सङ्कल्पप्रभवान्कामांस्त्यक्त्वा सर्वानशेषतः | मनसैवेन्द्रियग्रामं विनियम्य समन्ततः ||२४||
saṅkalpaprabhavān kāmāṃs tyaktvā sarvān aśeṣataḥ | manasaiveindriyagrāmaṃ viniyamya samantataḥ || 24 ||
Abandon all desires born of mental planning — without remainder — and restrain the senses completely, by the mind alone.
Word by word (3)
- saṅkalpa-prabhavān kāmān tyaktvā sarvān aśeṣataḥ
- — having abandoned, without remainder, all desires born of saṃkalpa · saṅkalpa = mental resolve, intention, plan, imagination — the mind's projecting, planning, desire-generating function. prabhava = born of, arising from. kāmān = desires, cravings. sarvān = all. aśeṣataḥ = without remainder, completely (a-śeṣa = leaving no residue). The root instruction: desires don't arise from the external world — they arise from saṃkalpa, the mind's own projecting and planning function. Cut the source (saṃkalpa), not the objects. This is why renouncing objects doesn't work — the saṃkalpa simply finds new objects. V24 goes to the root.
- manasā eva indriya-grāmaṃ viniyamya samantataḥ
- — and having completely restrained the multitude of senses on all sides by the mind alone · manasā eva = by the mind alone (not by physical force or external constraint). indriya-grāma = the multitude/collection of senses (grāma = village, collection). viniyamya = having restrained, regulated. samantataḥ = on all sides, completely, from all directions. The method: the mind — which generates desires through saṃkalpa — is the same instrument that must restrain the senses. The mind is both the problem and the solution. The key word: 'eva' (alone) — no external constraint, no physical force. Inner direction only.
- saṅkalpa / kāma / indriya-grāma (key terms)
- — mental resolve / desire / the collected senses — the three rungs of V24's teaching · The logic of V24 moves through three levels: (1) saṅkalpa — the mind's projecting-planning function that generates desire-images; (2) kāma — the desires those images produce; (3) indriya-grāma — the senses that chase those desires into the world. To free the senses, restrain the desires; to free the desires, release the saṅkalpa. Work from the root. This three-rung structure makes V24 the Gita's most analytically precise instruction on the mechanics of desire — and its solution.
Having resolved to practise yoga with determination (V23), here are the first specific instructions: abandon ALL desires that arise from the mind's projecting and planning function (saṃkalpa) — not partially, but completely, without remainder. And restrain the multitude of senses from their objects in all directions — using the mind alone, not external force.
A modern analogy
A garden constantly produces weeds. You can spend all day pulling individual weeds — or you can change the soil conditions that make weeds grow. Saṃkalpa is the soil of desires: the mind's habitual projecting, planning, fantasising that generates one desire after another. V24 says: change the soil (the saṃkalpa function), not just the individual weeds (specific desires).
What it does NOT mean
V24 does NOT say to suppress or destroy desires by willpower. It says: abandon desires born of saṃkalpa — cut the root, not the branches. The mind that generates desires through imagination and planning is the same mind that, when redirected, restrains the senses. This is inner work, not external asceticism.
Take with you
- The practice of noticing saṃkalpa: in meditation, when a desire arises, trace it back. 'I desire X' — but before the desire, there was a mental image (saṃkalpa): 'If I had X, things would be better.' Catch the image before the desire. That is V24's root-work.
- Aśeṣataḥ (without remainder) is demanding but important: partial abandonment of desires leaves the root intact. The saṃkalpa will simply generate new desires. Complete release — even if temporary, even just for the duration of this meditation session — is what V24 calls for.
- The V24-25 pair is sequential: V24 is the cutting (of desires and sense-pulling); V25 is the quieting (gradual, gentle, by degrees). Don't try to do V25 without V24's cutting work.
V24 resumes the practical instruction after the philosophical digression of V20-23. Having defined what yoga is (V23) and what it produces (V20-22), Krishna now returns to the 'how': the specific inner operations that move from V15 (nirvāṇa-peace as the goal) to V18 (mind resting in the Self). V24-25 together are a two-step deepening of the V12 instruction (ekāgra mind): V24 cuts the root of distraction (saṃkalpa and sense-pull); V25 builds the inner quiet that results. The emphasis on 'manasā eva' (by the mind alone) is important: the Gita never endorses physical austerity as a substitute for inner work. External fasting, mortification, extreme asceticism — all are rejected in V16-17 in favour of regulation. V24 continues this: it is the mind's own operation (not physical constraint) that brings the senses under direction.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya on saṃkalpa: it is the modification of the antaḥkaraṇa (inner instrument) that generates the sense of a separate, desiring ego. 'I want X' — this entire sentence is saṃkalpa. The ātman has no wants; it is already complete. The practice of V24 (abandoning saṃkalpa-born desires) is thus a direct practice of ātman-recognition: as saṃkalpa quiets, the ego-sense that generates desires also quiets, and the ātman's own nature begins to shine through.
Bhakti lens
The bhakta practises V24 through surrender: 'Not my saṃkalpa, but Thy will.' Every desire-image is surrendered at the feet of the Divine before it becomes a demand. This is bhakti's version of saṃkalpa-tyāga.
Karma-Yoga lens
The karma yogi practises V24 in action: before beginning any work, they consciously set down personal saṃkalpa (this is what I want to happen, this is what I need to get from this). What remains after setting saṃkalpa aside is clear, pure action — nishkama karma. V24's inner practice enables V3.19's outer instruction: 'Therefore perform your required action without attachment.'
Modern parallels
The psychological concept of 'mental imagery' in cognitive science is exactly saṃkalpa: the mind's forward-projection of desired states. Research shows that these mental images drive craving more powerfully than the external objects themselves. CBT and mindfulness-based therapies address craving at the image-level (noticing and releasing the mental picture before it generates action) — exactly V24's approach.
Practice
Before your next session: list (briefly, mentally) your top 3 current saṃkalpas — the mental images/plans that are most active. Then consciously set each one aside: 'I return to you later. For now, I let you go.' Begin the session from that cleared ground. Notice the difference in the quality of the practice.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
Having abandoned all desires born of saṃkalpa — without remainder — and having completely restrained on all sides the multitude of senses by the mind alone. [1]
Abandoning without reserve all desires born of Sankalpa, and completely restraining, by the mind alone, the whole group of senses from their objects in all directions. [4]
Having abandoned all imagination-produced desires without reserve, with the mind having curbed the collection of the senses on every side. [5]
Let him forsake all desires whose origin is in the imagination, and let him use his mind to restrain his senses on all sides. [6]
Let him forsake all wishes arising from the will, without reserve; and let him by the mind control all of the senses on every side. [7]
Abandoning without reserve all desires born of resolves, and controlling the whole multitude of senses by the mind on all sides. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Yoga is the disconnection from suffering — practise it with firm resolve and a mind that does not despond.
Gradually, gradually — with patience gripping the intellect — settle the mind into the Self and think of nothing at all.
What they call sannyāsa — know it as yoga, O Pāṇḍava — for none becomes a yogī without renouncing saṃkalpa.
Thinking → clinging → craving → anger. The chain of suffering begins in where you let your mind dwell.
Yogis act with body, mind, intellect, and bare senses — abandoning attachment — solely for self-purification.
The yogi practises constantly in solitude — alone, mind and body subdued, free from craving and possessiveness.