Dvaita

These commentators fasten on the unusual passive form of the verb anuvidhīyate, literally 'is made to follow' or 'is ordained to follow.' They argue that this passive points to a hidden agent, and that the agent is the Lord himself. On this reading the mind does not simply wander off on its own; its following of the senses is brought about by the Lord. The grammatical basis given is careful: the prefix anu here means 'following behind,' and the root (dhā preceded by vi) carries the sense of 'do' or 'bring about,' so the natural agent of 'is made to follow' is the Lord alone. These commentators also stress the reach of the loss: the sense-following mind carries off not only wisdom about to arise but can overpower knowledge already arisen, so that even one who has done hearing and reflection still needs restraint of mind for meditation to stand firm.

Madhvācārya · Śrī Jayatīrtha

Viśiṣṭādvaita

This reading takes the grammar so that what carries off the wisdom is a particular sense, the one among the moving senses that the mind happens to follow at a given moment. The mind attaches to one sense as it ranges among objects, and through that attachment the wisdom bent toward the distinct Self is dragged into being bent toward objects instead, like a contrary wind forcibly carrying off a boat being steered on the water. The accent falls on the wisdom being 'bent toward the self set apart,' fitting this school's view of the Self as a real distinct reality that the insight is meant to apprehend.

Rāmānujācārya

Advaita Vedānta

Within this school there is an open debate about the exact subject of 'carries off,' and the wisdom in question is consistently identified as the insight born of discriminating Self from not-Self. Some hold that even a single unmastered sense, once the mind follows it, suffices to carry off the wisdom; if even one sense can do this, all the more can the senses together, so the worst case proves the general rule. Others reject the single-sense reading outright and insist the verse makes the mind itself the agent that carries off insight, pointing to the link with the preceding statement that the unyoked have no steady wisdom. One commentator notes both options and leaves the matter as 'worth considering.' A further distinctive observation in this school turns on the words 'on the water': just as wind can carry a boat only on water and not on land, the senses can carry off wisdom only when the mind is unsteady like water, and not when the mind is steady like land. The remedy is therefore built into the image.

Śaṅkarācārya · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Śrī Ānandagiri

Bhakti

These commentators read the verse so that a single sense, the one the mind follows, scatters the person's prajñā among objects, with the explicit 'how much more' inference that many senses do so all the more. They tend to dramatize the simile: the boat belongs to an inattentive or unsteady helmsman, and the wind drives it about the sea on every side. One commentator presses a further and striking point: even someone who has already become one with the state of the Self can be afflicted again by the miseries of worldly existence if he indulges the senses, even for play or sport. He likens this to a boat that, having safely crossed mid-river, is overturned by a sudden storm right near the bank and is exposed again to the very dangers it had escaped. The warning is that no stage of attainment makes indulgence safe.

Śrīdhara Svāmī · Śrīla Viśvanātha · Śrīla Baladeva · Sant Jñāneśvar

Śuddhādvaita

This reading approaches the verse through a specific worry: why should restraint of the senses still be needed by a mind already settled in bhāvanā, contemplative absorption, when restraint seems to belong only to the stage of practice and not to one already accomplished, just as it is unnecessary for the knower? The verse answers that worry. The senses roam freely among worldly things by their own will, and the very sense to whose contact the mind submits and into which it goes steals away that person's prajñā, which is here identified with the bhāvanā itself. The simile is read as capsizing: a strong gale overturns a boat whose helmsman is unsteady. So even contemplative absorption is not exempt; the unsteady practitioner can still be capsized.

Śrī Puruṣottama

Modern

These commentators render the verse in plainer, more psychological terms. The mind that constantly dwells on sense-objects and moves in the company of the senses destroys the seeker's discrimination and turns him away from the spiritual path back toward the objects. One frames the loss as the mind 'enslaving the reason' of a man, just as wind enslaves a boat on the water, casting the relationship as bondage. One develops the inner sequence in detail: among the objects pressing on the senses, the sense in which liking (rāga) arises makes the mind its follower; the mind then enjoys that object's pleasure, a pleasure-seeking and enjoying disposition (bhoga-buddhi) takes hold, the object's importance lodges in the mind, and at that same instant the firm resolve 'I have only to obtain the Supreme' (vyavasāyātmikā buddhi) is undone. The sway happens in no time, though explaining it takes long.

Swami Sivananda · Lokmanya Tilak · Swami Ramsukhdas