Revatīnandana: "For he who has conquered his mind, it is the best of friends. But for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy." (BG 6.6)
Prabhupāda: Yes. This mind . . . they're talking of the mind. The whole yoga system means to make the mind our friend. The mind in material contact . . . just like a person in drunkard condition, his mind is (indistinct). There is a nice verse in Caitanya-caritāmṛta:
- kṛṣṇa-bhuliya jiva bhoga vāñchā kare
- pasate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare
- (Prema-vivarta)
The mind . . . I am spirit soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. As soon as the mind is contaminated, I rebel, because I have got little independence. "Why shall I serve Kṛṣṇa, or God? I am God." It is simply a dictation from the mind. And the whole situation turns: he's under false impression, illusion, and the whole life is spoiled.
And who has failed to do so . . . if we fail to conquer the mind—we are trying to conquer so many things, empire—but if we fail to conquer our mind, then even we conquer an empire, that is a failure. "His very mind will be the greatest enemy."
Go on.
Revatīnandana: "For one who has conquered the mind, the Supersoul is already reached, for he has attained tranquillity. To such a man, happiness and distress, heat and cold, honor and dishonor are all the same." (BG 6.7)
Prabhupāda: Then? Go on.
Revatīnandana: "A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogī, or mystic, when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. He sees everything, whether it be pebbles, stones or gold, as the same." (BG 6.8)
Prabhupāda: Yes. When the mind is in equilibrium, then this position comes: pebbles, stones or gold, the same value.