2.67 A boat blown off course Krishna speaks
इन्द्रियाणां हि चरतां यन्मनोऽनुविधीयते
तदस्य हरति प्रज्ञां वायुर्नावमिवाम्भसि
indriyāṇāṁ hi charatāṁ yan mano ’nuvidhīyate
tadasya harati prajñāṁ vāyur nāvam ivāmbhasi
As a boat on water is carried off by the wind, so a mind that follows the wandering senses carries off the understanding.
Explanation
A boat blown off course.
Not sunk — blown off course. The wind is the wandering senses and the boat is the understanding.
The image is precise about the failure it describes. Nothing catastrophic happens; you simply end up somewhere other than where you were going, having been under way the whole time.
Going further
Word by word
- indriyāṇām
- of the senses
- hi
- indeed
- charatām
- roaming
- yat
- which
- manaḥ
- the mind
- anuvidhīyate
- becomes constantly engaged
- tat
- that
- asya
- of that
- harati
- carries away
- prajñām
- intellect
- vāyuḥ
- wind
- nāvam
- boat
- iva
- as
- ambhasi
- on the water
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A boat blown off course by wind. Not sunk — blown off course.
The verse is about the mind following the senses, and the image is careful: the danger described is drift, not catastrophe. You do not notice a boat being pushed sideways. That is the point.