In Gita 6.5 can both atma be translated as the mind – elevate the mind with the mind?

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perfection.
So can this 6.5 in the Bhagavad Gita be translated, both the atma can be translated simply as the mind. So elevate the mind with the mind and don’t degrade the mind with the mind. See, first of all, when we go into the inner territory, the nomenclature doesn’t matter.
It is the nature that matters. So, you know, sometimes one devotee asks me, you know, why do you always talk about controlling the mind? Why don’t we talk about controlling the intelligence? Intelligence can also go wrong, isn’t it? So yes, it can, but broadly speaking, we analyze these. There is a positive side inside us, there is a negative side inside us.
So the negative side we call as the mind. Or rather, not just the negative side, the short term impulsive side that is inside us, that is the mind. That is what we call as the mind.
And the long term, thoughtful side, that is what we call as the intelligence. So now, this line is, see, any system of nomenclature, any system of classification always has its limitations. There is a standard problem in taxonomy.
Taxonomy is the system of classification. So, for example, you know, I decide, okay, this is America and this is Mexico. On the map, the border seems to be very neat.
But if we go actually in the territory, is this Mexico or is this America? There can be so many disputed territories also. Sometimes, so, what happens like that, once we get into technical analysis, what is the mind and what is the intelligence, that is not, it is not so necessarily clear. Because as I said, sometimes the mind can also give us good ideas.
Immediately some idea comes up, it’s a hunch or it’s a gut feeling, it’s good. And sometimes the intelligence can also rationalize a bad idea. It’s a bad idea, come up with the mind, but then I use my intelligence to try to prove how it is right.
How to do it in such a way that, no, I don’t get into trouble because of doing it, whatever. So, rather than looking at the technicalities too much, we focus on the point that there is a side within me that promises me to do good things, there is a side within me that promises me to do bad things. And I am the chooser among the two.
So, it’s like that, suppose, sometimes, you know, two friend tell us, come here, let’s go for this, let’s go for this event. And some other friend tell us, let’s go for this event. And we have to choose between the two.
Both are friends, we have to choose. So, like that we can consider the mind and the intelligence as two inner voices within us. The mind tells us to do one thing, the intelligence tells us to do another.
And we have to choose. So, when we choose, on what basis do we choose? That depends on whom we identify with. So, if the mind is speaking louder and if I listen to it, see what happens, whichever voice I listen to, that starts speaking louder.
Say, you know, two people are trying to persuade us and then we start paying more attention to one person. That person gets encouraged also, you know, oh, they are listening to me, probably I am winning them over. And they also start speaking more enthusiastically.
So, like that, when we hear the mind more attentively, it also starts becoming more aggressive in its pitching, in its marketing. When we start hearing the intelligence, intelligence also comes clearer. You know, this is not so advisable.
Don’t do this. So, like that, we are the choosers. So, broadly speaking, in that sense, there are three forces within us.
There’s I, the chooser, and there’s the mind, which is the proposer of the short term, and there’s the intelligence, which is the proposer of the long term. Or we could change that, the mind is the proposer of the bad, the intelligence is the proposer of the good. But the names are not important.
It is the, because as I said, the guidelines can be fuzzy. Mind can also come up with good ideas. So, basically understand that there are three forces within us.
There’s I, the chooser, there’s something which proposes some undesirable things, and something which proposes desirable things. So, I have to act according to that which is desirable. So, from that perspective, to say that, elevate the mind with the mind.
If this verse is translated like that, Atma is referring to, both Atma is referring to the mind, then there is one in the, in English there are different, in grammar there are different cases. There is the accusative case, there is the instrumental case. Basically, without going into technicalities, there is something, there is the subject, there is the object, and there is the mode of action.
There is the action which the subject does on the object. So, say, I lift this glass. So, I and the subject, the glass is the object on which I am doing the action.
And lifting is the action. So, like that, now if you see in this verse, Uddharet Atmanatmanam. So, what it is saying is that, by the Atma, lift the Atma.
So, there is one Atma which is the instrumental case, and there is another Atma which is the object of action. And this verse is being told to a subject, you. You elevate the self with the self.
So, what does it mean? That means that, we are going to do actions, but we can also be the observers of our actions. For example, I am sitting right now. Am I sitting straight? Am I sitting twisted? Is this going to cause me problems to my back? I can evaluate that.
So, I am the doer of the action, but I am also the observer of the doer. And then, if I say, I am sitting twisted, this will cause problems. Let me straighten myself up.
So, this is the corrective action that I am doing. So, what this verse is telling is that, basically, it is telling us to become internally active. And telling us that, with the capacity for observation, with the tool for observation, change yourself internally by which you can become elevated or non-degraded.
So, we can refer to it as the mind, but the important thing is not to get hung up on the nomenclature. The important thing is to understand the principle that there are multiple forces within us and we are the choosers of which force to empower, which force to take control of us, or which force to guide us. And we should make wise choices.
So, talking about the three things. So, uddhare dātmanātmānaṁ nātmānaṁ asāde So, there is I, the self, who am the chooser and there is a side of me which will degrade me, there is a side of me which will uplift me. So, I, the chooser, should choose the side which uplifts me, not the side which degrades me.
So, that way, I can translate this verse also, you know, elevate the self with the intelligence and don’t degrade the self with the mind. So, one ātmā can be translated as intelligence also. So, let’s not get too caught in the nomenclature, just understand the principle.
There is a degrading force within us, there is an uplifting force within us, and there is the chooser. The chooser should choose the uplifting force and not the degrading force.