Bhagavad Gita · Sankhya YogaChapter 2, Shloka 67 (2.67)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
इन्द्रियाणां हि चरतां यन्मनोऽनुविधीयते
तदस्य हरति प्रज्ञां वायुर्नावमिवाम्भसि
॥ 2.67 ॥
indriyāṇāṃ hi caratāṃ yanmano'nuvidhīyate
tadasya harati prajñāṃ vāyurnāvamivāmbhasi
Translation
"For the mind that follows the senses as they roam among their objects carries away this (person's) wisdom, just as the wind carries away a boat on the water."
Interpretation
The boat and the wind. Shankaracharya: just as on water the wind takes the boat of jigamiṣatām — those wanting to go somewhere — and mārgād uddhṛtya unmārge — lifts it off the right course onto a wrong one, so the mind following the senses, ātma-viṣayāṃ prajñāṃ hṛtvā — snatching away the wisdom turned towards the self — makes it viṣaya-viṣayā — turned towards sense objects.
Ramanuja — a "contrary" wind. Ramanujacharya: yathā ambhasi nīyamānāṃ nāvaṃ pratikūlo vāyuḥ prasahya harati — just as a contrary wind forcibly carries off a boat being steered across the water. The mind makes wisdom viṣaya-pravaṇa — inclined towards sense objects.
Even one sense is enough — Madhusudana. Madhusudana Saraswati reads the "yat" of the shloka this way: among the senses wandering among objects, yad ekam apīndriyam — if the mind follows even one sense, tad indriyam ekam api manasānusṛtam … prajñāṃ harati — even that one sense, followed by the mind, carries away wisdom. Just as a single strong gust turns a boat.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.