Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 6: The Path of Meditation

Bhagavad Gita 6.35

asaṃśayaṃ mahābāho mano durnigrahaṃ calam | abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate ||

Without doubt, mighty-armed Arjuna, the mind is restless and hard to control. But by practice and by dispassion, it can be held.

Modern context

Krishna does not argue. He agrees: yes, the mind is restless and hard to control. Then he gives the two tools that the whole yoga tradition would later build on: abhyasa, practice, and vairagya, dispassion. Practice is the steady returning, day after day. Dispassion is loosening the pull of the things the mind runs after. Practice without dispassion is fighting a current; dispassion without practice is a good intention. Together they work.