When asked by Yaksha, “What when controlled does not give rise to sorrow,” Yudhishtira is prompt with his reply: “The mind.” The Upanishads have dealt with the psychological range of human thought and behaviour in an exhaustive manner and make it clear that one who controls the mind will never regret it, said Sri B. Sundarkumar in a discourse. The mind is known as the internal instrument or the ‘antakarana’ which is engaged in performing various functions.
When it receives impressions of the outer world through the senses, it is known as the manas. It is known as buddhi when it identifies an object and distinguishes it as different from another, or classifies it. It is called the ego-sense or ahamkara when it appropriates the sense experiences it acquires to the individual.
The senses lead one to the sphere of finite experience that is a mix of joy and sorrow. The thought waves or perceptions of the mind are called vritti and are broadly classified as painful and not painful. These are innumerable and cannot be controlled easily. The mind is always restless when engaged in this vritti of seeking in vain to find happiness in the objects of the world.
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But there is also a greater desire for freedom from what is known as pleasure or happiness in worldly terms. By restraining the mind, one can overcome conscious and even unconscious impressions that are deep-seated in the consciousness. Only with the mind can one still the senses and such a man is a yogi, tells Krishna in the Gita.
The same mind then is capable of turning towards Truth. Then it can strive to grasp the Supreme Brahman. The goal of all prayer, worship, meditation, etc culminates in total control of the mind, a spiritual exercise that comes with practice and detachment.