By: BK Surya
Source: The Daily Guardian
Dated: May 5th, 2025
The importance of attaining self-mastery is one of the central themes of the Bhagavad Gita. True freedom and spiritual fulfilment come from mastering one’s mind, senses, and ego, it says.
One must elevate, not degrade oneself by one's own mind, Shri Krishna tells Arjuna in the Gita. “For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy,” he adds.
Mastery over the mind requires ruling power. Having ruling power means I, the soul, am able to use my subtle faculties - the mind, intellect, and tendencies - exactly as I want. These three special powers of the soul should always cooperate with me. It is through these three powers that the soul controls the sense organs and the rest of the body. When these three faculties follow my directions, the course of my life is smooth.
The mind creates: it gives rise to thoughts. The intellect decides. The tendencies give a good or bad shape to everything. I may have a bright idea, and also know how to implement it, but the intention behind it all could be determined by my tendencies. Since our thoughts colour the intellect, and also form our tendencies over time, the mind’s power of thought is our primary power. If the mind works as it should, then the other two faculties function properly. When we lose our way, it is the mind that first goes off-track. So, those on the path of self-improvement need to check if their mind works as they want: are my thoughts aligned with my goals, or does the mind lead me astray with distractions, doubts, and deception? I cannot claim to have self-mastery if my mind follows its own dictates, the intellect is confused or vacillating, or my tendencies, habits, or temperament lead me by the nose. If everything is accurate at times but not so at other times, that too is not self-mastery.
Just as a ruler can control his or her kingdom only when they have the requisite knowledge and the power to act accordingly, the soul needs wisdom and strength in order to rule over the mind and the senses. Wisdom includes having detachment and discipline - two essential tools for self-mastery.
Letting go of attachment to the outcomes of our efforts allows us to act freely and wisely. In the Gita, Arjuna is exhorted to perform his duty with equipoise, “abandoning all attachment to success or failure”.
Such equanimity saves us from getting entangled in our actions, the Gita says: “He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality, envy, and steady in both success and failure, is never entangled.”
The Gita describes discipline in terms of balance and moderation in life, which lead to clarity and control over the self: “He who is temperate in eating and recreation, in his efforts in work, and in sleep and wakefulness, will allay all sorrows by practising the yoga of self-discipline.”
The Gita repeatedly says that self-mastery is necessary to gain spiritual wisdom. There is no knowledge of the self for the unsteady; and for the unsteady, there is no meditation. For the unmeditative, there is no peace. And for those who are not peaceful, how can there be happiness, it says.
Knowledge of the self, the soul, brings the recognition that it is when we live in alignment with the soul’s innate virtues of purity, peace, truth, love, and happiness, that we experience fulfilment. Self-mastery does not come from repression, but simply aligning our thoughts, feelings, and actions with our higher nature.
BK Surya is a Rajyoga teacher
at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.
