"For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krishna, and to subdue it is, it seems to me, more difficult than controlling the wind."

Mind Control

Enemy or friend?

For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy.

PURPORT
The purpose of practicing eightfold yoga is to control the mind in order to make it a friend in discharging the human mission. Unless the mind is controlled, the practice of yoga (for show) is simply a waste of time. One who cannot control his mind lives always with the greatest enemy, and thus his life and its mission are spoiled. The constitutional position of the living entity is to carry out the order of the superior. As long as one's mind remains an unconquered enemy, one has to serve the dictations of lust, anger, avarice, illusion, etc. But when the mind is conquered, one voluntarily agrees to abide by the dictation of the Personality of Godhead, who is situated within the heart of everyone as Paramatma. Real yoga practice entails meeting the Paramatma within the heart and then following His dictation. For one who takes to Krishna consciousness directly, perfect surrender to the dictation of the Lord follows automatically.

Capturing the insubordinate mind

For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krishna, and to subdue it is, it seems to me, more difficult than controlling the wind.

PURPORT
The mind is so strong and obstinate that it sometimes overcomes the intelligence, although mind is supposed to be subservient to the intelligence. For a man in the practical world who has to fight so many opposing elements, it is certainly very difficult to control the mind. Artificially, one may establish a mental equilibrium toward both friend and enemy, but ultimately no worldly man can do so, for this is more difficult than controlling the raging wind. In the Vedic literatures it is said:

atmanam rathinam viddhi shariram ratham eva cha
buddhintu sarathim viddhi manah pragraham eva cha
indriyani hayanahur vishayams teshu gocharan
atmendriya-mano-yukto bhoktety ahur manishinah

"The individual is the passenger in the car of the material body, and intelligence is the driver. Mind is the driving instrument, and the senses are the horses. The self is thus the enjoyer or sufferer in the association of the mind and senses. So it is understood by great thinkers."

Intelligence is supposed to direct the mind, but the mind is so strong and obstinate that it often overcomes even one's own intelligence. Such a strong mind is supposed to be controlled by the practice of yoga, but such practice is never practical for a worldly person like Arjuna. And what can we say of modern man? The simile used here is appropriate: one cannot capture the blowing wind. And it is even more difficult to capture the turbulent mind. The easiest way to control the mind, as suggested by Lord Chaitanya, is chanting "Hare Krishna," the great mantra for deliverance, in all humility. The method prescribed is sa vai manah krishna-padaravindayoh: one must engage one's mind fully in Krishna. Only then will there remain no other engagements to agitate the mind.

The Sanskrit word mantra means man = mind + tra = deliver

The Bhagavad-gita is an authoritative statement given to Arjuna by Lord Krishna. It must be borne in the mind that the Bhagavad-gita was spoken on a battlefield. Before the battle, Arjuna declined to fight with his own kinsmen. After the Bhagavad-gita was spoken, he changed his mind and fought. There was not much time for this discussion—one hour at the most—for the opposing armies were already lined up, and eager to begin the combat.

After hearing about the yoga of meditation, which requires going to a secluded place and sitting perfectly still with the eyes focussed on the tip of the nose, Arjuna said, "Dear Krishna, I think this system is too difficult for me, on account of my agitated mind." In the material world our minds are agitated. The nature of the material world is such that we cannot be free from anxieties.

God has many names, according to His different activities. Arjuna here addresses Krishna as "Killer of Demons," because Arjuna sees his own mind as a demon. The sum and substance of any yoga system is to control the mind. Arjuna said that his mind was so agitated, that it was impossible for him to practice meditation. Now, Arjuna, a great warrior, was a personal friend of Lord Krishna, and he was able to understand the Gita in less than an hour, whereas today people can't understand it in an entire lifetime. If Arjuna, who was so intelligent and spiritually receptive that he could understand the Gita in an hour, said that meditation was too difficult for him, what about us? We are not even in the same category as Arjuna, who was Krishna's friend, and who was so intelligent. If it was impossible for Arjuna, can it be possible for us? It is impossible to still a hurricane, and it is equally impossible to still the mind by force. We can control the mind, however, by always thinking of Krishna. Krishna consciousness is the perfect form of yoga.

Meditation was good in a former age, when people lived millions of years. In the age after that the best method was sacrifice. After that, it was temple worship. Today, the best method is to chant the Name of the Lord, especially: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Today, we don't live long. We are unfortunate, disturbed and unintelligent. The whole world is fighting. In times such as these, how can we perform anything as difficult as meditative yoga? Therefore bhakti-yoga—Krishna consciousness, and chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra—is recommended for the present age.