📿 Shloka Collection

Shanaih Shanair Uparamet

Gita 6.25 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 6 — Atma Samyama Yoga
शनैः शनैरुपरमेद्बुद्ध्या धृतिगृहीतया ।
आत्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किञ्चिदपि चिन्तयेत् ॥
Shanaih shanair uparamed buddhya dhriti-grihitaya
Atma-samstham manah kritva na kinchid api chintayet
शनैः शनैः
slowly, gradually
उपरमेत्
should withdraw, should become still
बुद्ध्या धृतिगृहीतया
with an intellect held firm by patience
आत्मसंस्थम् मनः कृत्वा
having placed the mind in the Self
न किञ्चित् अपि चिन्तयेत्
should not think of anything at all

Two words repeated: shanaih shanaih. Slowly, slowly. No rush. Krishna is not describing a lightning-bolt experience. He is describing a patient, gradual settling — like silt drifting to the bottom of a still pond.

The method is simple. Hold your intellect steady with patience. Place the mind in the Self. Then think of nothing at all. That last instruction sounds impossible, and Krishna knows it. That is why he starts with 'gradually.' A river does not freeze in an instant. The mind does not go silent in one sitting.

Notice the tenderness here. Krishna does not demand silence. He invites a gentle approach — as if saying, 'Take your time. Each small step counts.'

Shlokas 6.24 and 6.25 form a pair. In 6.24, Krishna asked the seeker to renounce desires and restrain the senses. Here in 6.25, he describes the next step: gradually settle the mind in the Self. The progression is deliberate — first outer discipline, then inner stillness.

Patanjali's Yoga Sutra 1.12 uses the same principle: abhyasa (practice) and vairagya (detachment) together bring the mind under control. The Gita's 'shanaih shanaih' echoes that same spirit of patient, repeated effort.

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