In plain words
The senses themselves are mastering man
Manas is like the moon. The moon means nothing but the influence of Manas! ‘Candramā manaso jātaḥ cakṣo sūryo ajāyata.’ The moon does not shine by its own light. It shines, in the night time. Then how does it shine? On whose support does it shine? The moon shines because the sun's light falls on it. So the sun's own light appears as the moon's light. But here we must inquire well. The sun's light is blazing. It is fiercely sharp. It cannot be borne. But the moon's light is pleasant and cool. The light in this moon and the light in the sun are one and the same! Even so, why is the sun's light so fierce and the moon's light so cool? The mind, joined with many desires, is in tamoguṇa. Within tamoguṇa it is always dark. That is, when its desires are fulfilled, it is cool. When desires are not fulfilled, it is restless. Apart from that, it is not hot. Such is the nature of this mind. No one can check the nature of the mind. What is the mind? ‘Saṅkalpavikalpakātmakaṃ manaḥ,’ it is called.
Just as the waves in the ocean go on without end and without rest, in just the same way thoughts go on and on in Manas without rest. Whoever masters this Manas, made up of such thought and counter-thought, he alone is the victor. He alone has won victory. Today we think we have achieved a great deal. All that is achieved today brings with it the shadow called sorrow. So these are not things we have achieved. All these are testing man.