Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 20
The First Step in God Realization: The Glory of Hearing and the Virāṭ-Rūpa Meditation
रजस्तमोभ्यामाक्षिप्तं विमूढं मन आत्मन: । यच्छेद्धारणया धीरो हन्ति या तत्कृतं मलम् ॥ २० ॥
rajas-tamobhyām ākṣiptaṁ vimūḍhaṁ mana ātmanaḥ yacched dhāraṇayā dhīro hanti yā tat-kṛtaṁ malam
L’esprit de l’âme, entraîné par rajas et aveuglé par tamas, demeure agité et égaré. Mais l’homme ferme peut le maîtriser par la concentration reliée à Viṣṇu; cette concentration détruit l’impureté engendrée par ces modes et apaise le mental.
Persons generally conducted by the modes of passion and ignorance cannot be bona fide candidates for being situated in the transcendental stage of God realization. Only persons conducted by the mode of goodness can have the knowledge of the Supreme Truth. Effects of the modes of passion and ignorance are manifested by too much hankering after wealth and women. And those who are too much after wealth and women can rectify their leanings only by constant remembrance of Viṣṇu in His feature composed of impersonal potencies. Generally the impersonalists or monists are influenced by the modes of passion and ignorance. Such impersonalists think of themselves as liberated souls, but they have no knowledge of the transcendental personal feature of the Absolute Truth. Actually they are impure in heart on account of being devoid of knowledge of the personal feature of the Absolute. In the Bhagavad-gītā, it is said that after many hundreds of births, the impersonal philosopher surrenders unto the Personality of Godhead. To acquire such a qualification of God realization in the personal feature, the neophyte impersonalist is given a chance to realize the relation of the Lord in everything by the philosophy of pantheism.
FAQs
This verse says the mind becomes agitated and deluded by passion and ignorance, and a sober person should restrain it through dhāraṇā—steady concentration—thereby removing the impurity those modes create.
Parīkṣit Mahārāja was preparing for death by fixing his consciousness on the Supreme; Śukadeva explains practical inner discipline—concentration that curbs the mode-driven mind—so the hearer can become purified and fit for God realization.
Regularly bring the distracted mind back to one sacred focus (such as the Lord’s form, name, or teachings), and by consistent practice reduce impulsive passion and dullness—replacing them with clarity, steadiness, and purity.