Vāṇi

Praśna No. 1

Why can't I focus

Kṛṣṇa answers

BHAGAVAD GĪTĀ · 6.35

“…it can be brought under control through practice and the exercise of dispassion.”

Even Arjuna couldn't focus.

Arjuna, the finest archer of his age, tells Kṛṣṇa the mind is as hard to hold as the wind. Kṛṣṇa does not argue. He agrees, and then gives two words: practice, and letting go.

Ask the Gītā your own question.

Arjuna asked his. Samvāda answers yours with the Gītā's own verses.

Samvāda is software, an AI companion tuned to the Bhagavad Gītā. It is not a person. It answers from the verse and shows you which one, and it never pretends to be Kṛṣṇa.

The verses

Arjuna asks

BHAGAVAD GĪTĀ · 6.34

चञ्चलं हि मनः कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवद्दृढम्।
तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिव सुदुष्करम्।।

cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa pramāthi balavad dṛḍham tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye vāyor iva su-duṣkaram

For the mind is fickle, O Krsna, impetuous, powerful, and stubborn; I think that restraining it is as difficult as restraining the wind.

Kṛṣṇa answers

BHAGAVAD GĪTĀ · 6.35

श्री भगवानुवाच
असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलं।
अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते।।

śrī bhagavān uvāca asanśayaṁ mahā-bāho mano durnigrahaṁ calam abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate

The Lord said, "The mind is indeed hard to subdue and fickle, O mighty-armed one, but, O son of Kunti, it can be brought under control through practice and the exercise of dispassion."

The count

Counted by Vāṇi on the 700-verse text at getvani.app/gita.

Going deeper

In 6.33 Arjuna tells Kṛṣṇa that he cannot see how the yoga just taught can stay steady, because the mind is fickle. 6.34 explains why: the mind is restless, forceful, strong and stubborn, and holding it back seems as hard as holding back the wind. Kṛṣṇa does not argue. 6.35 agrees that the mind is hard to hold and restless, and then says it can be brought under control through practice and dispassion. 6.36 adds that yoga is hard to reach for a person who has not mastered the self, and can be reached through the right means by one who strives with a subdued mind. So the Gītā neither blames the one who cannot focus nor promises quick results. It names two tools. Read on in chapter 6, and what the Gītā says about anxiety collects related verses.

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