Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 39
एतन्मे संशयं कृष्ण छेत्तुमर्हस्यशेषतः।
त्वदन्यः संशयस्यास्य छेत्ता न ह्युपपद्यते।।
त्वदन्यः संशयस्यास्य छेत्ता न ह्युपपद्यते।।
etan me sanśayaṁ kṛṣṇa cchettum arhasyaśeṣataḥ
tvad-anyaḥ sanśayasyāsya cchettā na hyupapadyate
also searched as "etan me sanshayam krishna chhettum arhasyasheshatah"
Translation
O Krsna, you should altogether remove this doubt of mine, for there is no other remover of this doubt than you.
Vāṇi's rendering
This doubt of mine — cut it away completely, Krishna. No one but you can cut it.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| एतत्etat | this |
| मेme | my, of mine |
| संशयम्saṁśayam | doubt, the mind divided against itself |
| कृष्णkṛṣṇa | Krishna |
| छेत्तुम्chettum | to cut, to sever |
| अर्हसिarhasi | you are the one fit to do it (joined with the next word by sandhi) |
| अशेषतःaśeṣataḥ | completely, leaving no remnant |
| त्वत्tvat | than you |
| अन्यःanyaḥ | another, anyone else |
| संशयस्यsaṁśayasya | of the doubt |
| अस्यasya | this (joined to the previous word by sandhi) |
| छेत्ताchettā | one who cuts it away |
| नna | not |
| हिhi | indeed, for (joined with the next word by sandhi) |
| उपपद्यतेupapadyate | is to be found, comes forward |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 39 mean?
Arjuna asks Krishna to cut his doubt away entirely, saying no one else can. He has just asked what becomes of the seeker who tries and fails. Having exhausted his own reasoning, he stops turning the question over inside himself and places it before Krishna. The verse is the moment asking replaces arguing.
What does etan me sanshayam krishna mean?
It means "this doubt of mine, Krishna." Arjuna names the doubt as his own before he asks for it to be removed — he does not pretend to be beyond it. Owning the doubt plainly is the first half of being free of it; the second half he leaves to Krishna.
Why does Arjuna say only Krishna can remove his doubt?
Because a doubt cannot cut itself. The mind that holds the knot is the mind that tied it, and turning it over privately only tightens it. Arjuna sees that resolution has to come from outside the circling. He says tvad-anyaḥ — anyone other than you — will not do.
What does it mean to cut a doubt rather than answer it?
An answer sits alongside the doubt; a cut ends it. Arjuna asks for aśeṣataḥ — nothing left over, no residue to grow back. Krishna's reply in the next verse is a single clean stroke: no effort in this direction is ever wasted. Nothing remains to worry.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna has asked his question, and now he says something stranger: only you can answer it. He has already consulted himself — that is what doubt is, the mind chewing its own tail. Notice the verb. Not soothe the doubt, not explain it: cut. Saṁśaya is a knot, and knots are not reasoned open. So Arjuna stops arguing with his own mind and hands the knot to someone standing outside it. That is what asking actually is. Your own doubts have been in your own custody a long while now. Ask them of someone who is not you.