Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 4, Verse 40
अज्ञश्चाश्रद्दधानश्च संशयात्मा विनश्यति।
नायं लोकोऽस्ति न परो न सुखं संशयात्मनः।।
नायं लोकोऽस्ति न परो न सुखं संशयात्मनः।।
ajñaś cāśraddadhānaś ca sanśayātmā vinaśyati
nāyaṁ loko ’sti na paro na sukhaṁ sanśayātmanaḥ
also searched as "ajnashchashraddadhanashcha samshayatma vinashyati"
Translation
The ignorant, the faithless, and the doubting one perish; for the doubting one, there is neither this world nor the one beyond, nor happiness.
Vāṇi's rendering
But the unknowing, unbelieving, doubting self is destroyed. For the doubter — no this world, no next, no happiness.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अज्ञःajñaḥ | the one who does not know |
| चca | and |
| अश्रद्दधानःaśraddadhānaḥ | the one without faith, who trusts nothing said to him (joined with the preceding ca by sandhi) |
| चca | and |
| संशयात्माsanśaya-ātmā | one whose very self is made of doubt |
| विनश्यतिvinaśyati | comes to ruin, is destroyed |
| नna | not |
| अयम्ayaṁ | this (joined with na by sandhi as nāyaṁ) |
| लोकःlokaḥ | world |
| अस्तिasti | is, exists (elided after lokaḥ as loko 'sti) |
| नna | nor |
| परःparaḥ | the world beyond, the next |
| नna | nor |
| सुखम्sukhaṁ | happiness |
| संशयात्मनःsanśaya-ātmanaḥ | for the one whose self is doubt |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 40 mean?
It names what wastes a life: not knowing, not trusting, and above all a self built out of doubt. Such a person loses both worlds and any ease in either. Krishna is not condemning questions. He is describing someone who never lets an answer settle long enough to be lived.
What is the meaning of ajnashchashraddadhanashcha samshayatma vinashyati?
The unknowing one, the one who will not trust, the one made of doubt — all come to ruin. The Sanskrit calls the third saṁśaya-ātmā: doubt has stopped being something he has and become what he is. That is the ruin. Not the question, but the refusal to ever finish asking.
Is doubt wrong according to the Bhagavad Gita?
No. Arjuna doubts through eighteen chapters and Krishna answers him every time. Honest doubt moves toward an answer. The doubt condemned here circles forever, suspecting the teaching, the teacher, and finally itself. Ask hard questions. Then be willing to be answered — otherwise nothing you learn can reach you.
Why does the doubter have no happiness in this world or the next?
Because happiness needs somewhere to rest. The doubter mistrusts what he holds, so nothing he has is fully his, and nothing promised is worth waiting for. He is not punished with emptiness. He arranges it himself, one withheld trust at a time.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just promised knowledge to the one who has faith. Here is the other side, and he does not soften it. Not the wicked — the doubter. Doubt that questions is fine; it is how you learn. This is the other doubt, the kind that cannot land anywhere, that suspects the teaching and the teacher and its own suspicion. Such a self gets nothing, here or after. Arjuna is full of questions but he keeps asking; that is why he is saved. The difference is small and total. Ask, and stay for the answer. Doubt everything, including your doubt — but choose something to stand on.