6.35
Chapter 6, Verse 35
श्री भगवानुवाच असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलं। अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते৷৷
śrī bhagavānuvāca asaṅśayaṅ mahābāhō manō durnigrahaṅ calaṅ. abhyāsēna tu kauntēya vairāgyēṇa ca gṛhyatē৷৷
Translation
Lord Shri Krishna replied: Doubtless, O Mighty One, the mind is fickle and exceedingly difficult to restrain, but, O Son of Kunti, with practice and renunciation it can be done.
Translation — Purohit Swami
Commentary
असंशयम् undoubtedly, महाबाहो O mightyarmed, मनः the mind, दुर्निग्रहम् difficult to control, चलम् restless, अभ्यासेन by practice, तु but, कौन्तेय O Kaunteya, वैराग्येण by dispassion, च and, गृह्यते is restrained. Commentary: 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 Gradually the mind will be withdrawn from the external objects.
Commentary — Swami Sivananda
Sanskrit and transliteration of the Bhagavad Gita. Corpus compiled from the vedabase and the IIT Kanpur Gita Supersite.