BG 06.34 cancalam hi manah krsna... cited

Expressions researched:
"For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong" |"cancalam hi manah krsna or more difficult than controlling the wind or pramathi balavad drdham" |"tasyaham nigraham manye" |"vayor iva su-duskaram"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: "6.34" or "For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong" or "cancalam hi manah krsna" or "more difficult than controlling the wind" or "pramathi balavad drdham" or "tasyaham nigraham manye" or "vayor iva su-duskaram"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 6.34, Translation and Purport:

The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Kṛṣṇa, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.

The mind is so strong and obstinate that it sometimes overcomes the intelligence, although the mind is supposed to be subservient to the intelligence. For a man in the practical world who has to fight so many opposing elements, it is certainly very difficult to control the mind. Artificially, one may establish a mental equilibrium toward both friend and enemy, but ultimately no worldly man can do so, for this is more difficult than controlling the raging wind. In the Vedic literature (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.3.3-4) it is said:

ātmānaṁ rathinaṁ viddhi

śarīraṁ ratham eva ca

buddhiṁ tu sārathiṁ viddhi

manaḥ pragraham eva ca

indriyāṇi hayān āhur

viṣayāṁs teṣu gocarān

ātmendriya-mano-yuktaṁ

bhoktety āhur manīṣiṇaḥ

"The individual is the passenger in the car of the material body, and intelligence is the driver. Mind is the driving instrument, and the senses are the horses. The self is thus the enjoyer or sufferer in the association of the mind and senses. So it is understood by great thinkers." Intelligence is supposed to direct the mind, but the mind is so strong and obstinate that it often overcomes even one's own intelligence, as an acute infection may surpass the efficacy of medicine. Such a strong mind is supposed to be controlled by the practice of yoga, but such practice is never practical for a worldly person like Arjuna. And what can we say of modern man? The simile used here is appropriate: one cannot capture the blowing wind. And it is even more difficult to capture the turbulent mind. The easiest way to control the mind, as suggested by Lord Caitanya, is chanting "Hare Kṛṣṇa," the great mantra for deliverance, in all humility. The method prescribed is sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādāravindayoḥ: (SB 9.4.18) one must engage one's mind fully in Kṛṣṇa. Only then will there remain no other engagements to agitate the mind.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.25.44, Translation and Purport:

Therefore persons whose minds are fixed on the Lord engage in the intensive practice of devotional service. That is the only means for attainment of the final perfection of life.

Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahūti, Verse 44

Here the words mano mayy arpitam, which mean "the mind being fixed on Me," are significant. One should fix his mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa or His incarnation. To be fixed steadily in that freedom is the way of liberation. Ambarīṣa Mahārāja is an example. He fixed his mind on the lotus feet of the Lord, he spoke only on the pastimes of the Lord, he smelled only the flowers and tulasī offered to the Lord, he walked only to the temple of the Lord, he engaged his hands in cleansing the temple, he engaged his tongue in tasting the foodstuff offered to the Lord, and he engaged his ears for hearing the great pastimes of the Lord. In that way all his senses were engaged. First of all, the mind should be engaged at the lotus feet of the Lord, very steadily and naturally. Because the mind is the master of the senses, when the mind is engaged, all the senses become engaged. That is bhakti-yoga. Yoga means controlling the senses. The senses cannot be controlled in the proper sense of the term; they are always agitated. This is true also with a child—how long can he be forced to sit down silently? It is not possible. Even Arjuna said, cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa: (BG 6.34) "The mind is always agitated." The best course is to fix the mind on the lotus feet of the Lord. Mano mayy arpitaṁ sthiram. If one seriously engages in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is the highest perfectional stage. All Kṛṣṇa conscious activities are on the highest perfectional level of human life.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.29.11, Translation and Purport:

The two doors named Nalinī and Nālinī should be known as the two nostrils, and the city named Saurabha represents aroma. The companion spoken of as Avadhūta is the sense of smell. The door called Mukhyā is the mouth, and Vipaṇa is the faculty of speech. Rasajña is the sense of taste.

The word avadhūta means "most free." A person is not under the rules and regulations of any injunction when he has attained the stage of avadhūta. In other words, he can act as he likes. This avadhūta stage is exactly like air, which does not care for any obstruction. In Bhagavad-gītā (6.34) it is said:

cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa

pramāthi balavad dṛḍham

tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye

vāyor iva suduṣkaram

"The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Kṛṣṇa, and to subdue it is, it seems to me, more difficult than controlling the wind."

Just as the air or wind cannot be checked by anyone, the two nostrils, situated in one place, enjoy the sense of smell without impediment. When the tongue is present, the mouth continually tastes all kinds of relishable foodstuffs.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.8.9, Translation and Purport:

Prahlāda Mahārāja continued: My dear father, please give up your demoniac mentality. Do not discriminate in your heart between enemies and friends; make your mind equipoised toward everyone. Except for the uncontrolled and misguided mind, there is no enemy within this world. When one sees everyone on the platform of equality, one then comes to the position of worshiping the Lord perfectly.

Unless one is able to fix the mind at the lotus feet of the Lord, the mind is impossible to control. As Arjuna says in Bhagavad-gītā (6.34):

cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa

pramāthi balavad dṛḍham

tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye

vāyor iva suduṣkaram

"For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Kṛṣṇa, and to subdue it, it seems to me, is more difficult than controlling the wind." The only bona fide process for controlling the mind is to fix the mind by service to the Lord. We create enemies and friends according to the dictation of the mind, but actually there are no enemies and friends. paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām (BG 18.54). To understand this is the preliminary condition for entering into the kingdom of devotional service.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1.42, Translation and Purport:

At the time of death, according to the thinking, feeling and willing of the mind, which is involved in fruitive activities, one receives a particular body. In other words, the body develops according to the activities of the mind. Changes of body are due to the flickering of the mind, for otherwise the soul could remain in its original, spiritual body.

One can very easily understand that the mind is constantly flickering, changing in the quality of its thinking, feeling and willing. This is explained by Arjuna in Bhagavad-gītā (6.34):

cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa

pramāthi balavad dṛḍham

tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye

vāyor iva suduṣkaram

The mind is cañcala, flickering, and it changes very strongly. Therefore Arjuna admitted that controlling the mind is not at all possible; this would be as difficult as controlling the wind. For example, if one were in a boat moving according to the wind on a river or the sea, and the wind were uncontrollable, the tilting boat would be very much disturbed and extremely difficult to control. It might even capsize. Therefore, in the bhava-samudra, the ocean of mental speculation and transmigration to different types of bodies, one must first control the mind.

By regulative practice one can control the mind, and this is the purpose of the yoga system (abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena (BG 8.8)). But there is a chance of failure with the yoga system, especially in this age of Kali, because the yoga system uses artificial means. If the mind is engaged in bhakti-yoga, however, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa one can very easily control it. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has recommended, harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). One should chant the holy name of the Lord constantly, for the holy name of the Lord is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Person.

By chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra constantly, one can fix the mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa (sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18)) and in this way achieve the perfection of yoga. Otherwise, the flickering mind will hover on the platform of mental speculation for sense enjoyment, and one will have to transmigrate from one type of body to another because the mind is trained only in relation to the material elements, or, in other words, to sense gratification, which is false. Māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān (SB 7.9.43).