Chapter 6: Säìkhya-yoga
Bg 6.26
TEXT 26
yato yato niscalati
manas cancalam asthiram
tatas tato niyamyaitad
atmany eva vasam nayet
SYNONYMS
yataù—whatever; yataù—wherever; niçcalati—verily agitated; manaù—the mind; caïcalam—flickering; asthiram—unsteady; tataù—from there; tataù—and thereafter; niyamya—regulating; etat—this; ätmani—in the self; eva—certainly; vaçam—control; nayet—must bring in.
TRANSLATION
From whatever and wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the Self.
PURPORT
The nature of the mind is flickering and unsteady. But a self-realized yogé has to control the mind; the mind should not control him. One who controls the mind (and therefore the senses as well) is called gosvämé, or svämé, and one who is controlled by the mind is called godäsa, or the servant of the senses. A gosvämé knows the standard of sense happiness. In transcendental sense happiness, the senses are engaged in the service of Håñékeça or the supreme owner of the senses—Kåñëa. Serving Kåñëa with purified senses is called Kåñëa consciousness. That is the way of bringing the senses under full control. What is more, that is the highest perfection of yoga practice.