Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 6 · Verse 5

उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं

A source-grounded reference to Krishna’s instruction to raise rather than diminish oneself, followed by the striking statement that the self can function as one’s friend or one’s foe. Read it inside chapter 6’s yoga discipline rather than as a detached motivational slogan.

Canonical SanskritIASTKrishna · Bhagavad GitaVerified 24 August 2026

Canonical text

उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥६.५॥

IAST transliteration

uddhared ātmanātmānaṃ nātmānam avasādayet |
ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ || 6.5 ||

Text witness note: SlokaSandra preserves the verse as printed in the Sanskrit Wikisource chapter 6 witness and cross-checks its placement against the public-domain Besant/Bhagavan Das edition. The IAST is a transliteration of the checked Sanskrit, not a replacement canonical text.

Phrase by phrase

Read the repeated ātman language carefully

The same Sanskrit word appears in different grammatical roles. Traditional commentators explain those roles within their own yoga and liberation frameworks; a short English slogan cannot capture every layer.

uddharet

One should raise or lift

The verb expresses an active discipline rather than passive waiting. In the chapter sequence, that discipline belongs to yoga practice and mastery of the mind/self relationship, not to a promise that positive thinking alone controls external events.

ātmanā ātmānam

By the self, the self

Instrumental and accusative forms stand side by side. Ramanuja explicitly glosses the instrumental term through the mind that is not attached to sense objects. Shankara reads the instruction in the context of raising oneself toward yogic establishment and liberation. SlokaSandra keeps both readings attributed rather than choosing a generic modern psychology label.

na avasādayet

Do not let oneself sink or be brought down

The line is disciplinary, not accusatory. It should not be used to blame people for depression, trauma, illness, poverty, disability or misfortune. Religious interpretation and clinical mental-health care are different domains.

bandhuḥ

Friend, helper or ally

The next verse, 6.6, explains the friend/enemy language further by linking it to mastery. That continuation matters: verse 6.5 is not simply saying that every difficulty is self-created.

ripuḥ

Enemy or adversary

The metaphor describes how the same inner faculty can support or obstruct discipline. It is not a license to dismiss external harms, social conditions or real responsibilities by telling someone they are “their own enemy.”

ātmaiva

The self itself

The emphatic eva gives the line its memorable force. Traditional commentaries still place that force inside broader teachings about mind, attachment, yoga and liberation, so SlokaSandra avoids flattening it into self-sufficiency detached from the rest of the Gita.

Chapter context

Verses 6.4–6.6 form a connected movement

Chapter 6 develops the discipline of yoga after chapter 5’s discussion of renunciation and action. Verse 6.4 describes the person said to be established in yoga as no longer attached to sense objects or actions and as having relinquished self-directed projections or intentions in the relevant disciplinary sense. Verse 6.5 then tells the practitioner to raise rather than lower oneself. Verse 6.6 immediately explains the friend-and-enemy metaphor: the self is a friend for one who has mastered the self, while for one who has not, it behaves as an adversary.

That sequence prevents two distortions. First, 6.5 is not an isolated command to “be positive.” It belongs to a structured account of yoga, attachment and mastery. Second, its friend/enemy language is not a moral verdict on every person experiencing struggle. The text is describing disciplined relationship to mind/self within a soteriological path. SlokaSandra therefore presents the verse as devotional-philosophical guidance rather than as clinical, financial or productivity advice.

The public-domain Besant edition independently preserves this placement: 6.4 describes being established in yoga, 6.5 gives the self-raising instruction, and 6.6 continues by explaining when the self functions as friend or enemy. Sanskrit Wikisource preserves the same verse sequence together with multiple Sanskrit commentary witnesses.

Traditional readings

Shankara and Ramanuja agree on discipline but explain the mechanism differently

Shankara / Advaita: the Sanskrit commentary preserved with the chapter explains uddharet as raising oneself from the ocean of saṃsāra toward the state of being established in yoga. His discussion emphasizes that no external relative can perform liberation on one’s behalf in the decisive sense intended here, and that the self can operate as helper or adversary. This is an attributed Advaita reading, not a modern claim that social support is irrelevant.

Ramanuja / Viśiṣṭādvaita: Ramanuja explicitly glosses ātmanā here as the mind, specifically the mind not attached to sense objects, through which the self is to be raised. The contrary kind of mind allows the self to sink. His explanation makes the friend/enemy statement a claim about the disciplined or undisciplined mind in relation to the individual self.

Why separation matters: both readings take the verse seriously as practical spiritual discipline, yet their philosophical vocabularies and larger systems are not identical. A provenance-first page should preserve those names and frameworks instead of producing a synthetic “the Gita says your mind creates everything” summary.

Learn carefully

Practice the verse in four sense units

उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानंuddhared ātmanātmānaṃ
नात्मानमवसादयेत्nātmānam avasādayet
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुःātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur
आत्मैव रिपुरात्मनःātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ

Audio status: Awaiting verified recitation.

No recitation is published on this page. SlokaSandra does not label generated or unreviewed pronunciation as traditional or authoritative. If reviewed audio is added later, the normal experience will remain in-site listening with controls such as play, slow and repeat — not an audio download feature.

Claims boundary

What this verse is not being used to claim

Bhagavad Gita 6.5 is not presented here as a treatment for depression, anxiety, trauma or any medical condition. It does not justify blaming someone for illness, disability, poverty, abuse, grief or hardship. It also is not presented as guaranteeing wealth, business success, employment, examination results, physical healing, fertility, legal victory or protection from every misfortune.

Devotional readers may find strength in the verse’s call to disciplined self-elevation. SlokaSandra preserves that religious and philosophical value while keeping medical, legal, financial and guaranteed-outcome claims outside the page.

Follow the Gita’s context rather than quote fragments alone

Bhagavad Gita 2.47 discusses action and attachment to results; 4.7 discusses divine manifestation when dharma declines; 9.22 belongs to chapter 9’s discussion of sustained devotion; 18.66 belongs to the closing teaching on relinquishment and refuge. They are linked as frequently quoted verses, not because they teach the same doctrine.

Read Bhagavad Gita 2.47 →
Read Bhagavad Gita 9.22 →
Read Bhagavad Gita 18.66 →

Sources & verification

Textual and commentary witnesses

Verified: 24 August 2026. Canonical Sanskrit and the Shankara/Ramanuja commentary context were checked against the Sanskrit Wikisource chapter 6 page. Verse placement and Devanagari were independently checked against the public-domain Besant/Bhagavan Das edition on English Wikisource. The IIT Kanpur Gita Supersite URL is retained as an additional structured citation for chapter/verse commentary verification.