Bhagavad Gita · 6.6 · Path of Meditation·6 of 47
बन्धुरात्माऽऽत्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः।अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत् ॥
bandhur ātmātmanas tasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ
anātmanas tu śhatrutve vartetātmaiva śhatru-vat
Sanskrit recitation
Who is truly a yogi · 6.1–6.9 · Teaching
Translation
The Self is the friend of the self of him by whom the Self has been conquered; but to the unconquered self, this Self stands in the position of an enemy, like an external foe.
Meaning
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 ite 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 selfcontrolled, and who has subjugated the lower mind and the senses. But the Self is an enemy of one who has no selfrestraint, 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.
After Swami Sivananda
Who is truly a yogi· 6.1–6.9→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 6.1The Blessed Lord said: He who performs his bounden duty without depending on the fruits of his actions—he is a sannyasi and a yogi, not he who is without fire and without action.
- 6.2Do you, O Arjuna, know that Yoga is what they call renunciation; no one indeed becomes a Yogi who has not renounced their thoughts.
- 6.3For a sage who wishes to attain to Yoga, action is said to be the means; for the same sage who has attained Yoga, inaction is said to be the means.
- 6.4When a person is not attached to the sense-objects or to actions, having renounced all thoughts, then they are said to have attained Yoga.
- 6.5One should raise oneself by one's own self alone; let not one lower oneself; for the self alone is one's own friend, and the self alone is one's own enemy.
6.6The Self is the friend of the self of him by whom the Self has been conquered; but to the unconquered self, this Self stands in the position of an enemy, like an external foe.
- 6.7The Supreme Self of him who is self-controlled and peaceful remains balanced in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, as well as in honor and dishonor.
- 6.8The Yogi who is satisfied with the knowledge and wisdom of the Self, who has conquered the senses, and to whom a clod of earth, a piece of stone, and gold are all the same, is said to have attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi.
- 6.9He who is of the same mind towards the good-hearted, friends, enemies, the indifferent, the neutral, the hateful, the relatives, the righteous, and the unrighteous, excels.
Word-by-word→
- tu
- but
- eva
- as
- yena
- by whom
- tasya
- of him
- ātmā
- the mind
- jitaḥ
- conquered
- varteta
- remains
- ātmanā
- for the person
- bandhuḥ
- friend
- ātmanaḥ
- for the person
- śhatrutve
- for an enemy
- śhatru-vat
- like an enemy
- anātmanaḥ
- of those with unconquered mind
Related verses
- 4.28Others again offer wealth, austerity, and Yoga as sacrifice, while ascetics of…
- 6.2Do you, O Arjuna, know that Yoga is what they call renunciation; no one indeed becomes a…
- 6.3For a sage who wishes to attain to Yoga, action is said to be the means; for the same sage…
- 6.5One should raise oneself by one's own self alone; let not one lower oneself; for the self…