सङ्कल्पप्रभवान्कामांस्त्यक्त्वा सर्वानशेषतः | मनसैवेन्द्रियग्रामं विनियम्य समन्ततः || २४ ||
saṅkalpa-prabhavān kāmāṃs tyaktvā sarvān aśeṣataḥ manasaiveindriya-grāmaṃ viniyamya samantataḥ
saṅkalpa—mental speculation; prabhavān—born of; kāmān—material desires; tyaktvā—giving up; sarvān—all; aśeṣataḥ—completely; manasā—by the mind; eva—certainly; indriya-grāmam—the full set of senses; viniyamya—regulating; samantataḥ—from all sides.
“Abandoning completely all desires born of imagination (sankalpa), and restraining the entire group of senses from all sides by the mind alone —”
Desires do not arise from external objects alone — they arise from sankalpa, the mental movement of imagining and planning. The mind first imagines an object or outcome as desirable, then craves it. Catching and releasing desire at the level of sankalpa — before it becomes an entrenched craving — is a far more efficient practice than fighting fully formed desires. The mind that governs its own imagination has achieved a profound level of inner control.
Notice the difference between experiencing a sense impression and immediately fantasising about it. That gap — between raw sensation and the imagined story of pleasure or satisfaction — is where desire is born. Training yourself to pause in that gap is the practice this verse recommends.