Text 23
adṛṣṭād aśrutād bhāvān
na bhāva upajāyate
asamprayuñjataḥ prāṇān
śāmyati stimitaṁ manaḥ
adṛṣṭāt — which is not seen; aśrutāt — which is not heard; bhāvāt — from a thing; na — does not; bhāvaḥ — mental agitation; upajāyate — arise; asamprayuñjataḥ — for one who is not using; prāṇān — the senses; śāmyati — becomes pacified; stimitam — checked; manaḥ — the mind.
Because the mind is not disturbed by that which is neither seen nor heard, the mind of a person who restricts the material senses will automatically be checked in its material activities and become pacified.
It may be argued that even while closing one’s eyes, while dreaming or while living in a solitary place, one may remember or contemplate sense gratification. Such an experience, however, is due to previous sense gratification that one repeatedly saw and heard about. When one restricts the senses from their objects, especially from intimate contact with women, the mind’s material propensity will slacken and, like a fire without fuel, eventually die.