Shloka 6
अक्षरब्रह्मयोगः | Akṣara-Brahma-Yoga
The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman
अपने द्वारा अपना संसार-समुद्रसे उद्धार करे* और अपनेको अधोगतिमें न डाले; क्योंकि यह मनुष्य आप ही तो अपना मित्र है और आप ही अपना शत्रु है ।। बन्धुरात्मा55त्मनस्तस्थ येनात्मैवात्मना जित: । अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत्,जिस जीवात्माद्वारा मन और इन्द्रियोंसहित शरीर जीता हुआ है,* उस जीवात्माका तो वह आप ही मित्र है और जिसके द्वारा मन तथा इन्द्रियोंसहित शरीर नहीं जीता गया है, उसके लिये वह आप ही शत्रुके सदृश शत्रुतामें बर्तता है? इति श्रीमहाभारते भीष्मपर्वणि श्रीमद्धगवदगीतापर्वणि श्रीमद्भधगवद्गीतासूपनिषत्तसु ब्रह्मुविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे श्रीकृष्णार्जुनसंवादे आत्मसंयमयोगो नाम षष्ठोडध्याय:
bandhur ātmātmanas tasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ | anātmanas tu śatrutve vartetātmaiva śatru-vat ||
For the person who has conquered the self by the self, the very self becomes a true ally. But for one who has not mastered the self, that same self behaves like an enemy—standing in hostility, as though it were an external foe. The ethical point is stark: inner discipline determines whether one’s own mind and senses support liberation and right action, or sabotage one’s welfare and duty.
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The same inner self can function either as a friend or as an enemy. When one disciplines and masters the mind and senses, the self supports clarity, virtue, and liberation; when one fails to do so, the self undermines one’s good, creating inner opposition to one’s own welfare and dharma.
In the Bhagavad Gītā’s teaching on self-control (Ātma-saṃyama Yoga), Kṛṣṇa explains to Arjuna that spiritual progress and ethical steadiness depend on inner mastery. The focus shifts from external battle to the internal struggle of governing mind and senses.