Verse 6.5

उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।

आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥

6.5

Transliteration

uddharedātmanātmānaṃ nātmānamavasādayet |

ātmaiva hyātmano bandhurātmaiva ripurātmanaḥ ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

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.

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

one should lift up
by the self
oneself
not
oneself
should degrade

the self
alone
for
of oneself
friend
the self
alone
enemy
of oneself

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

This is one of the Gita's best known verses on self-reliance. Krishna tells Arjuna that a person must raise himself by himself and must not drag himself down. The same word, ātman, is used several times: the self (ātman) is its own friend and its own enemy. Here the word points mainly to the mind and will of the person, which can either support or sabotage the deeper self. The verse places responsibility for inner growth squarely on the individual, a message that fits Arjuna's situation of crisis and choice.