Bhagavad Gita 3.41
तस्मात्त्वमिन्द्रियाण्यादौ नियम्य भरतर्षभ । पाप्मानं प्रजहि ह्येनं ज्ञानविज्ञाननाशनम् ॥
tasmāt tvam indriyāṇy ādau niyamya bharatarṣabha | pāpmānaṃ prajahi hy enaṃ jñāna-vijñāna-nāśanam ||
Translation
Therefore, O chief of the descendants of Bharata, first restrain the senses, and then slay this sinful thing, which destroys knowledge and discernment.
Reflection
Which small sense-level move would actually loosen the grip you keep trying to think your way out of?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Three
Ādau, first. The order is given. Begin with the senses, where the enemy's grip is most external. Pāpmānaṃ prajahi, slay this sinning thing. Jñāna-vijñāna-nāśanam, the destroyer of knowing and the destroyer of discernment. The verse uses violent verbs because the fight is real and not metaphorical. Aurobindo: the senses are the outer wall. The work begins there because it has to begin somewhere, and there is the only place the new student has reliable access to. The mind and intellect, deeper seats, will come later in the teaching.