Chapter 6, Verse 35
śrī bhagavān uvāca
asaṁśayaṁ mahābāho
mano dur-nigrahaṁ calam
abhyāsena tu kaunteya
vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate
The Lord says: Without doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is restless and very difficult to restrain; but, O Kaunteya, it may be controlled by constant practise and non-attachment.
Here the Lord addresses Arjuna as Kaunteya, to remind him of his mother, Kunti. Kunti was fully absorbed in the Divine. She was a warrior, a controlled woman, dispassionate, not easily perturbed. Krishna says, “Remind yourself, O Kaunteya, of the qualities of your mother!”
Bhagavan Krishna tells Arjuna that even if it is difficult to restrain the mind due to its flickering state, nevertheless, “O Kaunteya, it may be controlled by constant practise and non-attachment.” How strong is the mind? The mind can appear very powerful and make life difficult, but it is also very easy to control. How? By constant practise! You shouldn’t weaken yourself. Whenever you practise, don’t expect quick results. Keep practising! And don’t let yourself down! Krishna says, “Be non-attached!”
Whatever you focus the mind on, the mind takes the shape of that object. The mind is like water: into whatever object or form you pour water, the water automatically takes that form; such is the state of the mind. If one’s mind is always running towards the outside world, towards illusion, it will create that illusion in the mind. Then one will be completely deluded by that. That’s why Krishna emphasises “constant practise”. If people are deluded by the mind and they sit and cry, “Oh, I can’t! I can’t. It’s too complicated,” then it becomes complicated. That’s why He says, “Practise repeatedly! Don’t laze yourself! Don’t find thousands of excuses for not doing your sadhana, for not doing your Atma Kriya Yoga.” No! It has to be constant practise. And one should practise with firm conviction that God is Supreme and Almighty and the Lord of all. He is the highest Truth and the supreme object of life to realise.
The scriptures talk of different aspects of the Divine, but all these aspects lead to only One Reality. With the help of faith and reverence, the mind should repeatedly be concentrated on God. If people’s minds are running towards Mona Lisa, during their practise, of course, Mona Lisa will appear very quickly, without any effort! But if you can train your mind to see your Ishtadev in whatever form you are attracted to, then you’ll see that He is beyond Mona Lisa. Nevertheless, He is also seated in Mona Lisa’s heart. So one should practise Manasa Puja, which means to let the mind worship God: always do mental worship of the Lord, or mental repetition, continuous chanting of the Lord’s Name. When people sit in meditation or when they are doing their japa, while they are chanting the Name of the Lord, whatever Divine Names they are chanting – Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, the Name of the Divine Mother, Jesus or any Divine Name – it shouldn’t be just mere mechanical chanting. The mind should be focused at the same time on an image of the Divine. Like that, one will develop non-attachment to the outside figure or object, and the mind will focus on the Ishtadev, on the Divine aspect, which they have seen beyond the object.
In this way, by constant practise, one will automatically develop dispassion. And when there is dispassion, the mind will be completely under control; there will also be patience and humility; automatically there is a flow of energy between you and God. When you are doing your service, when you are doing seva, there will be an automatic flow of positive energy flowing through you. And you will perceive the Lord.
Here Bhagavan Krishna is saying to Arjuna, “A hero like you should not feel afraid, should not have fear in the mind! You shouldn’t feel faint-hearted, you should be courageous, O mighty-armed!” Here “mighty-armed”, doesn’t mean to only have great physical strength, it also refers to the inner strength.
Bhagavad Gita
