6.34
चञ्चलं हि मनः कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवद् दृढम् ।
तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिव सुदुष्करम् ॥
cañcalaṃ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa pramāthi balavad dṛḍham
tasyāhaṃ nigrahaṃ manye vāyor iva suduṣkaram
Arjuna is still speaking.
The verse
For the mind is restless, Kṛṣṇa, churning, strong, and stubborn, and I think holding it down is as hard to do as holding the wind.
नेपालीमा
किनकि हे कृष्ण, मन चञ्चल, मथ्ने, बलियो र हठी छ, र मलाई यसलाई थिचेर राख्न हावा समात्न जत्तिकै गाह्रो लाग्छ।
Where it sits
6.33 said he cannot see a firm standing. This verse names the obstacle. The mind is like the wind. Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) answers at 6.35, and he does not deny the difficulty.
Split: चञ्चलम् + हि + मनः + कृष्ण + प्रमाथि + बलवत् + दृढम् + तस्य + अहम् + निग्रहम् + मन्ये + वायोः + इव + सुदुष्करम्
cañcalam + hi + manaḥ + kṛṣṇa + pramāthi + balavat + dṛḍham + tasya + aham + nigraham + manye + vāyoḥ + iva + suduṣkaram
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| चञ्चलम् | cañcalam | nominative singular | restless. Agrees with manaḥ (मनः). |
| हि | hi | indeclinable | for. |
| मनः | manaḥ | nominative singular | the mind. |
| कृष्ण | kṛṣṇa | vocative | Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण). |
| प्रमाथि | pramāthi | nominative singular | churning, violent. Neuter, agreeing with manaḥ (मनः). |
| बलवत् | balavat | nominative singular | strong. Neuter. |
| दृढम् | dṛḍham | nominative singular | hard, stubborn. |
| तस्य | tasya | genitive singular | of it. Of the mind. |
| अहम् | aham | nominative singular | I. |
| निग्रहम् | nigraham | accusative singular | the holding down. |
| मन्ये | manye | present, 1st singular, middle | I think. |
| वायोः | vāyoḥ | genitive singular | of the wind. |
| इव | iva | indeclinable | like. |
| सुदुष्करम् | suduṣkaram | accusative singular | very hard to do. su- (सु-) intensifies. |
The phrases
चञ्चलम् हि मनः cañcalaṃ hi manaḥ is the reason promised by cañcalatvāt (चञ्चलत्वात्). The mind is restless. pramāthi balavat dṛḍham (प्रमाथि बलवत् दृढम्) piles on: churning, strong, stubborn.
तस्य अहम् निग्रहम् मन्ये सुदुष्करम् tasya aham nigrahaṃ manye suduṣkaram is his judgment. Holding it down is very hard to do. vāyoḥ iva (वायोः इव) is the comparison. Like holding the wind.
balavat dṛḍham (बलवत् दृढम्) is balavad dṛḍham (बलवद् दृढम्). tasya aham (तस्य अहम्) is tasyāham (तस्याहम्). vāyoḥ iva (वायोः इव) is vāyoriva (वायोरिव).
Sanskrit in this line
iva (इव) is the particle of comparison, "like," and it follows the thing compared, vāyoḥ (वायोः). The genitive is "of the wind," because nigraham (निग्रहम्) is understood again: holding the mind is like holding of the wind. pramāthi (प्रमाथि) and balavat (बलवत्) are neuter nominatives, matching manaḥ (मनः). A masculine mind would have been pramāthī (प्रमाथी) and balavān (बलवान्). The neuter is how you know they belong to manaḥ (मनः).
Say it back
Four words for the mind, then the wind. If suduṣkaram (सुदुष्करम्) is softened to "a little hard," the su- (सु-) has been dropped.