Chapter 6Verse 39 of 47

Bhagavad Gita 6.39

एतन्मे संशयं कृष्ण छेत्तुमर्हस्यशेषतः | त्वदन्यः संशयस्यास्य छेत्ता न ह्युपपद्यते ||

etan me saṁśayaṁ kṛṣṇa chettum arhasy aśeṣataḥ | tvad-anyaḥ saṁśayasyāsya chettā na hy upapadyate ||

Translation

You, O Kṛṣṇa! should completely remove this doubt of mine, for there is none other to be found to remove this doubt.

Arjuna closes the question with a small admission of trust. There is no one else he could put this doubt before. The teacher he has sitting beside him is the only one who can cut it down at the root. The verse rewards close reading because of where it falls. In the middle of a battlefield, with arrows at the ready, the prince stops to ask his charioteer to settle a worry about the inner life. Nothing about the timing is convenient. He asks anyway, because the question has reached him and will not let go until it is answered. The teaching takes priority over the schedule.

Reflection

What doubt about the path have you been carrying around that you have not yet put before the teacher?

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Six

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