AtmaivahyAtmano bandhuH Atmaiva ripurAtmanaH

[Guest guest]

namaste.

 

This verse from the bhagavadgItA was recently discussed as

part of the bhagavdgItA presentations. While dealing with

other matters, I missed expressing my understanding of this

verse. Also, this verse may also explain the recent ripples

in our List.

 

This verse (BG 6.05) states

 

uddharedAtmanAtmAnaM AtmAnamavasAdayet.h

AtmaivahyAtmano bandhuH Atmaiva ripurAtmanaH

 

meaning:

 

One should raise oneself by one's Self alone; let not one

lower oneself; for the Self alone is the friend of oneself,

and the Self alone is the enemy of oneself.

 

 

This verse has a general application to human life. It may be

understood to express the well-known truth that every person

is the shaper of his/her own fortune. It may also be taken to

represent the popular english sayings: You are your own best

friend and you are your own worst enemy.

 

The mind is the one that grasps the external sensations. Our

intellect, buddhi, interprets these sensations and creats one

of several pairs of opposites that comprise the jagat: I like

this, or I hate this; it is enjoyable, it is dreadful; etc.

If a thought repeatedly makes a visit, it becomes a huge tree

in the mind with its own sub-branches and it becomes very hard

to dislodge. In these cases, AtmA (here, I interpret AtmA as

the buddhi) is the worst enemy.

 

The intellect, buddhi, is your best friend, when these pairs of

opposites are not generated. That is, the intellect has almost

reached a perfection stage where it can distinguish real and

unreal, that is, it has nityAnityavastuviveka. In that case,

AtmA is a bandhuH, that is our biggest asset.

 

Swami Shivanandaji comments on this verse "... Friends and

enemies are not outside. 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 Ashuddha manas (impure mind) is

your enemy because it binds you to the saMsAra, and the higher

mind or the sAttvic mind (shuddha manas or the pure mind) is

your real friend , because it helps you in the attainment of

moksha."

 

Somebody commented in private e-mail to me that this List is

too much involved in scriptural studies, and scriptural studies

will not take us anywhere. This particular verse, for example,

disproves that particular thinking. The wisdom is there contained

in the scriptures. We need to analyze them properly taking our

time. What is the modern-day wisdom is all there in the upanishads,

bhagavadgItA and the bhAShya-associated brahma sUtrA-s.

 

 

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

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