Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 5
उद्धरेदात्मनाऽऽत्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत्।
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः।।
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः।।
uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet
ātmaiva hyātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ
also searched as "uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet"
Translation
One should raise oneself by one's own mind and not allow oneself to sink; for the mind alone is the friend of the self, and the mind alone is the foe of the self.
Vāṇi's rendering
No one lifts you but you. Be your own friend, not your own enemy.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| उद्धरेत्uddharet | let one lift up, raise (appears as uddhared before the following vowel) |
| आत्मनाātmanā | by oneself |
| आत्मानम्ātmānam | oneself (the one being raised) |
| नna | not |
| आत्मानम्ātmānam | oneself (joined with the preceding na as nātmānam) |
| अवसादयेत्avasādayet | let one cause to sink, let one drag down |
| आत्माātmā | the self |
| एवeva | alone, only (joined as ātmaiva) |
| हिhi | indeed, for |
| आत्मनःātmanaḥ | of oneself (joined with hi as hyātmanaḥ) |
| बन्धुःbandhuḥ | friend, kinsman |
| आत्माātmā | the self |
| एवeva | alone, only (joined as ātmaiva) |
| रिपुःripuḥ | enemy, foe |
| आत्मनःātmanaḥ | of oneself |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 5 mean?
It says the lifting is your own work. Krishna names ātmā as both the one who raises and the one who sinks — same word, same person. No teacher, no circumstance, no lucky turn does the standing up for you. What is asked is small and daily: refuse to be the weight. Be, in this hour, on your own side.
What does 'uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet' mean?
Raise yourself by yourself; do not let yourself sink. The line repeats one word — ātmā — where English needs three. That repetition is the teaching. The rescuer and the ruin are not two parties. Whatever you were waiting for someone else to do, this verse hands back to you, and calls it possible.
How can the same self be both friend and enemy?
Because both are made of the same attention. Turned one way it tells you that you have failed enough; turned the other it tells you to get up. Krishna does not call one real and the other false. He calls them both ātmā and leaves the choosing with you. The friend is not found. It is practised.
Does this verse mean no one can help me?
Help comes. Krishna is speaking to Arjuna, after all, and does not leave the chariot. But no help enters a door held shut from the inside. This verse addresses the holding. Before you ask who will lift you, notice whether some part of you has quietly decided to stay down.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna gives Arjuna no rescuer here. Not a teacher, not a friend outside — only the one already sitting in the chariot, refusing. The Sanskrit says ātmā four times, and never means two people. The hand that pulls you up and the weight that drags you down wear the same name. This is not harsh; it is exact. Nobody else can decide, at six in the morning, whether you get up. Nobody else supplies the small voice that says you are finished, or the smaller one that says stand. Both are yours. Notice which one you have been feeding.