उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥

uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ
nātmānam avasādayet |
ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur
ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ ||

Here ātman is being employed contextually at different levels. Śrī Śaṅkarācārya does not mean that the paramārthika Ātman somehow needs to improve itself.
Ātman is ever siddha.
What requires lifting is the individual whose mind has become subject to rāga-dveṣa, saṅkalpa, sense-dependence and identification.
Therefore: Do not wait for the world to liberate you from the world.
The very antaḥkaraṇa which presently binds becomes the instrument through which freedom is discovered.
This is the beginning of puruṣakāra.
And notice the beauty: Bhagavān does not begin this Pañcāmṛt progression by saying “surrender everything.” First: उद्धरेत् — uddharet — lift yourself.
The unprepared mind cannot meaningfully understand sarva-dharmān parityajya.

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥

karmaṇy evādhikāras te
mā phaleṣu kadācana |
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr
mā te saṅgo ‘stv akarmaṇi ||

Now Bhagavān supplies the method.
The problem is not karma.
The bondage lies in: kartṛtva + rāga-dveṣa + phala-abhisandhi.
Therefore continue to act—but transform the relationship with action.
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya’s treatment is crucial here. One has authority over karma, not independently over its result. Therefore the result cannot become the psychological basis for action.
This gradually changes: “I act to obtain what I need.” into: “I perform what is to be done because it is to be done.”
This is already loosening ahaṅkāra.
And Bhagavān closes the verse beautifully: मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि — mā te saṅgo ‘stv akarmaṇi — Do not therefore become attached to non-performance of action.
So 6.5’s self-upliftment acquires its practical means: Karma-yoga.

यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत् ।
यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम् ॥

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat |
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam ||

Something profound has now happened.
In 2.47 Bhagavān corrected our relationship with karma-phala. Here He transforms our relationship with karma itself.
mad-arpaṇam — offer it to Me.
And Bhagavān deliberately makes the field comprehensive: karoṣi — whatever you do; aśnāsi — whatever you consume; juhoṣi — whatever you offer; dadāsi — whatever you give; tapasyasi — whatever austerity you undertake.
Therefore there is progressively no secular territory remaining outside Īśvara.
Eating becomes offering. Teaching becomes offering. Walking becomes offering. Pūjā is offering. Svādhyāya is offering. Even maintenance of the body becomes offering.
Thus: Karma is no longer merely something “I do.” It becomes Īśvara-sevā.
And psychologically this is enormously important.
The centre of life moves from: aham → mama toward: Īśvara → arpaṇam.

अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते ।
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥

ananyāś cintayanto māṁ
ye janāḥ paryupāsate |
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ
yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham ||

This is where our recent enquiry becomes very important.
The progression is no longer merely: “I offer things to Bhagavān.” The mind itself is becoming ananya.
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya’s explanation of ananyāḥ is much deeper than simply “very devoted people.” The vision is essentially: न अन्यः — na anyaḥ. There is no “other” reality independent of Bhagavān.
This beautifully matches the example we discussed: There may still be bracelets, chains, rings and ornaments. Ananyatā does not require the disappearance of the ornaments. It is the knowledge: “There is nothing here other than gold.”
Likewise, multiplicity may continue in vyavahāra. But the vision increasingly becomes: ईश्वरात् अन्यत् नास्ति — īśvarāt anyat nāsti. Nothing is apart from Īśvara.
Then paryupāsate becomes significant. Not occasional remembrance. Not Bhagavān among several concerns. The mind repeatedly, completely, intimately abides in Him.
Hence: नित्याभियुक्तानाम् — nityābhiyuktānām — those who are ever united / constantly committed.
And then comes the reversal: योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् — yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham.
Until now: the sādhaka was carrying his sādhana. Now Bhagavān says: “I carry him.”
This is a magnificent transition in the five verses.

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।
अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः ॥

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja |
ahaṁ tvā sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ ||

If we read this merely as: “Give up your duties and pray to Kṛṣṇa,” we lose Śrī Śaṅkarācārya’s extraordinary conclusion to the Gītā.
By this point the entire teaching has already occurred.
The distinction between ātma / anātma; kartā / akartā; guṇāḥ / Ātman; karma / jñāna; kṣetra / kṣetrajña has been established.
Therefore sarva-dharmān parityajya reaches much deeper.
The dharmas belong to the upādhi.
Brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, father, mother, teacher, student, āśramī, kartā, bhoktā—every designation belongs to the field of anātma.
The Ātman is not improved by karma. Nor contaminated by akarma. Nor purified by puṇya. Nor intrinsically stained by pāpa.
Hence ultimately: Renunciation is renunciation of mistaken identity.
This brings us directly back to our Chapter 18 enquiry concerning dehabhṛt.
As long as: “I am the body-mind” is taken as real, there is a kartā who must perform, avoid, choose and experience.
But when knowledge is firm: अहम् अकर्ता अभोक्ता आत्मा अस्मि — aham akartā abhoktā ātmā asmi.
What remains for the Ātman to renounce? Nothing.
And therefore the final surrender is not merely: “I give everything to Bhagavān.”
Its culmination is: “There was never an independently existing ‘I’ apart from Bhagavān who possessed anything to surrender.”