When I stand at an impasse that reasoning cannot resolve, am I actually approaching the one source whose knowledge is direct and complete — or am I cycling through opinions from those who are themselves uncertain?

Cut this doubt of mine to the root, Krishna, every last thread of it, because no one else is capable of doing it. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/39.

The word 'aśeṣataḥ' (without remainder) sets a high bar: partial reassurance is not enough. What would it mean to have a doubt cut at its root rather than merely soothed?

Cut this doubt of mine to the root, Krishna, every last thread of it, because no one else is capable of doing it. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/39.

Arjuna names Kṛṣṇa as the only competent authority before the answer has been given — is epistemic humility (recognizing who knows) a prerequisite to actually hearing an answer?

Cut this doubt of mine to the root, Krishna, every last thread of it, because no one else is capable of doing it. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/39.

All six schools agree that no ṛṣi or deva other than Kṛṣṇa can answer this — what is the nature of the competence gap, and does that gap map onto anything in everyday life (the difference between experience and mere opinion)?

Cut this doubt of mine to the root, Krishna, every last thread of it, because no one else is capable of doing it. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/39.

Madhusūdana distinguishes severing the root-adharma from receiving a verbal answer. When we say we want clarity, do we want an answer or do we want the underlying cause of confusion removed?

Cut this doubt of mine to the root, Krishna, every last thread of it, because no one else is capable of doing it. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/39.

Vallabha's 'api' ('you yourself also') implies Kṛṣṇa generated the fear and will dissolve it. Is the one who creates a genuine existential question the only one qualified to answer it?

Cut this doubt of mine to the root, Krishna, every last thread of it, because no one else is capable of doing it. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/39.

Rāmānuja stresses simultaneous, self-luminous seeing (svataḥ pratyakṣa). How much of our reliance on authorities is actually a search for that quality — direct, unmediated, non-inferential knowledge?

Cut this doubt of mine to the root, Krishna, every last thread of it, because no one else is capable of doing it. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/39.

BG 6.39 — Dhyāna-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 6.39Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

एतन् मे संशयं कृष्णश् छेत्तुमर्हस्यशेषतः ।

त्वद्अन्यः संशयस्यास्य छेत्ता न ह्युपपद्यते ॥

etan me saṃśayaṃ kṛṣṇaś chettum arhasy aśeṣataḥ

tvad-anyaḥ saṃśayasyāsya chettā na hy upapadyate

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Cut this doubt of mine to the root, Krishna, every last thread of it, because no one else is capable of doing it.

ekras · bhāṣya

Cut this doubt of mine, Krishna, without remainder. No one other than you is able to cut this doubt. The petition is precise: asheshatah — to the root, leaving no fragment. Tvat-anyah na upapadyate — no one else even has the standing.

Shankara's bhashya is terse and logical. Any rishi or deva other than Krishna does not have the standing to destroy this doubt; therefore Krishna alone is petitioned. The doubt's root is in the relationship between karma and jnana across a lifetime; that relationship is what Krishna himself has been teaching, and only its author can settle it.

Ramanuja reads the verse on Krishna's omniscience as the warrant. The force lies in Krishna's nature as the antaryamin who sees yugapat sarvam sarvada svata eva — simultaneously, always, by his own standing. Arjuna's appeal is not merely intellectual; it is surrender to the Bhagavan whose unmediated svatah pratyaksha alone can dissolve the doubt about what awaits the failed yogi.

Vallabha's commentary is brief but pointed: ata etat sandeha nivarakah api tvam eva — therefore you yourself are also the remover of this very doubt. The api — also — is the key: Krishna is simultaneously the source of the doubt, having set up the fearful possibility in the preceding verses, and the only one who can dissolve it. This is the logic of prasada — grace freely given, not earned.

Madhusudana provides the most expansive treatment. Two interlocking arguments: first, the mula of the doubt — adharma and its consequences — must be severed entirely, not merely soothed. Second, no other agent can cut it because Krishna alone is paramaguruh, sarvajnah, and the addressed one.

