एतन्मे संशयं कृष्ण छेत्तुमर्हस्यशेषतः | त्वदन्यः संशयस्यास्य छेत्ता न ह्युपपद्यते ||३९||
etan me saṃśayaṃ kṛṣṇa chettum arhasy aśeṣataḥ | tvadanyaḥ saṃśayasyāsya chettā na hy upapadyate || 39 ||
O Krishna — cut this doubt of mine completely, without remainder. No one other than You can resolve what I am asking.
Word by word (3)
- etat me saṃśayaṃ kṛṣṇa chettum arhasi aśeṣataḥ
- — O Krishna, Thou shouldst completely cut this doubt of mine · etat = this. me saṃśayaṃ = my doubt (saṃśaya = doubt, uncertainty, from saṃ + √śī, to lie together — the mind 'lies' in two directions at once, undecided). kṛṣṇa = O Krishna. chettum = to cut (infinitive of √chid, to cut, to sever — the same root as chinnābhram, the torn cloud of V38; here the image is inverted: the doubt that tore the cloud must itself be cut). arhasi = Thou shouldst, Thou art fit (from √arh, to be worthy of). aśeṣataḥ = completely, without remainder (the same word used in V24 for abandoning desires 'without remainder').
- tvad-anyaḥ saṃśayasya asya chettā na hi upapadyate
- — for one other than Thee, a cutter of this doubt, is simply not possible · tvad-anya = other than You (tvad = You; anya = other). saṃśayasya asya = of this doubt. chettā = cutter, one who cuts (agent noun from √chid). na hi = not indeed (emphatic negation). upapadyate = is possible, is appropriate, is conceivable (from upa + √pad, to come about). Arjuna's declaration: this doubt cannot be cut by anyone other than Krishna. Not philosophical argument, not intellectual reasoning — only Krishna's direct answer can resolve this existential doubt. This is the student's complete trust in the teacher's authority.
- saṃśaya / chettā (the structural pair)
- — doubt / cutter — the Gita's framework for teacher-student resolution of existential uncertainty · The pairing of saṃśaya (doubt, uncertainty) and chettā (cutter, resolver) is structurally significant in the Gita. Ch.4 V42 said: 'Cut this ignorance-born doubt in your heart with the sword of knowledge.' V39 uses the same verb (√chid) and applies it to the specific doubt of V37-38. Arjuna's trust ('you alone can cut this') is the prerequisite for V40's answer being received with full faith. The doubt that is cut (chettum) at V40 cannot be merely intellectually argued away — it must be cut by the teacher's direct assertion of the truth.
Arjuna closes his three-verse question: O Krishna, please cut this doubt of mine completely — without remainder. Only You can resolve this. No argument, no intellectual reasoning, no other person can dispel what I'm carrying. I trust only You to answer this.
A modern analogy
A doctor's patient has a medical result they cannot interpret — it could mean several things, from benign to serious. No amount of the patient's own research will resolve the uncertainty; only the doctor's direct interpretation of the test can. V39 is: 'I've looked at this from every angle — I can't figure this out. Only you can tell me.'
What it does NOT mean
V39 does NOT mean Arjuna is being passive or abdicating responsibility. His acknowledgement that only Krishna can cut this doubt is a recognition that existential spiritual doubt — doubt about the ultimate value and fate of the sincere but incomplete practitioner — requires the teacher's direct authority, not the student's reasoning.
Take with you
- V39's 'aśeṣataḥ' (completely, without remainder) is the practitioner's request: not a partial answer, not 'it'll probably be okay,' but complete resolution of the doubt. This specificity of request is itself a model: bring the doubt fully to the teacher and ask for complete resolution.
- The trust of V39 ('no one but You') is itself a practice state: releasing the doubt to a higher authority (whether a teacher, the Divine, or the teaching itself) and being willing to receive the answer fully.
