Uplift yourself through conscious choices.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् |आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ||६-५||
uddharedātmanātmānaṃ nātmānamavasādayet . ātmaiva hyātmano bandhurātmaiva ripurātmanaḥ ||6-5||
Use this verse when you need self-responsibility without shame.
Meaning
One should uplift oneself by oneself and not degrade oneself. The self alone is one’s friend, and the self alone is one’s enemy.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
You can become your own helper or your own obstacle.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
This is one of the Gita’s strongest self-responsibility verses. Krishna teaches that inner discipline, choices, and self-talk can uplift or degrade us.
Read the traditional 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.
In daily life
Stop feeding habits that weaken you.
A person who chooses sleep, study, and restraint becomes their own friend.
Try this today
Replace one self-sabotaging habit with one supportive action.
I choose to become my own friend.Reflect
Am I helping myself or harming myself through today’s habits?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘न अवसादयेत्’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on self mastery, in other chapters
- Verse 3.40Desire takes hold through your senses, mind, and reasoning — guard each level, for once it corrupts your judgment it is hardest to see.
- Verse 8.26Two paths lie ever open before us, toward light or toward return; how we live decides which one we travel.
- Verse 18.15Both your right and wrong actions arise from many causes, so hold success and failure with humility.
- Verse 2.64The self-mastered person who moves among sense objects free from attachment and aversion attains divine grace and inner clarity.
Swipe left for 6.6 · Train the mind to become your ally.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 6.5
Who says Bhagavad Gita 6.5, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 6.5, in Chapter 6, Dhyana Yoga (Dhyana Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 6.5 mean?
One should uplift oneself by oneself and not degrade oneself. The self alone is one’s friend, and the self alone is one’s enemy. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 6.5 for daily life?
Stop feeding habits that weaken you. A person who chooses sleep, study, and restraint becomes their own friend.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 6.5 mean?
उद्धरेत् — let one raise / lift up; आत्मना आत्मानम् — oneself by one's own self; न अवसादयेत् — let one not lower / degrade; आत्मा एव हि — for the self alone; आत्मनः बन्धुः — is the friend of oneself.
Where does verse 6.5 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 5 of 47 in Chapter 6, Dhyana Yoga. The next verse is 6.6.