Shridhara is philologically clean: chhetta is nivartakah — the one who turns back, dispels — and the verse confirms no other agent of doubt-removal exists.

Context

where

Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 6.38

Arjuna asks whether one who abandons ritual duty but fails to reach Brahman simply dissolves, groundless and bewildered, like a scrap of cloud torn from its mass and unable to join another.

What's going on

Cut this doubt of mine to the root, Krishna, every last thread of it, because no one else is capable of doing it.

Sūtras through this verse (63)

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

6.1True renouncing acts; drops the inner hook.───→here6.39───→7.30Hold the Lord through every layer of life.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

2.39Practice seam begins.───→here6.39───→6.46The yogi outranks every other path.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

6.9Souls differ by nature not by accident alone.───→here6.39───→13.23Soul and Lord coexist in the body, not as one.

show all 63

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

6.1Renouncer and yogi together───→here6.39───→9.22Yogakshema as offering returned

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one under two views.───→here6.39───→7.16Four kinds of devotee, ranked by ripeness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

6.1Renouncing too lives by purity of mind.───→here6.39───→16.1The dispositions decide who can even begin.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

6.1The fruit-unattached one is yogi and renouncer.───→here6.39───→9.22The undivided ones the Lord himself sustains.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

6.1Calling a karma-yogi 'renouncer' is only a courtesy.───→here6.39───→18.1At the very end, the line still holds.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.───→here6.39───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesapproach

───→here6.39───→7.1The chapter elaborates the prior bhajana-line.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherapproach

───→here6.39───→7.1A bow to the bliss-cloud, Nanda's son, opens seven.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

3.8Even keeping the body alive requires action.───→here6.39───→6.40A fallen seeker still keeps the human birth.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

6.24Renounce every desire born of will.───→here6.39───→18.49Free of longing everywhere — same goal.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

6.32Sees others' pain and joy as his own.───→here6.39───→9.29I am equal to all; lovers live in Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

5.4Insight and practice are not two paths.───→here6.39───→6.46The lover outranks every other yogi.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

6.30See Me everywhere, I am never lost.───→here6.39───→8.22The highest Person, reached by the undivided.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

6.3Body, senses, and mind: none of them yours.───→here6.39───→13.20Nature causes the act; you only experience.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here6.39───→

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

6.1The renouncer and yogi are the same person.───→here6.39───→7.1Open the second ṣaṭka: mind clung to Me.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

6.1The renouncer is the one who acts for Me.───→here6.39───→9.27Whatever you do, do it as offering.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

6.9Devas, asuras, mortals are three native kinds.───→here6.39───→14.27Brahman has gradations within its own form.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

6.6Maitrāyaṇī defines the stilled mind.───→here6.39───→7.5Doubled prakṛti named from a single śruti.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one person, two names.───→here6.39───→18.2The ritualists' śruti fixes the closing definition.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

6.7The stilled mind sees the seated supreme self.───→here6.39───→6.46The five-rung ladder ends in love, not knowledge.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

6.30Devotion brings what the seeker cannot earn.───→here6.39───→7.16Four kinds approach; the devoted is best.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

6.32'Self' as mind, not soul, when symmetry is needed.───→here6.39───→8.3'Imperishable' redirects to the supreme person.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

6.1Real renouncing keeps the act alive.───→here6.39───→18.1The closing chapter reopens this question.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

6.1Prelude binds yoga to puṣṭi-bhakti.───→here6.39───→7.1Seven-verse prelude opens the bhakti-ṣaṭka.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

6.1The two paths are one through fruit-renouncing act.───→here6.39───→6.46The lover outranks the wise and the disciplined.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordbetween

2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.───→here6.39───→6.46The yogi closing the ṣaṭka is a mind-stiller.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)approach

───→here6.39───→7.4Two natures of the Lord: matter and selves.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionapproach

