6.35 Practice and dispassion Krishna speaks
असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलं
अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते
asanśhayaṁ mahā-bāho mano durnigrahaṁ chalam
abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa cha gṛihyate
No doubt the mind is hard to restrain and restless, mighty-armed one. But by practice and by dispassion it can be held, son of Kunti.
Explanation
No doubt — and then two words.
abhyāsena vairāgyeṇa: by practice and by dispassion. That is the whole method.
Not insight, not grace, not intensity. Repetition, and wanting it less. And notice that Krishna begins by agreeing with the objection rather than dismissing it.
Going further
Word by word
- śhrī-bhagavān uvācha
- Lord Krishna said
- asanśhayam
- undoubtedly
- mahā-bāho
- mighty-armed one
- manaḥ
- the mind
- durnigraham
- difficult to restrain
- chalam
- restless
- abhyāsena
- by practice
- tu
- but
- kaunteya
- Arjun, the son of Kunti
- vairāgyeṇa
- by detachment
- cha
- and
- gṛihyate
- can be controlled
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Abhyāsena vairāgyeṇa — by practice and by dispassion.
Two words, and they are the whole method. Not insight, not grace, not intensity. Repetition, and a loosening of the grip. Krishna has just agreed that the mind is as hard to hold as the wind, and this is what he offers instead of a technique for holding it.