Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 25
शनैः शनैरुपरमेद् बुद्ध्या धृतिगृहीतया।
आत्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किञ्चिदपि चिन्तयेत्।।
आत्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किञ्चिदपि चिन्तयेत्।।
śanaiḥ śanair uparamed buddhyā dhṛti-gṛhītayā
ātma-sansthaṁ manaḥ kṛtvā na kiñcid api cintayet
also searched as "shanaih shanair uparamed buddhya dhriti grihitaya"
Translation
Little by little, one should withdraw oneself from objects other than the self, with the help of the intellect held by firm resolution; and then one should think of nothing else, having fixed the mind upon the Self.
Vāṇi's rendering
Little by little, grow still. Hold the understanding steady, rest the mind in the self, and think of nothing.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| शनैःśanaiḥ | slowly |
| शनैःśanaiḥ | slowly — repeated: little by little (appears as śanair before the next word) |
| उपरमेत्uparamet | let one come to rest, withdraw from restless activity |
| बुद्ध्याbuddhyā | by the understanding, the discerning faculty |
| धृति-गृहीतयाdhṛti-gṛhītayā | held firm by steadiness, gripped by patient resolve |
| आत्म-संस्थम्ātma-sansthaṁ | settled in the self, resting where it belongs |
| मनःmanaḥ | the mind |
| कृत्वाkṛtvā | having made, having brought about |
| नna | not |
| किञ्चित्kiñcid | anything, anything whatsoever |
| अपिapi | even, at all |
| चिन्तयेत्cintayet | let one think, let one dwell on |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 25 mean?
It means stillness is reached by degrees, not by force. Krishna asks for an understanding held steady by dhṛti — patience that does not let go — and a mind allowed to settle into the self. Then, nothing. Not a grand thought, not a better thought. The instruction is to stop reaching.
What does shanaih shanair uparamed buddhya mean?
Śanaiḥ śanaiḥ is simply slowly, slowly — the word repeated because once is not enough. Buddhyā dhṛti-gṛhītayā means with the understanding held by steadiness. Krishna is describing a grip that is firm and unhurried at the same time, which is how anything living is ever held.
How can I stop thinking when my mind never stays quiet?
You do not stop it in one stroke, and this verse never asks you to. It asks for little by little. A scattered sitting is not a failed sitting; it is one of the many that the word śanaiḥ was written for. What matters is that you sit again.
What does it mean to rest the mind in the self?
Ātma-sansthaṁ manaḥ — the mind placed in the self, not sent somewhere new. The mind wanders outward to objects and returns exhausted. Resting it in the self means letting it stay where it already stands, without an errand. Then Krishna adds the last freedom: think of nothing at all.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Not all at once. Krishna gives Arjuna the only instruction that survives contact with an actual mind: little by little. The understanding does not seize the mind; it holds it, the way a hand holds a bird — steady, patient, dhṛti. And what is asked at the end is not to think of something vast, but to think of nothing at all. Every attempt to force that in one stroke fails, and the failure becomes proof to you that you cannot. You can. Slowly. Tomorrow, after a scattered sitting, sit again — that returning is the whole of it.