Srimad Bhagavad-Gita :

Tuesday, Jan 28, 2013.


Srimad Bhagavadgeeta :


Chapter-6. ( Dyanayogam )


Slokam-5.



Uddhared atmanatmanam    natmanam avasadayet,



Atmaiva hy atmano bandhur   atmaiva ripur atmanah.




 Atmanam                                         =    The conditioned soul;

Atmana    uddharet                       =       By the mind; one must deliver; 

Atmanam    na   avasadayet       =        The conditioned soul   never   put into degradation; 

Hi   atma   eva                                   =     Mind   ( is)  certainly,     indeed   a;   

Atmanah  bandhuh                        =      Friend  of the conditioned soul;

Atma   eva   atmanah     ripuh     =     Certainly   mind   (is the )  enemy  of the conditioned soul.




Lift yourself up by yourself. Do not destroy yourself. You are your best friend if you
master yourself. If not, you are your worst enemy.

Only by constant endeavour with faith and determination is one able to detach themselves from ego sense and misidentification with their bodily activities and be in equanimity. 

One must free oneself by mindfulness and never put oneself down, as surely that self interest is indeed as well the friend of the soul as the self its enemy.

One must care to be mindful and attentive and not to freak out in flippancy, thereto keeping in mind that that mindfulness is just the same one's enemy as one's friend.

A man must elevate himself by his own mind, not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.


One should exercise discrimination and thereby realise that attachment to sense objects is the cause of bondage and non-attachment to sense objects leads to liberation. So it is mandatory that infatuation with sense objects is renounced. By diligent effort one must elevate their consciousness and become free from the trans migratory existence of samsara or the continuous cycle of birth and death. One should not debase oneself clinging to the lower nature like the animals. Lord Krishna emphasises the changing nature of the mind. When the mind is freed from attachments one becomes lucid and clear and the mind is like one's best benefactor. When the mind is disturbed by attachments it becomes distracted and distorted and the mind becomes one's worst malefactor. 


The word atmana refers to the mind. The mind must detach itself from the infatuation of sense objects by association from those wise in Vedic knowledge who posses spiritual knowledge. In this way the mind will be elevated and gravitate towards spiritual objectives. But if the mind is pointed in the reverse direction subject to worldly pursuits and deluded by sense objects then the mind will become agitated and harassed. Lord Krishna is confirming the truth that the mind has the potential to give the most benefit as the greatest friend to the atma or eternal soul and also that the mind has the potential to be the most destructive as the greatest enemy to the atma or eternal soul depending upon how the mind is influenced. 



It should be clearly comprehend that attachment to worldly pleasures locks one to samsara or the endless cycle of birth and death while contrarily detachment from the infatuation of worldly pleasures frees one from samsara. So everyone should try to elevate themselves with determination by training their mind with constant practice to be unattached to sense objects. Lord Krishna is revealing the method of escaping perpetual incarceration in the material existence. The mind has the propensity to be one's dearest friend so why not utilise it to uplift oneself out of material darkness and into spiritual light. A controlled mind can accomplish so many beneficial endeavours for one's well being. Whereas an uncontrolled mind is one's worst enemy performing base and degrading activities leading to destruction. 



The word Atma denotes body, mind and soul : -  depending upon different circumstances. In the yoga system, the mind and the conditioned soul are especially important. Since the mind is the central point of yoga practice, Atma refers here to the mind. The purpose of the yoga system is to control the mind and to draw it away from attachment to sense objects. It is stressed herein that the mind must be so trained that it can deliver the conditioned soul from the mire of nascence. In material existence one is subjected to the influence of the mind and the senses. In fact, the pure soul is entangled in the material world because of the mind's ego which desires to lord it over material nature. Therefore, the mind should be trained so that it will not be attracted by the glitter of material nature, and in this way the conditioned soul may be saved. One should not degrade oneself by attraction to sense objects. The more one is attracted by sense objects, the more one becomes entangled in material existence. The best way to disentangle oneself is to always engage the mind in Krishna consciousness. The word hi is used for emphasizing this point, i.e., that one must do this. It is also said:


"For man, mind is the cause of bondage and mind is the cause of liberation. Mind absorbed in sense objects is the cause of bondage, and mind detached from the sense objects is the cause of liberation." Therefore, the mind which is always engaged in the Lord consciousness is the cause of supreme liberation.