Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 5 verse 5

Chapter 6 verse 5

 “Let a man lift himself by his own Self alone and let him not lower himself; for, Self alone is the friend of oneself and this Self is the enemy of oneself”

 This is a famous verse I have heard before many times but didn’t know the meaning. Even when I read the plain translation, it was not clear so I had to read Swami Chinmayananda’s commentary to comprehend this verse. Every person becomes aware of their ideal state and current state. Everyone knows in their deepest recess of their hearts what the absolute right thing to do is: Dharma. Do we do it? Do we allow the lower self to rise to the higher Self? The Guru and divine Grace can help direct a person but self effort is stressed in Bhagavat Gita and all sanatana dharma scriptures without fail time and again. This constant struggle to better oneself to rise to the higher Self and manage to stay at that space without getting pulled down again by the lower self is an important goal. We are our biggest friend and enemy in the same vein. Let us not get the ego and egoistic desires come in the way of reaching our higher Self.