May 4 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 6; Verses 6.05-6.06 (Day 125) Adyatma Yoga, Yoga of Meditation

 May 4 – Day 125

Verse 6.05-6.06

उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।

आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥ ६-५॥ 

uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet
ātmaiva hyātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ (5) 

உத்³த⁴ரேதா³த்¹மனாத்¹மானம் நாத்¹மானமவஸாத³யேத்¹ |
ஆத்¹மைவ ஹ்யாத்¹மனோ ப³ன்து⁴ராத்¹மைவ ரிபு¹ராத்¹மன: ||5|| 

5. Let a man lift himself by his own Self alone; let him not lower himself, for this self alone is the friend of oneself and this self alone is the enemy of oneself. 

Commentary: Practice Yoga.  Discipline the senses and the mind.  Elevate yourself and become a Yogarudha.  Attain to Yoga.  Shine gloriously as a dynamic Yogi.  Do not sink into the ocean of Samsara (transmigration).  Do not become a worldly-minded man.  Do not become a slave of lust, greed and anger.  Rise above worldliness, become divine and attain Godhead.

You alone are your friend; you alone are your enemy.  The so-called worldly friend is not your real friend, because he gets attached to you, wastes your time and puts obstacles on your path of Yoga.  He is very selfish and keeps friendship with you only to extract something.  If he is not able to get from you the object of his selfish interest, he forsakes you.  Therefore he is your enemy in reality.  If you are attached to your friend on account of delusion or affection, this will become a cause of your bondage to Samsara.

Friends and enemies are not outside.  They exist in the mind only.  It is the mind that makes a friend an enemy and an enemy a friend.  Therefore, the Self alone is the friend of oneself, and the Self alone is the enemy of oneself.  The lower mind or the Asuddha Manas (impure mind) is your real enemy because it binds you to the Samsara, and the higher mind or the Sattvic mind (Suddha Manas or the pure mind) is your real friend, because it helps you in the attainment of Moksha.

 

बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः ।

अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत् ॥ ६-६॥ 

bandhur ātmātmanas tasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ
anātmanas tu śhatrutwe vartetātmaiva śhatru-vat (6) 

ப³ன்து⁴ராத்¹மாத்¹மனஸ்த¹ஸ்ய யேனாத்¹மைவாத்¹மனா ஜித¹: |
அனாத்¹மனஸ்து¹ ஶத்¹ருத்¹வே வர்தே¹தா¹த்¹மைவ ஶத்¹ருவத்¹ ||6|| 

6. The self is the friend of the self for him who has conquered himself by the Self, but to the unconquered self, this self stands in the position of an enemy like the (external) foe. 

Commentary: Conquer the lower mind through the higher mind.  The lower mind is your enemy.  The higher mind is your friend.  If you make friendship with the higher mind you can subdue the lower mind quite easily.  The lower mind is filled with Rajas and Tamas (passion and darkness).  The higher mind is filled with Sattva or purity.

The self is the friend of one who is self-controlled, and who has subjugated the lower mind and the senses.  But the Self is an enemy of one who has no self-restraints, and who has not subdued the lower mind and the senses.   Just as an external enemy does harm to him, so also his own (lower) self (mind) does harm to him.  The lower mind injures him severely.  The highest Self or Atman is the primary Self.  Mind also is self.  This is the secondary self. 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda: 

How often do we blame our failures on others, on external conditions and on the weather? Everyone is given what we call ‘some blessings’ – some misfortune and some good fortune. All these are mixed very nicely. It is not that some people are favoured and others are not favoured. Life does not know any distinction whatsoever. The real trouble lies within ourselves – why do we want to look elsewhere for a solution? The wise man knows that his own impure mind is his worst enemy and the pure mind his best friend.

Yet it is not as though these two are distinct and different. Hence Kṛṣṇa uses the same word ‘self’ risking confusion. Just as we have one body with a head and limbs, even so we have an ‘antaḥkaraṇa’ (inner instrument or subtle body), the mind, which has its different aspects and functions. Just as a single iron rod may be hot at the end close to fire, and cold at the end farthest from fire, the same mind is pure and strong where it is turned towards the indwelling presence of God, and impure and weak where it is turned away from him and towards the world of sense-experiences.

God has given every man the free-will to adjust the mind in such a way as to bring the whole of it close to God, or to remain turned away from him. The worldly man chooses the latter alternative and thus his own mind becomes his worst enemy, tormenting him with desires and cravings, love and hatred, likes and dislikes. In the case of the wise man, however, the whole mind is close to God and is, therefore, luminous with the knowledge of the indwelling omnipresence. 

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