Sanskrit
इन्द्रियाणां हि चरतां यन्मनोऽनु विधीयते । तदस्य हरति प्रज्ञां वायुर्नावमिवाम्भसि ॥
indriyāṇāṃ hi caratāṃ yan mano'nu vidhīyate tad asya harati prajñāṃ vāyur nāvam ivāmbhasi
Translation
Such of the roving senses as the mind yieldeth to, that hurries away the understanding, just as the gale hurries away a ship upon the waters.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A vivid restatement of verse 60’s warning: it takes only one roving sense the mind gives in to, and understanding is swept off course entirely, the way a single gale can take a ship. The image is precise about scale — not many failures, just one unguarded yielding — which is exactly why verse 68 concludes with “all,” not “most.”
Concepts