Bhagavad Gita 3.6

Sanskrit

कर्मेन्द्रियाणि संयम्य य आस्ते मनसा स्मरन् । इन्द्रियार्थान्विमूढात्मा मिथ्याचारः स उच्यते ॥3.6॥

Transliteration

karmendriyāṇi saṃyamya ya āste manasā smaran | indriyārthānvimūḍhātmā mithyācāraḥ sa ucyate ‖3.6‖

Meaning

“One who restrains the organs of action but sits remembering sense-objects in the mind, that deluded person is called a hypocrite.”

Key learning

Pretending to be disciplined on the outside while indulging on the inside is just self-deception. If your body sits still but your mind is busy feasting on what it craves, that is worse than honest engagement, because it adds lying to yourself on top of the desire. Where your mind actually lives is the truth of who you are, no matter how your body looks.

How to apply this today

Look honestly at the gap between your performed discipline and what your mind is really doing. Deleting an app while constantly imagining what you would see on it changes nothing, so work on the craving, not just the access. Sitting in meditation while planning your whole day is just posture, so ten honest minutes beat forty fake ones. Bring your mind to where your body is, because that union is the real discipline.

Theme: The Yoga of Action

This verse is part of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3: Karma Yoga , read all verses in this chapter.

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