Your mind is your dearest friend or crueler enemy—train it through holy association and Krishna consciousness.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Prabhupāda: ...śrī-caitanya-mano 'bhīṣṭaṃ sthāpitaṃ yena bhū-tale, svayaṃ rūpaḥ kadā mahyam... [break] yadā hi nendriyārtheṣu na karmasv anuṣajjate sarva-saìkalpa-sannyāsī yogārūòhas tadocyate [Bg 6.4] [A person is said to have attained to yoga when, having renounced all material desires, he neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in fruitive activities.] uddhared ātmanātmānaṃ nātmānam avasādayet ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ [Bg 6.5] [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.] Now these two ślokas, verses, we were discussing last day, that we have to raise ourself to the spiritual standard by ourself. I have to raise myself to the spiritual standard by myself.
So I am my friend and I am my enemy. This is the opportunity. There is a very nice verse in Cāṇakya Paṇòita: na kaścit kasyacin mitraṃ na kaścit kasyacid ripuḥ vyavahāreṇa jāyante mitrāṇi ripavas tathā [Nobody is nobody's friend, nobody is nobody's enemy. But it is only the behavior by which one can understand who is his friend and who is his enemy.] "Nobody is nobody's friend; nobody is nobody's enemy. But it is only the behavior by which one can understand who is his friend and who is his enemy." Nobody is born enemy, nobody is born friend.
But by our mutual behavior, somebody is my friend and somebody is my enemy. Similarly, as we have this dealing in the ordinary daily affairs, similarly, I have my dealing with myself. Myself. If I deal with me, myself, as friend, then I am my friend.
And if I deal with myself inimically... Then what is that friendship and inimical? The friendship is that I am soul. Somehow or other, I have been in contact with this material nature. So I have to get myself out of the entanglement of this material nature.
If I act in that way, then I am my friend. But even after getting this opportunity, if I do not act in that way, then I am my enemy. So ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ātmano ripuḥ. So I am myself friend, my friend, and I am my enemy. bandhur ātmātmanas tasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ anātmanas tu śatrutve vartetātmaiva śatruvat [Bg 6.6] [For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy.] Now, how I can become my friend?
That is explained here, that bandhur ātmā ātmanas tasya. Ātmā means mind, ātmā means body and ātmā means soul. That, these three things I have already explained the other day that when we speak of ātmā, or self... Just like so long I have got my bodily conception, when I say "my self," I think of my body. When I transcend the bodily conception of life, then I think "I am mind." But actually, when I am in this real spiritual platform, then my self means "I am pure spirit." So according to the stage of development my conception of self are different. So, so far nirukta, or dictionary, is concerned, body, mind and the spirit soul, everything is called self.
Now, here it is called bandhur ātmā ātmanas tasya. Now, here one ātmā is named mind. Mind is the friend of oneself and mind is the enemy of oneself. So we have to train the mind.