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TEXT 5 uddhared atmanatmanam
SYNONYMS  uddharet--one
must deliver; atmana--by the mind; atmanam--the conditioned
soul; na--never; atmanam--the conditioned soul; avasadayet--put
into degradation; atma--mind; eva--certainly; hi--indeed;
atmanah--of the conditioned soul; bandhuh--friend; atma--mind;
eva--certainly; ripuh--enemy; atmanah--of the conditioned
soul.
TRANSLATION A man must
elevate himself by his own mind, not degrade himself. The mind is the friend
of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.
PURPORT The word atma
denotes body, mind and soul--depending upon different circumstances. In
the yoga system, the mind and the conditioned soul are especially
important. Since the mind is the central point of yoga practice,
atma refers here to the mind. The purpose of the yoga system
is to control the mind and to draw it away from attachment to sense objects.
It is stressed herein that the mind must be so trained that it can deliver
the conditioned soul from the mire of nescience. In material existence
one is subjected to the influence of the mind and the senses. In fact,
the pure soul is entangled in the material world because of the mind's
ego which desires to lord it over material nature. Therefore, the mind
should be trained so that it will not be attracted by the glitter of material
nature, and in this way the conditioned soul may be saved. One should not
degrade oneself by attraction to sense objects. The more one is attracted
by sense objects, the more one becomes entangled in material existence.
The best way to disentangle oneself is to always engage the mind in Krsna
consciousness. The word hi is used for emphasizing this point, i.e.,
that one must do this. It is also said:
mana eva manusyanam karanam bandha-moksayoh
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