श्रीभगवान्
In plain words
The Blessed Lord said: Without doubt, mighty-armed one, manas is restless and difficult to restrain; yet it is mastered through practice and Vairāgya, son of Kunti.
Word for word
Without doubt, O mighty-armed one, the mind is hard to restrain [and] moving; but by practice, O son of Kuntī, and by vairāgya it is held.
असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम्अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते
Other commentaries
The commentators
▸Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
श्रीभगवानुवाच, एवम् एतत् यथा ब्रवीषि —
असंशयं नास्ति संशयः ‘मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम्’ इत्यत्र हे महाबाहो । किन्तु अभ्यासेन तु अभ्यासो नाम चित्तभूमौ कस्याञ्चित् समानप्रत्ययावृत्तिः चित्तस्य । वैराग्येण वैराग्यं नाम दृष्टादृष्टेष्टभोगेषु दोषदर्शनाभ्यासात् वैतृष्ण्यम् । तेन च वैराग्येण गृह्यते विक्षेपरूपः प्रचारः चित्तस्य । एवं तत् मनः गृह्यते निगृह्यते निरुध्यते इत्यर्थः ॥ ३५ ॥
In plain words
The Blessed Lord said: This is so, just as you say it —
‘There's no doubt about it, O mighty-armed one—the mind is hard to restrain, fickle.’ But through practice—and practice really means the mind returning again and again to one and the same thought on a given level—and through dispassion—dispassion means the freedom from craving that comes from repeatedly seeing the fault in whatever we want, whether we've experienced it or only imagine it—through that dispassion, the mind's outward scattering is reined in. In this way that mind is restrained, held in check, brought under control. That is the meaning.
Close to the Sanskrit
The Blessed Lord said: Thus is this, as you say —
‘There is undoubtedly no doubt’ about this, ‘the mind is hard to restrain, fickle,’ O mighty-armed one. But by practice—indeed, ‘practice,’ namely, is the repetition of a uniform cognition on some plane of the mind—and ‘by dispassion’—dispassion, namely, is freedom from craving arising from the practice of seeing the fault in desired enjoyments, seen and unseen—and by that dispassion, the outward movement of the mind, in the form of distraction, is restrained. Thus that mind is restrained, i.e. is held in check, is checked—that is the meaning.
▸Gītā Vāhini
పై మాటలకు భగవంతుడు చిరునవ్వి నవ్వి, “బావా! మనసు తత్త్వము చక్కగ గమనించితివి. ఎట్టి అసాధ్యమైన పనినైననూ అభ్యాసముతోడనూ లేక విచారణతోడనూ, వైరాగ్యమువలననూ దానిని క్రమేణా వశపరచుకొనవచ్చును. అభ్యాసముతో కాని పనులు లోకములో లేవు. ఎట్టి ఘనకార్యములైననూ భగవంతునిపై భారమువైచి, ఆత్మ విశ్వాసముతో అభ్యాసము సల్పిన అన్నియూ సాధించవచ్చును. కనుక దీక్షతో ఎవడు ఈ యోగమును సాధించునో అట్టివాడు, బహుజన్మ పరిపాకమున సమస్త దోషరహితుడై పరమ సిద్ధిని పొందును. అట్టివాడు తపోవంతులకంటే, జ్ఞానులకంటే, కర్మనిష్ఠులకంటే యోగసిద్ధుడు, గొప్పవాడు.”
In plain words
At these words the Lord smiled a smile and said, “Brother-in-law! You have observed the tattva of the Manas well. Any task, however impossible, can gradually be mastered through practice, or through inquiry, and through Vairāgya. There is no task in the world that cannot be done with practice. However great the undertaking, if one places the burden on God and keeps up the practice with self-confidence, everything can be accomplished. So whoever accomplishes this yoga with dedication, through the ripening of many births, is freed of all faults and attains the supreme siddhi. Such a one, perfected in yoga, is greater than those rich in tapas, than jñānis, than those steadfast in karma.”