उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥
uddhared ātmanātmānaṃ nātmānam avasādayet |ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ ||
- उद्धरेत् · uddharet
- should lift up
- आत्मना · ātmanā
- by the self
- आत्मानम् · ātmānam
- the self
- अवसादयेत् · avasādayet
- should degrade, let sink
- बन्धुः · bandhuḥ
- friend
- रिपुः · ripuḥ
- enemy
“One should lift up the self by the self, not let the self sink. For the self alone is the friend of the self, and the self alone is the enemy of the self.”
— Original plain-language translation
IN SHORT You are your own best helper or heaviest burden, depending on your choices.
Responsibility turns inward: no rescuer stands outside the disciplined self. The same mind befriends or betrays depending on training. This verse frames the mind-mastery teaching that follows. Like the same phone alarm can wake you for study or be snoozed into laziness.
— Reader's notes (original)