Shloka 29
Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga
Adhyātma-Upadeśa
स्नेहात् सम्मोहमापन्नो नावि दाशो यथा तथा । ममत्वेनाभिभूत: संस्तत्रैव परिवर्तते,परंतु स्नेहवश मोहको प्राप्त हुआ मनुष्य ममतासे आबद्ध होकर नावपर सदा बैठे रहनेवाले मल्लाहकी भाँति वहीं चक्कर काटता रहता है
snehāt sammohaṁ āpanno nāvi dāśo yathā tathā | mamatvenābhibhūtaḥ saṁs tatraiva parivartate ||
Overcome by affection, a person falls into delusion; like a boatman who remains seated in his boat, he keeps circling in the same place. Conquered by possessiveness—the sense of ‘mine’—he stays bound there, turning again and again without reaching the farther shore. The ethical point is that attachment and ‘I–mine’ fixation trap one in repetitive, unfree motion rather than purposeful progress toward clarity and right action.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Affection that turns into attachment produces delusion, and possessiveness (‘mine-ness’) keeps a person stuck in repetitive patterns—like a boatman circling in the same boat—rather than moving toward liberation, clarity, and dharmic action.
Vāyudeva uses a vivid simile: a deluded, possessive person is compared to a boatman who stays seated in his boat and merely turns about in the same place. The image illustrates how attachment prevents real progress and keeps one bound to the same condition.