🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 6.6

Chapter 6 · ध्यानयोग · Dhyāna-Yoga · "The Yoga of Meditation" · Verse 6 of 47

बन्धुरात्माऽऽत्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः।

अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत्।।6.6।।
— Bhagavad-Gītā 6.6 · Devanāgarī root text

🪷 English Translations

5 received English translations are available for this śloka. Each voice is labelled; no single rendering is presented as the Sanskrit itself.

Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 edition attribution in the received data
6.6 To him who has conquered his lower nature by Its help, the Self is a friend, but to him who has not done so, It is an enemy.
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
6.6 The Self is the friend of the self of him by whom the self has been conered by the Self, but to the unconered self, this Self stands in the position of an enemy, like an (external) foe.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
6.6 Tasya, of him; yena, by whom; jitah, has been conered, subdued; his eva atma, very self, the aggregate of body and organs; that atma, self; is bandhuh, the friend; atmanah, of his self. The idea is that he is a coneror of his senses. Tu, but; anatmanah, for one who has not conered his self, who has no self-control; atma eva, his self itself; varteta, acts; satruvat, like an enemy; satrutve, inimically, with the attitude of an enemy. As an enemy, who is different from oneself, does harm to oneself, similarly one's self behaves like an enemy to oneself. This is the meaning. [If the body and organs are under control, they are helpful in concentrating one's mind on the Self; but, if they are not under control, they oppose this concentration.]
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
6.6 A person whose mind is conered by himself in relation to sense-objects, has that mind as his friend. In the case of one whose mind is not conered in this way, his own mind, like an enemy, remains hostile. The meaning is that it acts, against his attainment of supreme beatitude. It has been stated by Bhagavan Parasara also: 'The mind of man is the cause both of his bondage and his release. Its addiction to sense objects is the cause of his bondage; its separation from sense objects is the means of one's release' (V. P., 6.7.28). The proper condition for the beginning of Yoga is now taught:
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
6.6. The self is the friend of that Self by Which the self has been verily subdued; but [in the case of] a person with an unsubdued self, the self alone would abide in enmity like an enemy.

🪷 Hindi Translation · हिन्दी अनुवाद

Received Hindi rendering attributed in the source data to Swami Rāmsukhdās ji.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Hindi rendering · source-data attribution
।।6.6।। जिसने अपने-आपसे अपने-आपको जीत लिया है, उसके लिये आप ही अपना बन्धु है और जिसने अपने-आपको नहीं जीता है, ऐसे अनात्माका आत्मा ही शत्रुतामें शत्रुकी तरह बर्ताव करता है।

🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices

5 received English commentary layers are available for this śloka. Open only the voice you wish to study.

Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
6.6 बन्धुः friend? आत्मा the Self? आत्मनः of the self? तस्य his? येन by whom? आत्मा the self? एव even? आत्मना by the Self? जितः is conered? अनात्मनः of unconered self? तु but? शत्रुत्वे in the place of an enemy? वर्तेत would remain? आत्मा the Self? एव even? शत्रुवत् like an enemy.Commentary Coner the lower mind through the higher mind. The lower mind is your enemy. The higher mind is your friend. If you make friendship with the higher mind you can subdue the lower mind ite easily. The lower mind is filled with Rajas and Tamas (passion and darkness). The higher mind is filled with Sattva or purity.The Self is the friend of one who is selfcontrolled? and who has subjugated the lower mind and the senses. But the Self is an enemy of one who has no selfrestraint? and who has not subdued the lower mind and the senses. Just as an external enemy does harm to him? so also his own (lower) self (mind) does harm to him. The lower mind injures him severely. The highest Self or Atman is the primary Self. Mind also is self. This is the secondary self.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
6.6 Tasya, of him; yena, by whom; jitah, has been conered, subdued; his eva atma, very self, the aggregate of body and organs; that atma, self; is bandhuh, the friend; atmanah, of his self. The idea is that he is a coneror of his senses. Tu, but; anatmanah, for one who has not conered his self, who has no self-control; atma eva, his self itself; varteta, acts; satruvat, like an enemy; satrutve, inimically, with the attitude of an enemy. As an enemy, who is different from oneself, does harm to oneself, similarly one's self behaves like an enemy to oneself. This is the meaning. [If the body and organs are under control, they are helpful in concentrating one's mind on the Self; but, if they are not under control, they oppose this concentration.]
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
6.6 A person whose mind is conered by himself in relation to sense-objects, has that mind as his friend. In the case of one whose mind is not conered in this way, his own mind, like an enemy, remains hostile. The meaning is that it acts, against his attainment of supreme beatitude. It has been stated by Bhagavan Parasara also: 'The mind of man is the cause both of his bondage and his release. Its addiction to sense objects is the cause of his bondage; its separation from sense objects is the means of one's release' (V. P., 6.7.28). The proper condition for the beginning of Yoga is now taught:
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
6.5-6 Uddharet etc. Bandhuh etc. In this [path] there is no other means excepting the self i.e. nothing but one's mind. Indeed the subdued mind is a friend and it lifts up [the Self] from the highly dreadful cycle of birth and death. But the unsubdued one does the act of enmity as it throws [the Self] down in the horrible hell. The characteristic mark of the subdued-minded man is this :
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।6.6।। जिस मात्रा में जीव शरीर मन और बुद्धि से तादात्म्य को त्यागता है उस मात्रा में वह आत्मा के दिव्य प्रभाव से प्रभावित होता है। तब आत्मा उसका मित्र कहलाता है। वही मन जब बहिर्मुखी होकर विषयों मे आसक्त होता है तब मानों आत्मा उसका शत्रु होता है।निष्कर्ष यह निकला कि चैतन्य आत्मा समान रूप से विद्यमान रहता है परन्तु मन की अन्तर्मुखी अथवा बहिर्मुखी प्रवृत्तियों की दृष्टि से वह मनुष्य का मित्र अथवा शत्रु कहलाता है। और यदि आत्मा शब्द का अर्थ मन करें तो अर्थ होगा कि संयमित मन मनुष्य का मित्र है और स्वेच्छाचारी उसका शत्रु । यह श्लोक पूर्व श्लोक के अर्थ को अधिक स्पष्ट करता है।योगरूढ़ मनुष्य के पूर्णत्व की स्थिति को अगले श्लोक में बताया गया है

