Control of the senses, peace, equanimity, tranquillity. (Glossary for the Vahinis)

In the word Sama, Sa signifies voice, Ama signifies life. The combination of voice and life is the meaning of the word Sama. (SSB 1974, p. 53)

Sama means mind-control. This is very hard to achieve. The mind can cause bondage; it can also confer liberation. It is an amalgum of Rajasika, and Tamasika modes, the passionate and dull attitudes. It is easily polluted. It relishes in hiding the real nature of things and casting on them the forms and values which it desires. So, the activities of the mind have to be regulated. The mind has two characteristics. The first is: it runs behind the senses; whatever sense the mind follows helplessly, it is inviting disaster. When a pot of water becomes empty, we need not infer that it has leaked away through ten holes; one hole is enough to make it empty. So too, among the senses, even if one is not under control, one will be thrown into bondage. Therefore, every sense has to be mastered.

The second characteristic of the mind is: the potency of the mind can be promoted by good practices like Dhyana, Japa, Bhajana and Puja. With the strength and skill thus reinforced, the mind can help the world or harm it. So, the mental power gained by such Sadhana has to be turned away from wrong paths and controlled by Sama. These senses have to be directed by the principle of intelligence, the Buddhi. They must be released from the hold the mind has on them. Then spiritual progress can be attained. Manas or Mind is but a bundle of thoughts, a complex of wants and wishes. As soon as a thought, a desire or a wish raises its head from the mind, Buddhi must probe into its value and validity – is it good or bad, will it help or hinder, where will this lead or end. If the mind does not submit to this probe, it will land itself in the path of ruin. If it does and obeys the intelligence, it can move along the right path. Man has three chief instruments for uplifting himself: Intelligence, Mind and Senses. Where the mind gets enslaved by the senses, man gets entangled and bound. The same mind, when it is regulated by the intellect, can make aware of the Reality, the Atma. This is why the mind is reported to cause either bondage or liberation. (Sutra Vahini, pp. 9-10)

Sama calls for steadfast faith in God and complete control of the senses and the mind. There are five sense organs and five organs of action besides the mind, through which these ten function. Once the sense organs (Jnanendriyas) are controlled, it is easy to control the organs of action (Karmendriyas). Sama (sense-control) makes one a master of his mind and indriyas (sense and action organs) instead of being their slave. Such a person transcends the animal nature and can go forward from the human to the Divine. Birds, beasts and other creatures are concerned with enjoyment of external things. Man alone is gifted with the capacity to discriminate between the transient and the permanent and seek what is everlasting by controlling his senses and giving up attachment to the perishable body and the ephemeral objects of the phenomenal world. It is the consciousness in the physical body that enables man to enjoy the pleasures derived from the objects experienced through the senses. Once this truth is realised, the divine nature of consciousness will become clear. Then every action can be regarded as an offering to the Divine. Work will then be transformed into worship. When the identification of the self with the body goes, action, which may seem to be done for personal enjoyment can be converted into actions of dedication to the Divine. When actions are performed in this unselfish spirit, one can experience a sense of liberation and enjoy bliss that passeth understanding.

Control over the senses (Sama) is thus the first stage in the journey towards Self realisation. (SS June 87, p. 154)