The mind verily is restless, turbulent, strong and unyielding, O Krishna: I deem it as difficult to control it as to control the wind.
In simple words
Arjuna continues: "The mind is restless, turbulent, strong, and stubborn, Krishna. Trying to control it feels as impossible as trying to control the wind."
Word-by-word meanings
चञ्चलम्restlessहिverilyमनःthe mindकृष्णO Krishnaप्रमाथिturbulentबलवत्strongदृढम्unyieldingतस्यof itअहम्Iनिग्रहम्controlमन्येthinkवायोःof the windइवasसुदुष्करम्difficult to do
Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.
Swami Sivananda
6.34 चञ्चलम् restless? हि verily? मनः the mind? कृष्ण O Krishna? प्रमाथि turbulent? बलवत् strong? दृढम् unyielding? तस्य of it? अहम् I? निग्रहम् control? मन्ये think? वायोः of the wind? इव as? सुदुष्करम् difficult to do.Commentary The mind constantly changes its objects and so it is ever restless.Krishna is derived from Krish which means to scrape. He scrapes all the sins? evils? and the causes of evil from the hearts of His devotees. Therefore He is called Krishna.The mind is not only restless but also turbulent or impetuous? strong and obstinate. It produces violent agitation in the body and the senses. The mind is drawn by the objects in all directions. It works always in conjunction with the five senses. It is drawn by them to the five kinds of objects. Therefore it is ever restless. It enjoys the five kinds of sensobjects with the help of these senses and the body. Therefore it makes them subject to external influences. It is even more difficult to control it than to control the wind. The mind is born of Vayutanmatra (wind rootelement). That is the reason why it is as restless as the wind.
Swami Chinmayananda
This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.
The person shaped by modern ideology merely condemns all sacred scriptures, whereas even an earnest seeker does not blindly accept every statement found in scripture—rather, he also asks questions. Yet there is a world of difference between the condemnation of the modern person and the inquiry of the sincere seeker. The seeker's endeavor is to understand the true meaning of scripture completely. Arjuna knows his own mind well: it is exceedingly restless, turbulent, powerful, and obstinate.
The three words—turbulent, powerful, and obstinate—are deeply significant and pregnant with meaning. The word "turbulent" reveals both the swift current of mental tendencies and the undulating waves of distraction it creates. Arjuna says that this mind, being turbulent, is also powerful. The swift current of mental tendencies, rushing toward the desired object and, upon attaining it, becomes so powerfully bound by firm attachment to that object that separating the mind from it becomes a difficult task. Its third characteristic is obstinacy—that is, once this willful mind begins to dwell upon an object, it is not easy to turn it away from it. How can a mind possessed of these characteristics be turned away from objects and established in the Self, as taught in the method of meditation?
The power and movement of the mind—its penetrating quality and pervasiveness—could not be expressed more beautifully and effectively than through the simile of wind employed here. Arjuna wishes to learn from Sri Krishna those means by which the mind, swift as a fierce wind, can be brought completely under control. Arjuna addresses the Bhagavan by His most intimate name, Krishna, which is most fitting, for the word Krishna derives from the root "krish," meaning one who draws away—who destroys—all the defects, that is, the desires of those devotees who have realized the Self.
Just as one who commits murder in a dream, upon awakening to the waking state, finds his blood-stained hands and the darkness of his stain instantly cleansed, so too, when the true nature of the Self is recognized, the mind and its aggressive tendencies, desires and their wickedness, intellect and its searching nature, the body and its enjoyments—all these are destroyed. For this reason, the philosophical poet, the great sage Vyasa, depicted this inner Self in the Mahabharata in the form of Krishna, the flute-player of Vrindavan, the enchanter of hearts. The art of bestowing a particular name upon a person to reveal a specific quality in the context of a passage is a unique feature of the Sanskrit language, not found in other languages of the world.
Accepting Arjuna's reasoning, the Bhagavan speaks: