṇaO Kṛṣṇa — O Kṛṣṇa; pramāthiagitating — agitating; balastrong-vatstrong — strong; dṛḍhamobstinate — obstinate; tasyaits — its; ahamI — I; nigrahamsubduing — subduing; manyethink — think; vāyoḥof the wind — of the wind; ivalike — like; sudifficult-duṣkaramdifficult — difficult.
For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Kṛṣṇa, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.
The mind is so strong and obstinate that it sometimes overcomes the intelligence, although the mind is supposed to be subservient to the intelligence. For a man in the practical world who has to fight so many opposing elements, it is certainly very difficult to control the mind. Artificially, one may establish a mental equilibrium toward both friend and enemy, but ultimately no worldly man can do so, for this is more difficult than controlling the raging wind. In the Vedic literature (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.3.3-4) it is said:
- ātmānaṁ rathinaṁ viddhi
- śarīraṁ ratham eva ca
- buddhiṁ tu sārathiṁ viddhi
- manaḥ pragraham eva ca
- indriyāṇi hayān āhur
- viṣayāṁs teṣu gocarān
- ātmendriya-mano-yuktaṁ
- bhoktety āhur manīṣiṇaḥ
"The individual is the passenger in the car of the material body, and intelligence is the driver. Mind is the driving instrument, and the senses are the horses. The self is thus the enjoyer or sufferer in the association of the mind and senses. So it is understood by great thinkers." Intelligence is supposed to direct the mind, but the mind is so strong and obstinate that it often overcomes even one's own intelligence, as an acute infection may surpass the efficacy of medicine. Such a strong mind is supposed to be controlled by the practice of yoga, but such practice is never practical for a worldly person like Arjuna. And what can we say of modern man? The simile used here is appropriate: one cannot capture the blowing wind. And it is even more difficult to capture the turbulent mind. The easiest way to control the mind, as suggested by Lord Caitanya, is chanting "Hare Kṛṣṇa," the great mantra for deliverance, in all humility. The method prescribed is sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādāravindayoḥ: (SB 9.4.18, Not yet available in the library. Try the live source.) one must engage one's mind fully in Kṛṣṇa. Only then will there remain no other engagements to agitate the mind.