Arjun feels helpless. With his fickle and inconstant mind, he can foresee no prospect of a steady and constant adherence to the Path of Knowledge which Lord Krishn has represented to him as the capacity to view all things equally.
Arjun submits:
“Since the mind is so restless, I cannot see,
O Madhusudan, that it can dwell steadily and long in the Way of Knowledge which you have expounded to me as equanimity.”
“For l find restraining the mind as difficult as restraining the wind,
because it is equally restless, turbulent, and mighty.”
The mind is so fickle and restless (by nature it is something that chums and agitates), obstinate, and powerful. So Arjun is apprehensive that trying to restrain it is going to prove as futile as tying up the wind.
Checking the mind is, therefore, as well nigh impossible as checking a storm.
And Lord Krishn answers:
“The mind is, O the mighty-armed,
doubtlessly fickle and hard to restrain, but it is disciplined,
O son of Kunti, by perseverance of effort and renunciation.”
Arjun is “mighty-armed” because he is capable of great accomplishment. The mind is indeed restless and most difficult to subdue, but as Lord Krishn tells him, it is restrained by constant effort and giving up of all desire.
Repeated endeavour to keep the mind steadily fixed on the object to which it should be dedicated is meditation (abhyas), whereas renunciation is the sacrifice of desire for or attachment to, all seen as well as heard sense-objects, which include pleasures of the world and also the promised joys of heaven.
So, although it is difficult to curb the mind, it can be subdued by constant meditation and renunciation.
Lord Krishn adds:
“It is my firm conviction that while
the attainment of yog is most difficult for a man
who fails to restrain his mind,
it is easy for him who is his own master and active
in the performance of the required action.”
The achievement of yog is not really so difficult as Arjun has assumed. It is difficult, indeed impossible, for the man with an unrestrained mind. But it is within the reach of one who has disciplined his thoughts and feelings, and is enterprising.
So, Arjun should not abandon his endeavour for yog just because of his fear that it is something impossible to achieve.
Wherever the mind goes, it is our duty to pull it back and restrain it. Lord Krishn admits that restraint of the mind is the most arduous, but he also assures that it is possible. Control of mind is achieved by practice and sacrifice of desires. Even the man whose endeavour is inadequate reaches, by constant meditation carried out over a number of lives, the point which is known as the ultimate state-the state of union with God.
~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©
_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~
