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

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Arjuna petitions the sole authority competent to sever this doubt at its root: 'O Kṛṣṇa (the one who draws the senses inward), you alone are fit to cut (chettum) away this uncertainty of mine without remainder (aśeṣataḥ).' Śaṅkara's bhāṣya is terse and logical: any ṛṣi or deva other than Kṛṣṇa simply does not have the standing (na hi upapadyate) to destroy this doubt, therefore the responsibility falls necessarily on Kṛṣṇa. The doubt is not sentiment — it is an intellectual aporia about the fate of the yoga-fallen soul, and only the knower of Brahman who is himself Brahman can cut it with the sword of direct knowledge (jñāna).

  divergence: Śaṅkara on 6.39 — 'tvadanyaḥ tvattaḥ anyaḥ ṛṣiḥ devo vā chettā nāśayitā saṃśayasya asya na hi yataḥ upapadyate na saṃbhavati — ataḥ tvameva chettumarhasi.' Anchor is solid.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  For Rāmānuja, the force of this verse lies in Kṛṣṇa's nature as the omniscient inner controller (antaryāmin) who sees everything simultaneously and always (yugapat sarvaṃ sarvadā svata eva paśyataḥ). Arjuna's appeal is not merely intellectual — it is a surrender to the Bhagavān who is the only one whose direct, unmediated vision (svataḥ pratyakṣa) can dissolve the doubt about what becomes of a straying devotee. The bhāṣya stresses that Kṛṣṇa's competence is intrinsic, not derived: no other being shares this all-seeing quality, so no other being can cut the saṃśaya (doubt) thoroughly.

  divergence: Rāmānuja on 6.39 — 'svataḥ pratyakṣeṇa yugapat sarvaṃ sarvadā svata eva paśyataḥ tvattaḥ anyaḥ saṃśayasya asya chettā na hi upapadyate.' Anchor is solid.

• Madhvadvaita

  Madhva's commentary on 6.39 is minimal — his bhāṣya covers verses 6.37–6.39 jointly with only the gloss 'ayatiḥ aprayatnaḥ' (one who lacks effort, one without striving). From the Dvaita standpoint, Arjuna's petition acknowledges what Madhva consistently teaches: the jīva (individual soul) is eternally dependent (paratantra) on Hari, and only Hari — the independent (svatantra) reality — possesses the omniscience to answer with authority. Doubt about the yoga-bhraṣṭa's fate is doubt about Hari's providential order; only Hari can cut it because only he governs the outcome.

  divergence: Madhva's bhāṣya for 6.39 is the compressed gloss 'ayatiḥ aprayatnaḥ' covering 6.37–6.39. Detail is sparse; Dvaita rendering draws on school principles. Flagged: thin bhāṣya anchor.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Vallabha's commentary is brief but pointed: 'ata etat sandeha nivārakaḥ api tvam eva' — therefore you yourself are also the remover of this very doubt. The 'api' (also) is the key: Kṛṣṇa 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 prasāda (grace freely given): the one who creates the need is the one whose gift resolves it. For Puṣṭi-mārga, Arjuna's petition is a model of the soul recognizing that every move — question and answer, doubt and resolution — belongs to Kṛṣṇa's līlā (divine play).

  divergence: Vallabha on 6.39 — 'ata etat sandeha nivārakaḥ api tvam eva iti katham anna āha enam iti. spaṣṭam.' Anchor is present but compressed; rendering extends via school logic.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Śrīdhara Svāmī reads this verse as Arjuna's acknowledgment that Kṛṣṇa is sarvajña (all-knowing) and therefore the only one capable of removing (nirasanīya) this doubt. The bhāