Gita 02.60 – Endeavoring and discerning are not enough for sense control
yatato hy api kaunteya
puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ
indriyāṇi pramāthīni
haranti prasabhaṁ manaḥ (Bg 2.60)
Word-for-word:
yatataḥ — while endeavoring; hi — certainly; api — in spite of; kaunteya — O son of Kuntī; puruṣasya — of a man; vipaścitaḥ — full of discriminating knowledge; indriyāṇi — the senses; pramāthīni — agitating; haranti — throw; prasabham — by force; manaḥ — the mind.
Translation:
The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them.
Explanation:
yatato hy api kaunteya: Even for one who endeavors, O son of Kuntī,
puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ: for a person who is discriminating (vipaścitaḥ),
indriyāṇi pramāthīni: the turbulent senses
haranti prasabhaṁ manaḥ: forcibly carry away the mind.
Here, Kṛṣṇa continues answering Arjuna’s question about how an enlightened person controls the senses. In the previous verse, He stated that without a higher taste, the senses remain wild. In this verse, He explains how that happens.
Several important points emerge from this verse. Firstly, it is not referring to an ordinary materialistic person given to sense gratification—certainly not someone who simply indulges in it, nor even one who engages in pious sense gratification. Pious sense gratification refers to those who follow karma-kāṇḍa, seeking artha (wealth) and kāma (pleasure) within the bounds of dharma. That is a separate category altogether.
yatato hy api kaunteya: The word yatato means ‘endeavoring.’ This person does not think, “Now that I have performed dharma, kāma is my right—the fruit of my dharma.” Instead, they aspire to go beyond the reach of the senses, beyond sense gratification, toward spiritual pursuits. They are yatato (endeavoring) to control the senses.
puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ: Such a person is discerning. They truly understand the difference between matter and spirit, between temporary and eternal happiness, and they seek eternal pleasure.
In Bhagavad-gītā 2.42, yām imāṁ puṣpitāṁ vācaṁ pravadanty avipaścitaḥ, the word used for the karma-kāṇḍīs is avipaścitaḥ—those who are not very discriminating, who cannot differentiate between the material and the spiritual. In contrast, this person is vipaścitaḥ—one who can distinguish between matter and spirit. This means they have gone beyond karma-kāṇḍa to the process of yoga and are striving to attain the spiritual by minimizing and eliminating their connection with the material. But in spite of that—
indriyāṇi pramāthīni: —the senses are wild (pramāthīni).
Two aspects are emphasized regarding this person’s attempt to gain control—endeavoring and discerning. Vipaścitaḥ means discerning or discriminating. The word ‘discrimination’ often carries negative connotations, such as caste or racial discrimination. In today’s context, ‘discerning’ is a more appealing term.
While this person is both endeavoring and discerning—endeavoring being a matter of willpower and discernment a matter of intelligence—when neither is sufficient, what happens?
indriyāṇi pramāthīni: The senses are mad. Pramatta means ‘mad,’ and pramāthīni means ‘maddening.’
haranti prasabhaṁ manaḥ: They carry away (haranti) the mind. Prasabham means wildly restless, very forceful.
To understand how the senses carry away the mind, we can consider the chariot-body metaphor. In this analogy, the senses are like the horses, the mind is like the reins, and intelligence is the charioteer.
‘Yatato’ and ‘vipaścitaḥ’ indicate that intelligence is both endeavoring and knowing. The charioteer understands: This is not the path I should take; this is the right path. However, despite this awareness, the horses—the senses—are so strong that they pull the chariot in another direction.
If the chariot is meant to stay on a particular road but the horses catch sight of some fruit or vegetables by the roadside, they become mad with desire. Even if there is a ditch in between, they veer off-course, rushing toward the food. As a result, the whole chariot topples over due to their forceful pull.
Similarly, the senses forcefully carry away the mind—haranti prasabhaṁ manaḥ. Kṛṣṇa describes how, when a person tries to control the senses and keep them disciplined, the wild senses rebel and drive them away.
Two words are used here—pramāthīni and prasabham. Pramāthīni means agitating, maddening. It is bad enough if someone is mad, but if they are also powerful, that becomes even more dangerous. Madness itself brings a kind of power. When a person goes mad, sometimes two, three, or even four people are needed to restrain the person. But if he is also formidably built, the combination of madness and strength becomes a deadly force.
Likewise, the senses are mad and pull forcefully, making it extremely difficult—almost impossible—to maintain control. The senses drag the mind away.
Metaphorically, the horses pull the reins, and the entire chariot moves in the direction the horses choose, rather than where the charioteer intends it to go. This loss of control is dangerous.
In literal terms, the senses dragging the mind away means that in verse 2.58, Kṛṣṇa spoke about controlling the senses and drawing them inward—just as a tortoise withdraws its limbs. But here, the exact opposite happens—instead of drawing consciousness inward through the senses, the senses pull consciousness outward. This leads a person to act immorally, anti-devotionally, or even criminally, depending on the nature of the actions performed. In this way, the senses forcefully carry away the mind.
There seems to be no solution to this forceful dragging away by the senses. What more can a person do? Though he possesses two essential qualities—yatato (endeavoring) and vipaścitaḥ (discerning)—yet still, he fails. This can be quite unsettling.
Often, when we struggle to observe a fast on a sacred day or fail to follow a spiritual practice, we assume the problem is that we are not trying hard enough. But when one is yatato—earnestly endeavoring—and still does not see results, it is easy to become discouraged.
The key is to recognize that life moves forward from one situation to the next, and we must move forward as well. If we become fixated on a particular pleasure, that pleasure will be temporary, but our attachment to it—the hope that we will find the same pleasure in some other form or combination in the future—never fades.
This is how material nature entraps us. The external world constantly changes its appearance, making us think, Oh, I have never enjoyed this before—let me try it again. But in reality, we are experiencing the same thing repeatedly while continuing to suffer endlessly.
Only when we learn to fix the mind on Kṛṣṇa—which will be introduced in the next verse for the first time in the Bhagavad-gītā—can we find the true solution. The concept of higher vision or perception (paraṁ dṛṣṭvā) will be hinted at in the next verse.
Here, Kṛṣṇa explains that even a wise and discerning person can be waylaid by the strong and impetuous senses. However, if one can fix the mind on Kṛṣṇa, as will be mentioned in the next verse, then endeavoring and discerning must be accompanied by absorption in Him. Only then will one’s efforts bear fruit.
This will be elaborated upon in the next verse, which we will discuss in our next session.
Thank you.
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