śrī bhagavān uvāca asaṁśayaṁ mahā-bāho mano durnigrahaṁ calam abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate
"The Blessed Lord said: Undoubtedly, O mighty-armed one, the mind is restless and hard to control. But, O son of Kunti, it is mastered through practice and dispassion."
What This Means:
Krishna agrees—yes, the mind is definitely hard to control! But it CAN be mastered through two things: practice (abhyasa) and dispassion (vairagya). These two together make the impossible possible.
Going Deeper:
Krishna doesn't minimize the difficulty (asamsaya—undoubtedly it's hard). But he provides the solution: abhyasa (consistent practice) and vairagya (dispassion/non-attachment). These are the same two pillars Patanjali gives in the Yoga Sutras.
How To Apply This:
The two-part solution: Keep practicing consistently (abhyasa) AND cultivate dispassion toward the mind's productions (vairagya). Practice without dispassion becomes compulsive; dispassion without practice becomes passive. Together they work.
Key Sanskrit Terms: