Bhagavad Gītā › Chapter 2 › Verse 67
Bhagavad Gītā 2.67: The boat in the wind
इन्द्रियाणां हि चरतां यन्मनोऽनुविधीयते ।
तदस्य हरति प्रज्ञां वायुर्नावमिवाम्भसि ॥
indriyāṇāṃ hi caratāṃ yanmano'nuvidhīyate
tadasya harati prajñāṃ vāyurnāvamivāmbhasi
Recitation: NehalDaveND (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted, original recording
Meaning
When the mind follows the roaming senses, it carries away one’s wisdom, as the wind carries away a ship on the waters. Even one unchecked sense, followed by the mind, can be enough to lose direction.
For children
Krishna says: “If your mind runs after everything you see, it gets blown about, like a little boat in a strong wind.”
Kṛṣṇa explains, with the image of a boat in the wind, why the unsteady mind of 2.66 loses its wisdom.
Word by word
इन्द्रियाणां हि चरतां — When the senses roam
- indriya: sense
- hi: indeed
- caratām: roaming, wandering
यन्मनोऽनुविधीयते — and the mind runs after them
- yat: which
- manas: mind
- anuvidhīyate: follows after
तदस्य हरति प्रज्ञां — it carries away one’s wisdom
- tat: that
- harati: carries away
- prajñā: wisdom
वायुर्नावमिवाम्भसि — like wind carries a boat on water
- vāyu: wind
- nau: boat
- iva: like
- ambhas: water
Kṛṣṇa speaks this verse. The Sanskrit is checked against four editions; meanings and word notes are simple learning aids written for MahaPrabha Gurukul, awaiting review by a Sanskrit teacher.