उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् | आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मन: || 5 || बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जित: | अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्ते तात्मैव शत्रुवत् || 6 || |
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“Uplift yourself through the power of your Self and do not degrade yourself; for the self can be the friend and also the enemy of the self”
“For those who have conquered the self, it is their friend. For those who have failed to do so, the self works like an enemy.”
Commentary: An educated man is his own friend and an uneducated man is his own enemy. The difference is that one person has trained his mind, purified his heart and uplifted himself. In this context, Lord Krishna is persuading us to rise, conquer and uplift ourselves to a higher purpose with a hope that there is divinity at the end of the road.
You are your own friend if you make a deliberate effort to rise above failures, fears, moods and disappointments. You are your own enemy if you degrade your mind and fail to uplift yourself from life’s lessons. Psychologist Dr. Shad Helmstetter said that all too often, the words that people tell to themselves in their minds when things go wrong constitutes the actual problem and not the situation itself. Researchers of neuroplasticity are understanding that the human brain will do anything possible you tell it to do, if you repeat it often enough and strongly enough.
The mind of a person who uplifts himself affirms, “I will be well, I will succeed, I will rise, I will change, I am good, I am pure, I am divine”. Affirmations of positive thinking with sincere effort constitute a real uplifting process. If you are conquering yourself with your Self in this way keeping your hope alive, you become your own friend, gifting and blessing yourself well-being, health, wealth, grace, love, joy and a wonderful quality of life.