🪷 Hindi Vyākhyā · हिन्दी व्याख्या

Received Hindi vyākhyā attributed in the source data to Swami Rāmsukhdās ji.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Hindi vyākhyā · source-data attribution
।।6.6।। व्याख्या--'बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः'--अपनेमें अपने सिवाय दूसरेकी सत्ता है ही नहीं। अतः जिसने अपनेमें अपने सिवाय दूसरे-(शरीर, इन्द्रियाँ, मन, बुद्धि आदि-) की किञ्चिन्मात्र भी आवश्यकता नहीं रखी है अर्थात् असत् पदार्थोंके आश्रयका सर्वथा त्याग करके जो अपने सम स्वरूपमें स्थित हो गया ,है उसने अपने-आपको जीत लिया है। वह अपने-आपमें स्थित हो गया--इसकी क्या पहचान है? उसका अन्तःकरण समतामें स्थित हो जायगा; क्योंकि ब्रह्म निर्दोष और सम है। उस ब्रह्मकी निर्दोषता और समता उसके अन्तःकरणपर आ जाती है। इससे पता लग जाता है कि वह ब्रह्ममें स्थित है (गीता 5। 19)। तात्पर्य यह निकला कि ब्रह्ममें स्थित होनेसे ही उसने अपने द्वारा अपने-आपपर विजय प्राप्त कर ली है। वास्तवमें ब्रह्ममें स्थिति तो नित्य-निरन्तर थी ही, केवल मन, बुद्धि आदिको अपना माननेसे ही उस स्थितिका अनुभव नहीं हो रहा था।संसारमें दूसरोंकी सहायताके बिना कोई भी किसीपर विजय प्राप्त नहीं कर सकता और दूसरोंकी सहायता लेना ही स्वयंको पराजित करना है। इस दृष्टिसे स्वयं पहले पराजित होकर ही दूसरोंपर विजय प्राप्त करता है। जैसे, कोई अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंसे दूसरेको पराजित करता है, तो वह दूसरोंको पराजित करनेमें अपने लिये अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंकी आवश्यकता मानता है; अतः स्वयं अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंसे पराजित ही हुआ। कोई शास्त्रके द्वारा, बुद्धिके द्वारा शास्त्रार्थ करके दूसरोंपर विजय प्राप्त करता है, तो वह स्वयं पहले शास्त्र और बुद्धिसे पराजित होता ही है और होना ही पड़ेगा। तात्पर्य यह निकला कि जो किसी भी साधनसे जिस किसीपर भी विजय करता है, वह अपने-आपको ही पराजित करता है। स्वयं पराजित हुए बिना दूसरोंपर कभी कोई विजय कर ही नहीं सकता--यह नियम है। अतः जो अपने लिये दूसरोंकी किञ्चिन्मात्र भी आवश्यकता नहीं समझता, वही अपने-आपसे अपने-आपपर विजय प्राप्त करता है और वही स्वयं अपना बन्धु है।

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APA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. (n.d.). Bhagavad-Gītā 6.6. Vidhyāmitra. Retrieved 2026-10-07, from https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/6/6
Chicago: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 6.6." Vidhyāmitra. Accessed 2026-10-07. https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/6/6.
MLA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 6.6." Vidhyāmitra, 2026, https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/6/6.
Canonical reading URL: https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/6/6. This citation identifies Vidhyamitra's received digital witness; consult a named scholarly or printed edition when edition-specific authority is required.

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This page is rendered from the pinned 701-address witness documented on the Gītā index. Publication and search-indexing authorization for every bundled translation and commentary layer was confirmed on 4 August 2026; the exact received recension boundary remains disclosed separately.

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सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)