यस्त्विन्द्रियाणि मनसा नियम्यारभतेऽर्जुन।
कर्मेन्द्रियैः कर्मयोगमसक्तः स विशिष्यते।।3.7।।
But, O Arjuna, one who engages in Karma-yoga, controlling the organs of action with the mind and becoming unattached, excels.
Osho’s Commentary
And now, the other side of the coin. The superior man, the excellent one, is not he who suppresses the senses, but he who masters the mind. See the difference. Suppression is a fight. Mastery is a transformation. He who fights with his senses remains on the same level as the senses. But he who turns his attention to the mind, to the very source of desire, begins to rise above. How is this mastery achieved? Krishna says, “Controlling the senses with the mind.” This is the first step: will, determination, sankalpa. It is the experience of being separate from the body. You feel hunger, but you decide, “No, not now.” You feel sleep, but you decide, “No, I must remain awake.” For the first time, you experience a power within you that is higher than the body’s compulsions. This is the birth of the soul, the birth of will. The body is a slave to habit. The mind can become its master. And when the mind becomes the master of the senses, a great harmony is born. Then you engage the senses in action, but without attachment. You are in the world, but not of it. You act, but you are not the actor. You are a witness, a watcher on the hills. The will is born through small experiments. Try it. Decide to fast for a day. The body will rebel, the mind will create a thousand excuses, but if you remain centered in your decision, a moment comes when the body falls silent. It accepts your mastery. In that moment, you have a glimpse of what it means to be a soul. This is the first step. The second step is to offer even this will, this soul, to the divine. But first, it must be born. A weak man cannot surrender. Only a man of immense will can take the final step of surrendering that will itself. And he, says Krishna, is the one who is truly superior.