View source for In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that if you have your mind controlled, then your mind is the best friend. But if your mind is uncontrolled, then he is your greatest enemy

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[[Category:Bhagavad-gita Says]]
[[Category:It Is Said]]
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[[Category:Control the Mind]]
[[Category:Best Friend]]
[[Category:Uncontrolled Mind]]
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[[Category:Pages Needing Audio - SHARMISTHA]]
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<h2>Lectures</h2>
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<h3>Purports to Songs</h3>
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In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that if you have your mind controlled, then your mind is the best friend. But if your mind is uncontrolled, then he is your greatest enemy. So we are seeking after friend or enemy, both of them are sitting with me.
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[[Vanisource:690107 - Lecture Purport to Bhajahu Re Mana - Los Angeles|690107 - Lecture Purport to Bhajahu Re Mana - Los Angeles]]
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Bhajahū re mana, śrī-nanda-nandana-abhaya-caraṇāravinda re. This is a song composed by Govinda Dāsa, a great poet and Vaiṣṇava. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that if you have your mind controlled, then your mind is the best friend. But if your mind is uncontrolled, then he is your greatest enemy. So we are seeking after friend or enemy, both of them are sitting with me. If we can utilize the friendship of the mind, then we are elevated to the highest perfectional stage. But if we create mind as my enemy, then my path to hell is clear. Therefore Govinda Dāsa Ṭhākura, he is addressing his mind. The yogis try to control the mind by different gymnastic process. That is also approved. But it takes a long time, and sometimes there are failures. In most cases they are failures. Even a big yogi like Viśvāmitra, he also failed, what to speak of these teeny and nonsensical yogis.

So Govinda Dāsa advises that, "You just engage your mind in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then mind becomes automatically controlled." If the mind has no chance of being engaged in any other business except Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then he cannot become my enemy. It is automatically my friend. That is the instruction in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 9.4.18-20|SB 9.4.18]]). King Ambarīṣa, he first of all engaged his mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. So similarly, here also, Govinda Dāsa Ṭhākura, he is asking his mind: "My dear mind, you just engage yourself to the lotus feet of abhaya-caraṇāravinda." That is the name of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Abhaya means fearless. If you take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa then you immediately become fearless. So he advises "My dear mind, you just engage yourself on the service of the lotus feet of Govinda." Bhajahū re mana śrī-nanda-nandana. He does not say "Govinda." He addresses Kṛṣṇa as "the son of Nanda Mahārāja." "Because that lotus feet is fearless, you will have no more any fear from the attack of māyā."

"I have got to enjoy so many things. How can I fix up my mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa?" Then Govinda Dāsa advises, "No, no." Durlabha mānava-janma. "You don't waste your life in that way. This human form of life is very rare. Out of many, many thousands and millions of births, you have got this opportunity." Durlabha mānava-janama sat-saṅge. "Therefore don't go anywhere. You just associate with pure devotees." Taraha ei bhava-sindhu re." Then you shall be able to cross over the ocean of nescience." "Oh, if I engage my mind always in Kṛṣṇa, then how I shall enjoy my family, my other paraphernalia?" So Govinda Dāsa says, ei dhana yauvana. "You want to enjoy your wealth and your youthful ages," ei dhana yauvana, putra parijana, "and you want to enjoy the society of friendship, love and family, but I say," ithe ki āche paratīti re, "do you think that there is transcendental pleasure in these nonsense things? No, there is none. It is simply illusion." Ei dhana yauvana, putra parijana, ithe ki āche paratīti re. Durlabha mānava-janama sat-saṅge, taraha ei bhava sindhu re.
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