Verse 2.60

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.60:

यततो ह्य् अपि कौन्तेय पुरुषस्य विपश्चितः ।
इन्द्रियाणि प्रमाथीनि हरन्ति प्रसभं मनः ॥ ६० ॥

yatato hy api kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ |
indriyāṇi pramāthīni haranti prasabhaṃ manaḥ || 60 ||

yatataḥ–who is endeavouring (for liberation); hi–because; api–even; kaunteya–O son of Kuntī (Arjuna); puruṣasya–of a man; vipaścitaḥ–who possesses discrimination; indriyāṇi–senses; pramāthīni–being churned; haranti–steal away; prasabham–forcibly; manaḥ–the mind.

O son of Kuntī, the senses, when agitated, can forcefully steal away the mind, even of a person who is endeavouring for liberation.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

It is beyond the capacity of the sādhaka to have complete control over his senses while he is within the stage of practice, but the endeavour alone is commendable. To explain this point, Śrī Bhagavān speaks the present verse beginning with yatataḥ. Here meaning of the word pramāthīni is ‘those things that cause agitation’.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

The duty of a sādhaka is to endeavour very carefully to achieve control over his senses. One cannot become sthita-prajña without being sense controlled. The flickering senses are always agitated, and it is as difficult to have complete control over them as it is to control the wind. However, according to the instructions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, even this difficult task becomes very easy when one engages all his senses in the service of Śrī Bhagavān.

One can learn from the daily activities of King Ambarīṣa how to engage his controlled senses in the service of Śrī Bhagavān.

These are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṃsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane
karau harer mandira-mārjanādiṣu śrutiṃ cakārācyuta-sat-kathodaye
mukunda-liṅgālaya-darśane dṛśau tad-bhṛtya-gātra-sparśe’ṅga-saṅgamam
ghrāṇaṃ ca tat-pāda-saroja-saurabhe śrīmat-tulasyā rasanāṃ tad-arpite
pādau hareḥ kṣetra-padānusarpaṇe śiro hṛṣīkeśa-padābhivandane
kāmaṃ ca dāsye na tu kāma-kāmyayā yathottamaśloka-janāśrayā ratiḥ

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (9.4.18–20)

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja always engaged in the worship of Śrī Kṛṣṇa by fixing his mind in remembering His lotus feet, by engaging his tongue in describing His name, form, qualities and pastimes, his ears in hearing the topics of Bhagavān, his eyes in seeing Bhagavān’s beautiful deity form, his sense of touch in experiencing the happiness of serving the feet of the devotees of Bhagavān, his nostrils in smelling the fragrant objects such as the Tulasī and sandalwood paste that had been offered at the lotus feet of Bhagavān, his feet in circumambulating His abode, and his head in paying obeisances to Bhagavān and His devotees. In this way, he controlled all his senses and engaged them in the service of Bhagavān.

It is very beneficial and auspicious for sādhakas to follow this path.