───→here6.39───→7.17I am dearest to him.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaapproach

───→here6.39───→7.4Lower nature: matter.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata simileapproach

───→here6.39───→7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markapproach

───→here6.39───→7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryapproach

───→here6.39───→6.47Six chapters of aphorism close at this verse.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

6.11Mudra and posture. 'Shuchau deshe pratishthapya sthiram asanam atmanah.' Establi───→here6.39───→9.26Puja and havan. 'Patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayachchhati.' Whoev

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningbetween

6.5'Uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet.' Lift yourself by yourself, do not l───→here6.39───→16.21'Tri-vidham narakasyedam dvaram nashanam atmanah, kamah krodhas tatha lobhah.' T

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipbetween

6.35'Asamshayam maha-baho mano durnigraham chalam, abhyasena tu Kaunteya vairagyena ───→here6.39───→12.13'Adveshta sarva-bhutanam maitrah karuna eva cha.' Without enmity, friendly, comp

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

5.5'Yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam tad yogair api gamyate.' The place reached by sa───→here6.39───→6.46'Tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah, karmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasm

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netibetween

6.29'Sarva-bhuta-stham atmanam sarva-bhutani cha'tmani, ikshate yoga-yuktatma sarvat───→here6.39───→13.32'Anaditvan nirgunatvat paramatma'yam avyayah, sharira-stho'pi Kaunteya na karoti

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.───→here6.39───→6.46Inner-self hexad closes; pivot prepared.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.───→here6.39───→6.46Yogin vs. jñānin: not synonyms.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

2.39Wisdom section wound up here.───→here6.39───→6.46Dhyāna section sealed: yogin is supreme.

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelapproach

───→here6.39───→7.1Upāsya and tat-pada in apposition. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousapproach

───→here6.39───→7.4Two-fold prakṛti is the Lord's own power.

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

6.1Soft sense of renouncer───→here6.39───→18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi by sannyāsa

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

6.1The fire-keeper is renouncer only in a soft sense.───→here6.39───→18.49Action-freedom comes from full renunciation.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here6.39───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one figure.───→here6.39───→6.46The yogi outranks tapasvi, jñāni, karmin.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

6.1Pure mind is not yet release: now meditate.───→here6.39───→8.1Now, the questions of Brahman and self.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personapproach

───→here6.39───→7.16Of the four devotees, the knower is dearest.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsapproach

───→here6.39───→7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyaapproach

───→here6.39───→7.21Deity-worship: His self-arrangement of grace.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homeapproach

───→here6.39───→6.47Be a devotee: that is the meaning.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessapproach

───→here6.39───→7.14Undivided love crosses the great mist.

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitapproach

───→here6.39───→8.5Whoever remembers Me at the last reaches Me.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldexit

5.8I do nothing at all, says the knower.───→here6.39───→

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourbetween · v2

6.29Self in all beings───→here6.39───→8.12Om at the close

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

6.35Practice and dispassion───→here6.39───→13.8Field-knowledge as virtues

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathapproach · v2

───→here6.39───→7.16Four kinds of bhakta

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.───→here6.39───→7.13Why this declaration? The gloss must answer.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

6.1Karma-yoga is outer; samādhi-yoga inner.───→here6.39───→7.1First ṣaṭka closed; new pratijñā opens.

Śabda · lemmas (14 unique · 15 occurrences)

