यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम् | ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत् ||६-२६||
yato yato niścarati manaścañcalamasthiram . tatastato niyamyaitadātmanyeva vaśaṃ nayet ||6-26||
Chapter 6 · Verse 26
Dhyana Yoga
ध्यानयोग
In plain words
In this verse the Lord gives the method to control the mind. Just as you drag the bull again and again to your house when it runs out so also you will have to drag the mind to your point or centre or Lakshya again and again when it runs towards the external objects. If you give good cotton seed extract sugar plantains etc.
Translation
6.26 Wherever the fickle and unsteady mind wanders, he should subdue it then and there bring it back under the control of the self alone.
Meaning
In this verse the Lord gives the method to control the mind. Just as you drag the bull again and again to your house when it runs out so also you will have to drag the mind to your point or centre or Lakshya again and again when it runs towards the external objects. If you give good cotton seed extract sugar plantains etc. to the bull it will not turn away but will remain in your house. Even so if you make the mind taste the eternal bliss of the Self within little by little by the practice of concentration it will gradually abide in the Self only and will not run towards the external objects of the senses. Sound and the other objects only make the mind restless and unsteady. By knowing the defects of the objects of sensual pleasure by understanding their illusory nature by the cultivation of discrimination between the Real and the unreal and also dispassion and by making the mind understand the glory and the splendour of the Self you can wean the mind entirely away from sensual objects and fix it firmly on the Self.
Word by word
यतःयतः from whatever cause निश्चरति wanders away मनः mind चञ्चलम् restless अस्थिरम् unsteady ततःततः from that नियम्य having restrained एतत् this आत्मनि in the Self एव alone वशम् (under) control नयेत् let (him) bring.