Read the source • understand the teaching • prepare your questions
Dhyāna
Read the cited source passages on this page →
Read a Gītā passage about the wandering mind, explore a named Vedānta teaching, and prepare questions for learning meditation in context.
Learning goal: Distinguish a textual teaching about the mind from the detailed method taught by a particular teacher.
A textual starting point: Gītā 6.26
Bhagavad Gītā 6.26 describes drawing the wandering mind back under the control of the Self in A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda’s translation. The verse supplies a point for study; it does not by itself supply a complete beginner’s method, session length or posture.
Read Gītā 6.26 — Prabhupāda translation. This edition has a Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava perspective. Its purport explains sense control through service to Kṛṣṇa. Attribute that explanation to the commentary, keeping it distinct from the Sanskrit verse.
Optional edition study: compare the linked source’s Sanskrit, word explanations, translation and purport as separate layers. Then ask what further context the surrounding chapter provides.
Read the source
Source passages to read on this page
Read the selected passages in English below. Translation, commentary and handbook guidance are labeled separately; the adjacent links let you check the source.
Bhagavad Gītā 6.26
Kṛṣṇa speaks to Arjuna in the Gītā’s dialogue. The surrounding chapter remains linked for context.
Reference: Swami Swarupananda; Śrīmad-Bhagavad-Gītā, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati (1909); Ramakrishna Order / Advaita Vedānta. Check the cited passage or chapter →
English translation
Through whatever reason the restless, unsteady mind wanders away, let him, curbing it from that, bring it under the subjugation of the Self alone.
Public-domain 1909 English translation. Line breaks and evident OCR errors corrected against the passage; translator’s comments are not included. Original Sanskrit is identified separately.
Read the original Sanskrit
Original Sanskrit · Devanāgarī
यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम् ।
ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत् ॥ २६ ॥
Swami Vivekananda, Complete Works, volume 1, Preface to Raja-Yoga
This supplies the named teaching discussed on this page without requiring an outside book.
Reference: Swami Vivekananda; Swami Vivekananda, Complete Works, volume 1, Raja-Yoga, Preface; original English teaching in the Ramakrishna tradition. Check the cited passage or chapter →
Attributed teaching excerpt
Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy — by one, or more, or all of these — and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details.
Attributed teacher’s account
The Society’s page relates these possibilities to karma, bhakti, rāja, and jñāna yoga. This is Vivekananda’s teaching, not a statement that every school defines yoga identically.
Public-domain historical English teaching; modern source attribution retained. The handbook explanation is separate.
A practice needs a context
Dhyāna is commonly translated as meditation. The term does not by itself tell you what to attend to, which instructions to follow, or how a school understands the goal. When reading a meditation guide, look for its teacher, tradition, and intended audience before treating it as a complete method.
A named teaching: Swami Vivekananda
Vivekananda’s Raja-Yoga preface, supplied in the source panel, identifies work, worship, psychic control and philosophy as approaches to spiritual freedom. This is his named teaching in the Ramakrishna tradition; it is distinct from Gītā 6.26.
The preface does not give a complete personal meditation procedure. Ask an identified teacher about the chosen practice and keep that instruction separate from these introductory source passages.
Choosing instruction
Ask a temple, study group, or established teacher which beginner instruction they offer. A useful first conversation can clarify:
- What is the object or focus of this meditation?
- How does the practice relate to prayer, mantra, or study?
- What should I do when attention wanders?
- Which posture and session length are appropriate for a beginner?
- Who can answer questions as I continue?
Read with the source beside you
Keep the teacher’s actual instructions available rather than relying on a remembered mixture of several techniques. Record the name of the method and any terms you do not understand. The handbook’s japa overview introduces repetition, while the yoga page maps the wider topic.
Sources & scope
Swami Vivekananda, Raja-Yoga, Preface — a named Indian Hindu teacher’s original English account, supplied on this page. The related Gītā verse is separately translated and cited.
General reading questions are handbook guidance. Specialist and practice-use review remain pending.
Keep an instruction record
Record the teacher or source, the name of the method, the stated focus, the intended audience and instructions you were actually given. Include the date and any unresolved question. Avoid reconstructing a method from fragments that belong to different teaching settings.
Ask what the teacher means by terms such as mind, Self or concentration. A familiar English word can conceal a difference in interpretation. The Ātman guide offers a separate textual reading of the Self; it should not silently replace your teacher’s explanation.
Common questions
Does this verse prescribe a breathing technique?
The selected verse describes bringing back the wandering mind. It does not establish the details of a breathing routine. Such instructions need their own identified teaching context.
Is mantra repetition the same as every form of meditation?
Vivekananda’s named preface presents several approaches to spiritual life. To compare methods, identify the focus, instructions and goal in each account rather than treating the names as interchangeable.
What should I do if I cannot follow an instruction?
Ask the person teaching it to clarify the difficulty and the next step. Keep the actual instruction available so the conversation concerns the method you were given.
Check your understanding
Without looking, explain the point made by Gītā 6.26 in this translation. Can that one verse establish a fixed duration or a detailed technique? Name the source you would need for those details.
Compare your answer
The verse concerns bringing the wandering mind back under the control of the Self. A specific duration or technique requires further instruction; it cannot be inferred from this verse alone.
Return later and try the explanation again. Check the passage and distinguish its wording from your interpretation. This is a reading activity, not a meditation procedure.