People often quote Gita 6.35:
“abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate”
And take it as general advice about calming the mind. But if you actually look at the surrounding verses and what Shankara says, it becomes clear that this verse is part of the Advaitic process of nididhyāsana, leading to samādhi (which is simply dwelling in that knowledge).
6.12 says:
tatraikāgraṁ manaḥ kṛtvā yatacittendriyakriyaḥ
upaviśyāsane yuñjyād yogam ātma-viśuddhaye
Shankara explains that the mind should become ekāgra, one-pointed, by withdrawing from all objects, and that the control of mind and senses is for inner purification. He’s not talking about calming down just to feel peaceful. It’s about preparing the mind to know and abide in the Self.
6.18 says:
yadā viniyataṁ cittam ātmany evāvatiṣṭhate
niḥspṛhaḥ sarva-kāmebhyo yukta ity ucyate tadā
Shankara here defines the real yogī as one whose mind is withdrawn from all external thought and rests only in the Self (ātmani eva kevale avatishṭhate). This is not neutral concentration — it’s Self-centered abidance. That’s the definition of nididhyāsana: sustained thinking based on Self-knowledge, after hearing (śravaṇa) and reflecting (manana).
6.20 to 6.23 take that state to its culmination – samādhi:
6.20:
yatroparamate cittaṁ niruddhaṁ yoga-sevayā
yatra caivātmanātmānaṁ paśyann ātmani tuṣyati
Shankara calls this samādhi (samādhir ātma-ālambanā cittavṛttiḥ), where the mind becomes still, rests in the Self, and the Self is “seen by the Self.” This is direct experience of Brahman, not via senses, not via concepts, but through steady knowledge.
6.21:
sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad buddhi-grāhyam atīndriyam
vetti yatra na caivāyaṁ sthitaś calati tattvataḥ
Shankara explains this sukha (happiness) as ātma-anubhava, beyond the senses, grasped by buddhi alone. The one in samādhi doesn’t fall back from this truth, na calati tattvataḥ. In other words, when nididhyāsana becomes fully steady, you’re no longer prone to slipping into ignorance again.
6.22:
yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ
yasmin sthito na duḥkhena guruṇāpi vicālyate
Having attained this knowledge, you know there’s nothing higher. Even the greatest sorrow doesn’t shake you. This is the fruit of assimilated knowledge, not just intellectual, but fully lived and embodied through constant nididhyāsana.
6.23:
taṁ vidyād duḥkha-saṁyoga-viyogaṁ yoga-saṁjñitam
sa niścayena yoktavyo yogo’nirviṇṇa-cetasā
Shankara explains this “yoga” as the separation from sorrow, which is what happens when the mind is merged in the Self. And he says it must be practiced with firm resolve (niścayena) and without mental fatigue (anirviṇṇa-cetasā). This is basically the instruction to keep doing nididhyāsana, with commitment and clarity.
So finally we come to 6.35:
asaṁśayaṁ mahābāho mano durnigrahaṁ calaṁ
abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate
Shankara defines abhyāsa here as sama-pratyaya-avṛttiḥ – repeated flow of the same thought in the mind. In Advaita, that “same thought” is the knowledge “I am Brahman.” It’s not general focus or chanting or thinking of random things. It’s the deliberate mental re-affirmation of the mahāvākya-jñāna.
Vairāgya is defined as dispassion toward both seen and unseen pleasures (dṛṣṭa-adṛṣṭa-bhoga), through seeing their defects. This is what stops the mind from being pulled outward.
So what is gṛhyate here? It means the mind becomes held, grasped, stabilized, not randomly, but specifically for dwelling on the Self, just like the earlier verses said.
To sum it up:
Gītā 6.35 tells us how to do nididhyāsana, by repetition of Self-knowledge (abhyāsa) and by detachment from distractions (vairāgya). The earlier verses tell us why, because that’s how you reach samādhi, the deep unshakable vision of the Self. And Shankara connects all of this step by step.
So no, 6.35 isn’t just about general mind control. It’s about holding the mind in brahma-jñāna, dwelling on it until it becomes firm, and that’s nididhyāsana, which when steady, becomes samādhi.
And that’s how liberation actually happens.
Prakarana Advaita 