Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 26
यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम्।
ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत्।।
ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत्।।
yato yato niścarati manaś cañcalam asthiram
tatas tato niyamyaitad ātmanyeva vaśaṁ nayet
also searched as "yato yato nishcharati manash chanchalam asthiram"
Translation
Wherever the fickle and unsteady mind wanders, one should subdue it and then bring it back under the control of the self alone.
Vāṇi's rendering
Wherever the restless mind runs off, go get it — bring it back, again and again, under your rule.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यतःyato | from wherever (yataḥ, softened before the next word) |
| यतःyato | from whatever direction — the doubling means 'again and again, wherever' |
| निश्चरतिniścarati | runs out, slips away, wanders off |
| मनःmanaś | the mind (manaḥ, sandhi before ca-) |
| चञ्चलम्cañcalam | flickering, restless |
| अस्थिरम्asthiram | unsteady, refusing to stay put |
| ततःtatas | from there (tataḥ, sandhi before ta-) |
| ततःtato | from that very place — matching the doubled 'wherever' |
| नियम्यniyamya | having reined in, having checked |
| एतत्etad | this (mind); joined to the previous word as niyamya + etat |
| आत्मनिātmani | in the self |
| एवeva | alone, nowhere else (joined: ātmani + eva) |
| वशम्vaśaṁ | under rule, into obedience |
| नयेत्nayet | should lead it, should bring it |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 26 mean?
It means the wandering is expected. Krishna does not ask for a mind that never strays; he asks that wherever it strays to, you follow it there, take hold of it, and lead it back to rest in the self. The doubled word — yato yato, tatas tato — is the sound of that returning happening over and over.
What is the meaning of yato yato nishcharati manash chanchalam asthiram?
Cañcala is flickering, like a flame in a draught; asthira is simply unable to stand. Krishna names the mind twice over as unreliable, and then gives no cure for that — only a response. From wherever it has run, from exactly there, bring it back. The remedy is the returning itself.
Why does my mind keep wandering during meditation even after years?
Because this verse never promised it would stop. Krishna speaks to Arjuna as one who will do this repeatedly, not once. Irritation at the wandering is a second wandering laid on the first. Notice where it went, and bring it home. That act, repeated without heat, is the whole of what is asked.
What does it mean to bring the mind under the control of the self?
Not suppression, and not force. Vaśaṁ nayet is the word for leading — the way one leads an animal, not the way one binds it. The mind is settled in ātman alone, nowhere else. Anything else you seat it in will move, and it will move with it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just asked for a mind held still, and here he admits it will not be. The instruction is not: keep the mind from wandering. It is: when it wanders — and it will, from this direction and that — go and fetch it. There is no reprimand in the verse. No failure is named. Only repetition: wherever it runs, from there bring it back under your own rule. Arjuna is not asked to succeed once. He is asked to return, without irritation. Your mind will leave its seat a hundred times this hour. A hundred returns is not defeat; that is the practice.