Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 24
सङ्कल्पप्रभवान्कामांस्त्यक्त्वा सर्वानशेषतः।
मनसैवेन्द्रियग्रामं विनियम्य समन्ततः।।
मनसैवेन्द्रियग्रामं विनियम्य समन्ततः।।
saṅkalpa-prabhavān kāmāns tyaktvā sarvān aśeṣataḥ
manasaivendriya-grāmaṁ viniyamya samantataḥ
also searched as "sankalpa-prabhavan kamans tyaktva sarvan asheshatah"
Translation
Renouncing entirely all desires born of volition and restraining the mind from all the senses on all sides,
Vāṇi's rendering
Drop every desire the mind invents, all of them, and with the mind gather in the senses from all sides.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सङ्कल्पप्रभवान्saṅkalpa-prabhavān | born of the mind's own imagining — desires the will conjures up before they are wanted |
| कामान्kāmān | desires, cravings |
| त्यक्त्वाtyaktvā | having let go (sandhi: kāmān + tyaktvā) |
| सर्वान्sarvān | all of them |
| अशेषतःaśeṣataḥ | with nothing kept back, leaving no remainder |
| मनसाmanasā | by the mind (sandhi: manasā + eva) |
| एवeva | by that alone, nothing else needed |
| इन्द्रियग्रामम्indriya-grāmam | the whole village of the senses — the flock, gathered as one |
| विनियम्यviniyamya | having drawn in and held steady |
| समन्ततःsamantataḥ | from every side, wherever they have wandered |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 24 mean?
It names where desire is made. Krishna calls them saṅkalpa-prabhavān — desires born of the mind's own inventing. Let them go entirely, aśeṣataḥ, keeping none back as a favourite. Then use that same mind to gather the senses in from every direction, the way a flock is brought home.
What does sankalpa-prabhavan kamans tyaktva sarvan asheshatah teach about desire?
That the craving did not arrive from outside. The mind pictured something, and the ache followed the picture. Krishna asks you to release the whole set — not the inconvenient ones while sheltering the sweet ones. Aśeṣataḥ means no remainder. What is not fed at the source does not need to be fought at the surface.
Why does Krishna say to restrain the senses with the mind alone?
Because force applied from outside only tightens the grip. Manasā eva — by the mind itself. The same faculty that sends the senses running in five directions can call them back. Krishna is not asking you to build a cage. He is asking you to become the one who gathers.
How do I practise this verse in ordinary life?
Catch the picture before the wanting. Some image of having, arriving, being seen — watch it form, and simply do not follow it. Then notice where your attention has scattered: a screen, a sound, an old grievance. Draw it back in, quietly, without punishing yourself. That gathering is the practice.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Notice the word: saṅkalpa. Desire is not something that happens to you; it is something the mind builds, plank by plank, out of a picture it made. Krishna does not tell Arjuna to fight his wants. He tells him to stop manufacturing them. And then, in the same breath, the senses — not shut down, not starved, but gathered, the way a shepherd brings the flock in from all sides at dusk. The instrument that scatters is the instrument that collects. Nothing new is required of you. The mind that invented the ache can also, tonight, quietly call it home.