Verse 6.26

यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम् ।

ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत् ॥

6.26

Transliteration

yato yato niścarati manaścañcalamasthiram |

tatastato niyamyaitadātmanyeva vaśaṃ nayet ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

From whatever cause the restless and unsteady mind wanders away, from that let him restrain it and bring it under the control of the Self alone.

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

wherever
whichever way
wanders
the mind
restless
unsteady

from there
from there
restraining
this
in the self
alone
under control
should bring

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

Here Krishna gives a frank and practical instruction. The mind is restless and unsteady, and it will wander. Whenever and wherever it goes off, the meditator should patiently bring it back and settle it in the self. The verse does not pretend that wandering can be prevented at once. Instead, the practice consists precisely in noticing and returning, again and again. This simple method anticipates Arjuna's complaint later in the chapter that the mind is as hard to hold as the wind.