  We use the variational method, in a reformulated Hamiltonian formalism of
QCD, to derive the wave equation for a heavy quark-antiquark system using a
trial state that contains a component with a virtual light quark pair. We
examine the quark-antiquark potential in the non-relativistic limit using an
approximate trial ground-state wave function. We find that the potential
exhibits a confining character due to the inclusion of the virtual pair
component in the trial state.
