Chapter 6, Verse 26
yato yato niścarati
manaś-cañcalam asthiraṁ
tatas-tato niyamyaitad
ātmanyeva vaśaṁ nayet
Whenever the restless and unquiet mind goes forth, it should be controlled and brought into subjection in the Self.
The mind is always restless, always jumping from one thought to the other, from one ‘want’ to the other. When the mind focuses on a particular object, it’s only for a short period of time. It doesn’t last long.
When one wants something, one has already created it in the mind; and when it is created in the mind, automatically, with determination, it gets manifested outwardly. This is will power, the strength of the mind. But whatever is created from the mind’s wants, doesn’t satisfy one for long. The enjoyment is only for a short time. For instance, somebody buys a nice car. For one month, they will treat the car like nothing else they’ve had before. They will clean it and keep it so beautiful! But after sometime, when the mind gets bored with it, the desire for a new thing will appear in the mind and the mind will want that.
An “unquiet mind goes forth” from one thing to the other. “It should be controlled and brought into subjection in the Self.” When one tries to fix the mind on God with great effort, one should imagine that one has succeeded in one’s effort. When you first create something in the mind, the mind will make it happen. It’s the same when you do your spiritual practices: in the mind, you should already make it happen. You should not feed weakness saying, “Oh my goodness! Swamiji is talking so much! This is too much for me! I’m far away from doing that, I can’t reach there.” The moment you say that you can’t reach there, there is a barrier, a big wall which is created. Of course, then you will not reach there. Whereas when you put in the mind that you have already reached there, then everything will become balanced and easy.
“It should be controlled and brought into subjection in the Self.” Krishna says that when your mind is jumping from one thing to the other, don’t run into your weakness, don’t run into your fear! Don’t think that your desire for God is too much or too far away. One should always be alert and not allow the mind to think about anything but God. He has given so many Divine forms, He has given so many Divine Names to enable mankind to completely focus on Him. When you sit for meditation, if you perceive your mind going somewhere else, let it go, but then bring it back. Show your power over it through the intellect. Show that the Great Observer is more powerful than the mind. That’s why you can bring back your thought and control it. Remind yourself continuously, even if you don’t notice when the mind ran away and slipped out. When it slips out, don’t dwell on the object that has attracted the mind: instead bring the mind back and fix it “in the Self.” Fix it on God! God dwells in the identity of the soul, as the Oversoul. Here Lord Krishna uses the word ‘ātmany’: it means Atma, but refers to the Paramatma, the Oversoul, which resides within the soul.
Bhagavad Gita
