BG 6.26
Bhagavad Gītā · Ātma Saṃyama YogaAnuṣṭubh (śloka)यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम् | ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत् ||६-२६||
yato yato niścarati manaścañcalamasthiram . tatastato niyamyaitadātmanyeva vaśaṃ nayet ||6-26||
Provider snapshots5
यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम् | ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत् ||६-२६||
Anuṣṭubh (śloka) · 16+16 syllables
scansion (laghu/guru)
Facts come from Vidyut (deterministic), never the model. Gaps are shown, not guessed.
From whatever cause the restless and unsteady mind wanders away, from that let him restrain it and bring it under the control of the Self alone.
Compare versions (10 translators)
A cited synthesis that reconciles these translations and speaks to your situation. Coming soon. Sign in to be first.
English commentary2
6.26 यतःयतः from whatever cause? निश्चरति wanders away? मनः mind? चञ्चलम् restless? अस्थिरम् unsteady? ततःततः from that? नियम्य having restrained? एतत् this? आत्मनि in the Self? एव alone? वशम् (under) control? नयेत् let (him) bring.Commentary In this verse the Lord gives the method to control the mind. Just as you drag the bull again and again to your house when it runs out? so also you will have to drag the mind to your point or centre or Lakshya again and again when it runs towards the external objects. If you give good cotton seed extract? sugar? plantains? etc.? to the bull? it will not turn away but will remain in your house. Even so if you make the mind taste the eternal bliss of the Self within little by little by the practice of concentration? it will gradually abide in the Self only and will not run towards the external objects of the senses. Sound and the other objects only make the mind restless and unsteady. By knowing the defects of the objects of sensual pleasure? by understanding their illusory nature? by the cultivation of discrimination between the Real and the unreal and also dispassion? and by making the mind understand the glory and the splendour of the Self you can wean the mind entirely away from sensual objects and fix it firmly on the Self.
— vedicscriptures · exposition · source ↗
The nature of the mind is flickering and unsteady. But a self-realized yogī has to control the mind; the mind should not control him. One who controls the mind (and therefore the senses as well) is called gosvāmī, or svāmī, and one who is controlled by the mind is called go-dāsa, or the servant of the senses. A gosvāmī knows the standard of sense happiness. In transcendental sense happiness, the senses are engaged in the service of Hṛṣīkeśa, or the supreme owner of the senses – Kṛṣṇa. Serving Kṛṣṇa with purified senses is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the way of bringing the senses under full control. What is more, that is the highest perfection of yoga practice.
— vedicscriptures · exposition · source ↗