6.34 As hard as holding the wind Arjuna speaks
चञ्चलं हि मनः कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवद्दृढम्
तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिव सुदुष्करम्
chañchalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛiṣhṇa pramāthi balavad dṛiḍham
tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye vāyor iva su-duṣhkaram
The mind is restless, Krishna, turbulent, strong and stubborn. Holding it seems to me as hard as holding the wind.
Explanation
Restless, turbulent, strong, stubborn — and like holding the wind.
Arjuna's objection is the best in the Gita, and the text lets him make it in full.
Four adjectives, none of them exaggerated, and then an image that concedes nothing to the teaching. Anyone who has tried to sit still for ten minutes has made this speech.
Going further
Word by word
- chañchalam
- restless
- hi
- certainly
- manaḥ
- mind
- kṛiṣhṇa
- Shree Krishna
- pramāthi
- turbulent
- bala-vat
- strong
- dṛiḍham
- obstinate
- tasya
- its
- aham
- I
- nigraham
- control
- manye
- think
- vāyoḥ
- of the wind
- iva
- like
- su-duṣhkaram
- difficult to perform
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Restless, turbulent, strong, stubborn — and holding it is like holding the wind.
Arjuna's objection is the best in the book, and the text lets him make it in full. Anyone who has tried to sit still for ten minutes knows he is right. What matters is that Krishna's answer in the next verse begins asanśhayam — no doubt: he concedes the point entirely before answering it.