आत्मनो गुरुरात्मैव पुरुषस्य विशेषत: । यत् प्रत्यक्षानुमानाभ्यां श्रेयोऽसावनुविन्दते ॥ २० ॥
ātmano gurur ātmaiva puruṣasya viśeṣataḥ yat pratyakṣānumānābhyāṁ śreyo ’sāv anuvindate
- ātmanaḥ
- of himself
- guruḥ
- the instructing spiritual master
- ātmā
- himself
- eva
- indeed
- puruṣasya
- of a person
- viśeṣataḥ
- in a particular sense
- yat
- because
- pratyakṣa
- by his direct perception
- anumānābhyām
- and application of logic
- śreyaḥ
- real benefit
- asau
- he
- anuvindate
- can eventually gain
An intelligent person, expert in perceiving the world around him and in applying sound logic, can achieve real benefit through his own intelligence. Thus sometimes one acts as one’s own instructing spiritual master.