Gita 06.36 – Mind control is essential – and possible by proper process

6.6 Asanyatatmana yogo dushpraapiti mehmatihi vashatmana tuyatata shakyo vaptamupayataham Krishna is continuing to address Arjuna's apprehension about the feasibility of mind control and here he states asanyatatmana yogo asanyat asanyat means control, asanyat means not controlled asanyatatmana yogo if one does not control the mind then yoga dushpraapiti mehmatihi then yoga is difficult to attain here yoga refers to both the yoga practice and yoga perfection, yoga itself is very difficult to practice if one does not control the mind and more importantly the yoga, yoga in the state of in the sense of the perfection of yoga in the sense of attaining connection with the absolute truth tam vidya dukha sanyoga yoga yoga samgita as was mentioned in this chapter itself in 6.23 that is not possible therefore what we need is that we have to control the mind dushpraapiti mehmatihi without controlling the mind yoga is difficult to attain, it is difficult to connect with the absolute truth vasyatmana tuyatata vasyatmana controlling the mind tuyatata if one endeavours shakyo vaptum upayataha it is possible to attain if upayataha if one adopts a proper process so the two verses essentially state that yes Arjuna there is no doubt that the mind is difficult to control but it is possible by practice and detachment that is the previous verse and this verse states that actually although it is difficult to control the mind, without controlling the mind success in yoga is difficult it is almost unattainable but controlling the mind is possible by a proper process Krishna does not describe any specific process over here we will describe we will continue to describe ashtanga yoga in this chapter and then in the last verse of this chapter we will talk about how the most intimately united yogis are those who fix their mind on him and then from the 7th chapter onwards we will talk about bhakti yoga in 7.1 he will say that the same perfection of yoga of fixing the mind can be attained by the practice of bhakti yoga and then in the 8th chapter Krishna will compare ashtanga yoga and bhakti yoga and he will recommend unambiguously bhakti yoga so a process is needed for controlling the mind and that process which the bhagavad gita recommends is bhakti yoga so in this particular verse Krishna does not state the process but he states the principle just like continuing the student metaphor a student may say that this subject is extremely difficult sir and professor the sir or madam professor will say that yes its difficult but its possible to possible to understand it and do well in it if you apply yourself and then if the student is reluctant its so difficult to apply myself to the subject the student may say that actually if the engineering student is there and if the teacher says this is engineering mathematics if you don't understand engineering mathematics then you will not be able to then you will not become a good engineer you will not be able to do well in your subsequent studies or even your career in the long run so like that Krishna says that this is controlling the mind is a fundamental skill without this you can attain yoga is next to impossible and then the teacher may impress upon the student the student need to apply apply oneself to the studies even if they are little difficult so like that Krishna says over here that without controlling the mind without controlling the mind yoga is extremely difficult to attain and then what the teacher says next that actually if you just do this well in the subject then you will surely be able to flourish as an engineer and the student also feels inspired if I don't study this then I won't be able to do well in any other subject but if I do well in this that itself will be a significant step towards progressing towards getting my becoming successful as an engineer at least in engineering studies so like that Krishna says in the next part that controlling the mind endeavor for it it is possible it is possible to attain yoga perfection by following a proper process so teacher may tell the student don't just study randomly hundred reference books don't go and refer to all of them study this one book prepare for these questions and these are the focus points and you can focus on these things so good students usually have well defined process of how they will study by which they know how to optimize their studies similarly Krishna says over here that the process of studying similarly there is a process to be followed for controlling the mind and that process is Krishna will talk about later in this verse specifically Krishna stresses the necessity and the feasibility of mind control necessity means that which has to be done feasibility means that which can be done that which is in the realm of possibility in the realm in the realm of realistic possibility so for example if somebody is using petrol or diesel and that's causing a lot of pollution so pollution can cause a huge threat in the long run or as the decades are following in the short run also but the pollution caused by the problems caused by pollution is not the thought of a say environmental activist spiritual vision who is acting as an activist the focus will not be on condemnation but will be on education the focus will be on not this is bad that is bad, they are bad, everyone is bad and the implication is that I am good about me this is good about me, that is good about me therefore essentially I am good but this sort of attitude of assumed superiority is not what is taken up by Krishna leaves Arjuna to his thoughts when Arjuna after hearing about how the mind is to be controlled recognizes a pattern and he will tell about the privilege of the human form of life and a special opportunity is there to attain perfection and chakyo vaptah upayatah Arjuna if you follow a proper process you can surely attain perfection therefore be inspired, be dedicated and follow the right process do not become disheartened by thinking that this is impossibly difficult it is essential and it is feasible if you follow the right process.