Chapter 6, Verse 33
अर्जुन उवाच | योऽयं योगस्त्वया प्रोक्तः साम्येन मधुसूदन | एतस्याहं न पश्यामि चञ्चलत्वात्स्थितिं स्थिराम् ||६-३३||
arjuna uvāca . yo.ayaṃ yogastvayā proktaḥ sāmyena madhusūdana . etasyāhaṃ na paśyāmi cañcalatvātsthitiṃ sthirām ||6-33||
Meaning
6.33 Arjuna said This Yoga of eanimity taught by Thee, O Krishna, I do not see its steady continuance, because of the restlessness (of the mind).
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
After Krishna's soaring description of the yogi's unity-vision, Arjuna responds with disarming honesty. He has heard the beautiful teaching of yoga as samya — perfect equanimity and equal vision — yet he cannot imagine sustaining it. The reason he gives is universal and timeless: chanchalatvat, the restlessness of the mind. He cannot see how such a steady state (sthiti sthiram) could ever hold firm against a mind that will not stay still.
Arjuna's candor is precious. He does not pretend to a mastery he lacks; he voices the very doubt that every honest seeker feels. The vision is glorious, but the instrument — this fidgeting, wandering mind — seems hopelessly unequal to it. By raising this objection, Arjuna speaks for all of us who have glimpsed the heights of teaching and then despaired at our own scattered minds. His question turns the conversation from lofty ideals back to the practical struggle, and Krishna's answer will become one of the Gita's most encouraging passages.
💡 Key Takeaway
It is honest to admit that the restless mind makes a steady spiritual state seem impossible to sustain.
Related Verses
जितात्मनः प्रशान्तस्य परमात्मा समाहितः | शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु तथा मानापमानयोः ||६-७||
jitātmanaḥ praśāntasya paramātmā samāhitaḥ . śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkheṣu tathā mānāpamānayoḥ ||6-7||
6.7 The Supreme Self of him who is self-controlled and peaceful is balanced in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, as also in honour and dishonour.
ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा कूटस्थो विजितेन्द्रियः | युक्त इत्युच्यते योगी समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः ||६-८||
jñānavijñānatṛptātmā kūṭastho vijitendriyaḥ . yukta ityucyate yogī samaloṣṭāśmakāñcanaḥ ||6-8||
6.8 The Yogi who is satisfied with the knowledge and the wisdom (of the Self), who has conered the senses, and to whom a clod of earth, a piece of stone and gold are the same, is said to be harmonied (i.e., is said to have attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi).
सुहृन्मित्रार्युदासीनमध्यस्थद्वेष्यबन्धुषु | साधुष्वपि च पापेषु समबुद्धिर्विशिष्यते ||६-९||
suhṛnmitrāryudāsīnamadhyasthadveṣyabandhuṣu . sādhuṣvapi ca pāpeṣu samabuddhirviśiṣyate ||6-9||
6.9 He who is of the same mind to the good-hearted, friends, enemies, the indifferent, the neutral, the hateful, the relatives, the righteous and the unrighteous, excels.