Chapter 6, Verse 35
श्रीभगवानुवाच | असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम् | अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ||६-३५||
śrībhagavānuvāca . asaṃśayaṃ mahābāho mano durnigrahaṃ calam . abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate ||6-35||
Meaning
6.35 The Blessed Lord said Undoubtedly, O mighty-armed Arjuna, the mind is difficult to control and restless; but by practice and by dispassion it may be restrained.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna's reply is a model of wise teaching. He does not dismiss Arjuna's difficulty; he honors it — asamshayam, 'undoubtedly,' the mind is hard to control and restless. By acknowledging the truth of the struggle, he meets the seeker where he actually stands. But then comes the great word of hope: tu, 'but.' The mind is hard to master, yet master it one can.
The method is the Gita's timeless prescription: abhyasa and vairagya — practice and dispassion. Abhyasa is patient, repeated effort, returning the mind again and again to its focus, building over time the grooves of stillness. Vairagya is the gradual loosening of attachment to the objects that pull the mind outward; as desire fades, the mind's reason to wander fades with it. These two work together like two wings. Practice trains the mind toward the center; dispassion removes the magnets that drag it away. The wind that seemed uncontrollable can indeed, through these, be tamed.
💡 Key Takeaway
The restless mind can be mastered through steady practice and the gradual letting-go of attachment.
Related Verses
यं संन्यासमिति प्राहुर्योगं तं विद्धि पाण्डव | न ह्यसंन्यस्तसङ्कल्पो योगी भवति कश्चन ||६-२||
yaṃ saṃnyāsamiti prāhuryogaṃ taṃ viddhi pāṇḍava . na hyasaṃnyastasaṅkalpo yogī bhavati kaścana ||6-2||
6.2 Do thou, O Arjuna, know Yoga to be that which they call renunciation; no one verily becomes a Yogi who has not renounced thoughts.
आरुरुक्षोर्मुनेर्योगं कर्म कारणमुच्यते | योगारूढस्य तस्यैव शमः कारणमुच्यते ||६-३||
ārurukṣormuneryogaṃ karma kāraṇamucyate . yogārūḍhasya tasyaiva śamaḥ kāraṇamucyate ||6-3||
6.3 For a sage who wishes to attain to Yoga, action is said to be the means; for the same sage who has attained to Yoga, inaction (iescence) is said to be the means.
बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः | अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत् ||६-६||
bandhurātmātmanastasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ . anātmanastu śatrutve vartetātmaiva śatruvat ||6-6||
6.6 The Self is the friend of the self of him by whom the self has been conered by the Self, but to the unconered self, this Self stands in the position of an enemy, like an (external) foe.