Chapter 6 · The yoga of meditation
Bhagavad Gita 6.5
Lift yourself by your own self.
Shri Bhagavan
उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥
uddharedātmanātmānaṁ nātmānamavasādayet / ātmaiva hyātmano bandhurātmaiva ripurātmanaḥ
Lift yourself by your own effort; do not let yourself sink. You are your own friend, and you are your own enemy.
हिंदी · अपने आप को अपने ही बल से ऊपर उठाओ, अपने आप को गिरने मत दो। मनुष्य स्वयं ही अपना मित्र है और स्वयं ही अपना शत्रु।
What it means
Lift yourself by your own self.
Raise yourself by your own effort; do not let yourself sink. For the self is the friend of the self, and the self is also its enemy.
This is the Trust’s own reading, written for this site. The verse above it is the text.
Where this verse stands
Self-mastery and true renunciation
Chapter 66.1–9
The mind/self may be friend or enemy; equality toward different persons is introduced.
This verse belongs to the middle development of the movement.
The self as friend or enemy
The verse calls for uplift rather than degradation through one’s own disciplined inner faculty. It should not be weaponized into blaming people for suffering; its immediate subject is self-mastery.
Read deeper · Read with 6.6, 6.26, 6.35 and 17.16.
Hansi Gita Bhawan Trust · The Gita for Life
Common questions
What does Bhagavad Gita 6.5 mean?
Lift yourself by your own self. Raise yourself by your own effort; do not let yourself sink. For the self is the friend of the self, and the self is also its enemy.
Who speaks Bhagavad Gita 6.5?
Shri Bhagavan. The speaker is taken from the text’s own उवाच line as transcribed, not inferred from the verse number.