संशयम्·संशयस्य saṃśaya ×2 — doubt (sam- + √śi 'lie/rest' — 'lying both ways') · accusative masculine singular noun / genitive masculine singular noun
छेत्ता chettṛ — cutter, severer (from √chid + -tṛ) · nominative masculine singular noun
छेत्तुम् chid — to cut, sever (verbal root) · infinitive
अन्यः anya — other, different · nominative masculine singular noun · also at 2.29, 15.17
उपपद्यते upa-√pad — to arise, befit (upa- + √pad 'fall') · present indicative 3rd person singular verb

show all 14

एतत् etad — this (proximal demonstrative) · accusative neuter singular noun
मे mad — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · genitive singular noun
कृष्णः kṛṣṇa — Kṛṣṇa; black, dark · nominative masculine singular noun
अर्हसि √arh — to be worthy, deserve (verbal root) · present indicative 2nd person singular verb
अशेषतस् aśeṣatas — completely, without remainder (a- + śeṣa + -tas)
त्वद् tvad — you (2nd person pronoun stem) · compound
अस्य idam — this (proximal demonstrative) · genitive masculine singular noun
न na — not (negation particle)
हि hi — for, indeed, because (particle)

Praśna · so what (7)

01When I stand at an impasse that reasoning cannot resolve, am I actually approaching the one source whose knowledge is direct and complete — or am I cycling through opinions from those who are themselves uncertain?
02The word 'aśeṣataḥ' (without remainder) sets a high bar: partial reassurance is not enough. What would it mean to have a doubt cut at its root rather than merely soothed?

show all 7

03Arjuna names Kṛṣṇa as the only competent authority before the answer has been given — is epistemic humility (recognizing who knows) a prerequisite to actually hearing an answer?
04All six schools agree that no ṛṣi or deva other than Kṛṣṇa can answer this — what is the nature of the competence gap, and does that gap map onto anything in everyday life (the difference between experience and mere opinion)?
05Madhusūdana distinguishes severing the root-adharma from receiving a verbal answer. When we say we want clarity, do we want an answer or do we want the underlying cause of confusion removed?
06Vallabha's 'api' ('you yourself also') implies Kṛṣṇa generated the fear and will dissolve it. Is the one who creates a genuine existential question the only one qualified to answer it?
07Rāmānuja stresses simultaneous, self-luminous seeing (svataḥ pratyakṣa). How much of our reliance on authorities is actually a search for that quality — direct, unmediated, non-inferential knowledge?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you face a doubt that loops back on itself regardless of how much you reason, recognize that the doubt's root (mūla) is conceptual, not factual — no accumulation of information will cut it. Stop sourcing opinions from those who are themselves within the doubt. Bring the question to a teacher or practice whose competence is not derived from the same framework as the doubt itself.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

In relationship or professional life, distinguish between advisors who infer from data and the rare person who has direct, lived experience of the specific terrain you're asking about. Rāmānuja's 'yugapat sarvam sarvadā' points to comprehensive simultaneous seeing — seek that quality in mentors, not encyclopedic breadth. When you find it, offer the question fully rather than partially.

show all 6

Dvaita

Madhva's thinly-attested bhāṣya still carries a structural principle: if you are fundamentally dependent on a system (an employer, a platform, a body of law), only the governing authority of that system can resolve doubts about what happens when you fall short of its requirements. Don't seek reassurance from peers who are also dependent — go to the source of the rules.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's logic: the one who created the situation is the one whose word dissolves the anxiety about it. If a mentor, parent, or leader created an expectation that now causes you doubt about your standing, only their explicit reassurance carries weight. Don't seek substitutes. The doubt is personal; only a personal, direct response cuts it.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's 'sarvajña' framing: before investing in an authority, honestly ask whether they have comprehensive knowledge of the domain. This is not cynicism — it is the same epistemic care Arjuna demonstrates. Partial experts can give partial answers; for questions about trajectory and destination (career, vocation, long-term practice), the source needs sarvajñatā in that domain, not just local expertise.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's synthesis points toward the spiritual director or master teacher who combines knowledge, compassion, and sovereignty in their domain. In practical terms: when you bring a real doubt to someone, notice whether they address only the symptom (give a reassuring answer) or the root (diagnose the underlying false assumption driving the fear). Only the latter constitutes genuine cheda (cutting). Seek advisors who operate at the level of roots.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 6, Verse 39: Krishna to Arjuna — Dhyāna-Yoga