उद्धरेदात्मनाऽत्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥
बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः ।
अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत् ॥
Transliteration
uddhared-ātman-ātmānaṃ nātmānam avasādayet |
ātmaiva hy-ātmano bandhur-ātmaiva ripur-ātmanaḥ || 5 ||
bandhur-ātmā’tmanas tasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ |
anātmanastu śatrutve vartetātmaiva śatruvat || 6 ||
Translation
One should elevate himself by his own mind and not allow himself to degrade, for the mind alone is the friend of the Self, and the mind alone is enemy as well. For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends, but for one whose mind is uncontrolled; his very mind will be the greatest enemy.
Purport
The above two Shlokas are one of the most useful Shlokas for people in everyday life. These Shlokas explain two distinctive nature of mind. The very first fact is that the mind is a very powerful part of human beings, but then it is very volatile. This is the mind which when used to its full potential can make a human great. But the very mind, if it is uncontrolled, can be the cause of downfall. A controlled mind is the biggest of a friend and if it is not controlled becomes the biggest enemy.
Bhagvan Shri Krishna says, a human, therefore, must control his mind and use the power to mind to elevate him in the physical world as well as spiritually.
