Category Archives: chanchalam

Bhagavad Gita Verse 34, Chapter 6

08 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in aham, balavat, chanchalam, chapter 6 verse 34, drudham, hi, iva, krishna, manaha, manye, nigraham, pramaathi, sudushkaram, tasya, vaayoho

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chanchalam hi manaha krishna pramaathi balavaddrudham |
tasyaaham nigraham manye vaayoriva sudushkaram || 34 ||
 
For, the mind is fickle, rebellious, strong and stubborn, O Krishna. To control it, I think, is as arduous as the wind.
 
chanchalam : fickle
hi : for
manaha : mind is
krishna : O Krishna
pramaathi : rebellious
balavat : strong
drudham : stubborn
tasya : it
aham : I
nigraham : control
manye : think
vaayoho : the wind
iva : like
sudushkaram : arduous
 
Arjuna further elaborates on the difficulty of controlling the mind for meditation to Shri Krishna. He says that it is as difficult as trying to harness the wind. Why is that so? The mind is fickle, rebellious, strong and stubborn. It will refuse any attempt to be controlled.
 
Shri Krishna had acknowledged the fickle nature of the mind in previous shlokas. We oursleves have directly experienced how fickle our mind is. Most of the time, our mind is jumping from one thought to another. Many analogies have been offered to illustrate this fickle nature of the mind. The most common one is a drunken monkey jumping from one branch to another. We can also tell how fickle someone’s mind is by observing their eyes. If they dart around too much, that means their mind is racing through thoughts.
 
Next, Arjuna says that the mind is “pramaathi”. It is difficult to exactly translate this world. The closest word is “rebellious”. It is like a wild horse that is being tamed for the first time. it will never let the rider stay on its back for more than a few seconds. Trying to control the mind becomes a wrestling match where the opponent does not let us get a good grip on him.
 
Furthermore, Arjuna refers to the mind as strong and stubborn. In other words, once the “mind is made up”, or the mind has decided that it wants a certain thing, it is very hard to change it. It is like a child throwing a tantrum – it will cry, yell and scream till it gets its way. The mind will resist all efforts to be controlled, and will start creating a list of desires which will throw us completely off track.
 
So therefore, Arjuna sums up the difficulty of controlling the mind by comparing this endeavour to taming the wind – something that is next to impossible. Coming from Arjuna, a mighty meditator who is said to have propitiated Lord Shiva through his meditation, makes it a valid question. Shri Krishna responds to Arjuna’s question in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 26, Chapter 6

28 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by in aatmani, asthiram, chanchalam, chapter 6 verse 26, etat, eva, manaha, nayet, nishcharati, niyamya, tataha, vasham, yataha

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yato yato nishcharati manashchanchalamasthiram |
tatastato niyamyaitadaatmanyeva vasham nayet || 26 ||
 
Wherever the fickle and unstable mind strays, remove it from there and constantly focus it only on the self.
 
yataha : wherever
nishcharati : strays
manaha : mind
chanchalam : fickle
asthiram : unstable
tataha : from there
niyamya : remove
etat : it
aatmani : self
eva : only
vasham : focus
nayet : constantly
 
Having asked the meditator to slowly but surely practice meditation, Shri Krishna elaborates on what exactly is the aspect of meditation that needs constant practice and repetition. He urges the meditator to check the mind as soon as it strays into another thought, and bring it back to the thought of the self. The meditator has to do this again and again, each time the mind strays. It is one of the most practical shlokas about meditation.
 
As we practice meditation, we begin to appreciate the speed at which the mind moves from thought to thought. For example, let’s say that the thought of taking a one week vacation enters the mind. It then leads to a chain of thoughts. First the mind makes a list of all our favourite vacations spots. Then it calculates how much each place will cost. Then it visualizes what each of those places looks like. It might also bring up memories of past vacations. The mind has thought all of this within seconds. By the time we are aware that the mind is thinking like this, it has strayed far away from the object of meditation.
 
So therefore, Shri Krishna urges us to be extremely vigilant and alert with regards to our thoughts during meditation. We have to cultivate this vigilance as a habit. We have vigilant habits in other parts of our life. Men, for example, check their face daily for any stray hairs just after shaving. Similarly, we should be vigilant about stray thoughts during meditation. The constant practice of removing stray thoughts is called “abhyaasa”.
 
The mind loves to stray towards thoughts about objects, people and situations that we have given importance to. Abhyaasa helps us diminish our importance towards stray thoughts. Shri Shankaraachaarya in his commentary gives us a wonderful tip with regards to abhyaasa. Each time we encounter a stray thought, we should instantly analyze it like a scientist. We should inspect each thought and say: it is nothing but name and form on top of the eternal essence. If the thought is about name and form only, then it is not real, it is does not have “satyatva”. And if it is not real, it is not important, so I should not go after it.
 
Furthermore, if the very same thought occurs the next time, we should inspect it and say : I have already determined that this thought is not important to me. If we do so each time that same thought comes, we develop dispassion or vairagya towards it. Only then will meditation work properly.
 
If we follow this technique, the mind will eventually become quiet – “prashaanta”.