Chapter 6, Verse 5
उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् | आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ||६-५||
uddharedātmanātmānaṃ nātmānamavasādayet . ātmaiva hyātmano bandhurātmaiva ripurātmanaḥ ||6-5||
Meaning
6.5 One should raise oneself by one's Self alone; let not one lower oneself; for the Self alone is the friend of oneself, and the Self alone is the enemy of oneself.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
This is one of the Gita's most empowering and sobering verses. Krishna places the responsibility for our elevation squarely within: uddhared atmana atmanam — lift yourself by your own self. No external savior, fortune, or circumstance can do the inner work for us. We are the agents of our own rising, and equally of our own fall (avasaadayet), should we let the lower self drag us down.
The profound insight is that the atman — the same self — can be either friend or foe to us. When the mind is disciplined and turned toward truth, it is our greatest ally. When it is enslaved to impulse and self-pity, it becomes our worst enemy. The battlefield of Kurukshetra here turns inward: the real war is between our higher and lower nature. Nobody outside can defeat us if we befriend ourselves; nobody can save us if we do not.
💡 Key Takeaway
You are your own best friend or worst enemy — choose to lift yourself rather than let your lower impulses pull you down.
Related Verses
बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः | अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत् ||६-६||
bandhurātmātmanastasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ . anātmanastu śatrutve vartetātmaiva śatruvat ||6-6||
6.6 The Self is the friend of the self of him by whom the self has been conered by the Self, but to the unconered self, this Self stands in the position of an enemy, like an (external) foe.
सङ्कल्पप्रभवान्कामांस्त्यक्त्वा सर्वानशेषतः | मनसैवेन्द्रियग्रामं विनियम्य समन्ततः ||६-२४||
saṅkalpaprabhavānkāmāṃstyaktvā sarvānaśeṣataḥ . manasaivendriyagrāmaṃ viniyamya samantataḥ ||6-24||
6.24 Abandoning without reserve all desires born of Sankalpa (thought and imagination) and completely restraining the whole group of the senses by the mind from all sides.