Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 67
इन्द्रियाणां हि चरतां यन्मनोऽनुविधीयते।
तदस्य हरति प्रज्ञां वायुर्नावमिवाम्भसि।।
तदस्य हरति प्रज्ञां वायुर्नावमिवाम्भसि।।
indriyāṇāṁ hi caratāṁ yan mano ’nuvidhīyate
tadasya harati prajñāṁ vāyur nāvam ivāmbhasi
also searched as "indriyanam hi charatam yanmano anuvidhiyate"
Translation
For, when the mind follows the senses, experiencing their objects, his understanding is carried away by them, just as the wind carries away a ship on the waters.
Vāṇi's rendering
Let the mind chase the roaming senses, and they drag wisdom away — as wind drags a boat off course.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| इन्द्रियाणाम्indriyāṇām | of the senses |
| हिhi | for, indeed |
| चरताम्caratām | roaming, wandering among their objects |
| यत्yat | which |
| मनःmanaḥ | the mind (written mano before the following vowel) |
| अनुविधीयतेanuvidhīyate | follows after, falls in behind |
| तत्tat | that (mind) |
| अस्यasya | his, of this person |
| हरतिharati | carries off, sweeps away |
| प्रज्ञाम्prajñām | wisdom, the settled power of discernment |
| वायुःvāyuḥ | the wind |
| नावम्nāvam | a boat |
| इवiva | just as (joined by sandhi with the next word) |
| अम्भसिambhasi | on the water |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 67 mean?
It names the exact mechanism of losing oneself. The senses wander toward what attracts them; the mind falls in behind one of them; and prajñā — the steady seeing that judges rightly — is carried off with it. Krishna is not condemning the senses. He is showing that the mind's habit of following is what costs you your bearings.
What does indriyanam hi charatam yanmano anuvidhiyate teach?
That drift is quiet. Wind does not break a boat; it simply moves it, and the sailor feels nothing unusual until the coastline is wrong. So with attention. The moment the mind consents to follow a roaming sense, discernment has already begun to slip — long before any obvious mistake is made.
Why does Krishna use the image of a boat and wind?
Because a boat under wind stays whole. Nothing dramatic happens. It floats, it holds together, it keeps going — and it arrives where it never intended. That is how wisdom is lost in a life: not by catastrophe, but by a hundred small consents to be moved.
How do I stop my mind from chasing the senses?
Not by force, and not by hating what attracts you. Krishna's remedy through this whole passage is elsewhere-anchoring — the mind held to him, so that it has somewhere to be. Begin smaller: notice, once today, the exact moment the mind leans after something. That noticing is already the rudder.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
One sense is enough. Krishna has just described the man whose senses are gathered; now he shows how the gathering fails — not by collapse, but by drift. The mind does not have to surrender to all of them. It follows one roaming sense, and wisdom goes with it. The image is exact: a boat is not sunk by wind, it is moved. It keeps floating, keeps its shape, and arrives somewhere it never meant to go. You will not notice the moment discernment leaves. You will notice, later, the shore you are standing on. Watch which sense the mind is following now.