Self Mastery in the Bhagavad Gita

Verses across the Gita that speak to self mastery, drawn from all chapters and ordered by where they appear.

• 2.60Restraint fails without disciplined senses.
• 2.68Steady wisdom begins when the senses stop ruling your attention.
• 3.33Nature drives behavior; force alone cannot overrule it.
• 3.34Freedom begins when attraction and aversion stop steering action.
• 3.40Desire conquers by hijacking the mind's own instruments.
• 3.42Desire sits above reason, so mastery must begin earlier.
• 3.43Desire loses power when the higher mind takes command.
• 4.21Freedom from clinging keeps action untouched.
• 5.23Master the surge before it masters you.
• 5.26Freedom comes when desire and anger no longer govern the mind.
• 6.5Your own inner handling makes you rise or collapse.
• 6.6The same inner nature that frees you can also fight you.
• 6.26The mind is mastered by repeated return, not by force.
• 6.34The mind resists control like wind resists the hand.
• 6.35A restless mind is not a verdict; it is a training ground.
• 16.21Three inner forces open the way to ruin; dropping them protects the self.