- V37-39 together form a complete student's question: state the problem precisely (V37), give the worst-case scenario (V38), trust the teacher completely and ask for full resolution (V39). This is the model for bringing real questions to any teaching.
V39 closes the three-verse V37-39 question sequence with a declaration of trust in the teacher's unique authority. The word 'chettum' (to cut) deliberately echoes V38's 'chinnābhram' (rent cloud) — Arjuna asks Krishna to be the cutter (chettā) of the doubt that, like the torn cloud, threatens to leave him without support. The reversal is intentional: what the doubt fears (tearing apart) is now what is asked of the teacher — to tear apart the doubt itself. The statement 'tvadanyaḥ... na upapadyate' (none other than You can do this) is not mere flattery — it is an epistemological claim. This category of doubt — about the ultimate fate of the sincere but incomplete practitioner — cannot be resolved by logic, precedent, or analogy. It requires the teacher's direct knowledge of the cosmic order (karma, rebirth, the indestructibility of good effort). V40's answer is precisely such a direct declaration from the one who knows the cosmic order.
Advaita lens
In Advaita terms, V39's 'only You can cut this doubt' is the recognition that intellectual reasoning operates in the realm of māyā (appearances) and cannot by itself pierce to the truth of what happens to the jīva after an incomplete practice. Only knowledge of ātman-Brahman identity — which Krishna embodies — can provide the certainty Arjuna seeks.
Bhakti lens
V39 is a moment of pure bhakti: 'Only You can do this.' The bhakta's complete surrender to the Beloved's authority, the recognition that the Beloved alone has access to what the bhakta cannot reach by their own effort. This surrender is what receives V40-41's direct assurance.
Karma-Yoga lens
The karma yogi who brings their genuine doubt to the teaching (as Arjuna does in V37-39) is practising karma yoga at a deep level: they are not holding onto their uncertainty as personal property, not trying to solve it through ego-driven effort. They are releasing the doubt to the source of knowledge. This release is itself a form of nishkama action — acting (asking) without attachment to a predetermined answer.
Modern parallels
The concept of 'epistemic trust' in developmental psychology (Peter Fonagy) — the capacity to receive and benefit from another's knowledge — is what V39 expresses: Arjuna trusts Krishna's epistemic authority on this specific question, which is what allows V40's answer to be received with full impact. Epistemic trust is the prerequisite for learning from authoritative sources.
Practice
V39 as a surrender practice: bring your current most pressing doubt about your practice into the sitting. State it clearly in your mind. Then release it to 'the teaching' — to Brahman, to the Gita, to the awareness that holds all questions. Wait in the silence. V40-41 are the answer that emerges. Read them after sitting.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
This doubt of mine, O Krishna, Thou shouldst completely cut — for it is not possible for any other than Thee to cut this doubt. [1]
This doubt of mine, O Krishna, Thou shouldst completely dispel; for it is not possible for any but Thee to dispel this doubt. [4]
Deign, O Krishna, completely to cut away this doubt; for there is none other able to destroy this doubt save Thee. [5]
O Krishna, thou art able completely to dispel this doubt of mine; for there is none able to remove this doubt but thee. [6]
Arjuna: Thou, O Krishna! shouldst completely resolve this my doubt; for there is none but thee who can do so. [7]
Arjuna said: O Krishna! this my doubt, thou art able completely to dispel. For there is no other to dispel this doubt excepting thee. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Fallen from both worlds, without support — does the wandering yogi simply perish, like a torn cloud, O mighty-armed?
O Pārtha — no destruction for that one, neither here nor hereafter. For never does any doer of good come to an evil end.
Cut with jñāna's sword this doubt born of ignorance in your heart. Stand in yoga — arise, O Arjuna!
Yoga is the disconnection from suffering — practise it with firm resolve and a mind that does not despond.
O Madhusūdana — I see no stable foundation for this yoga: the mind's restlessness defeats all steadiness.
O Krishna — the faithful yogi who fell short of yoga's perfection through wandering mind: what is their destination?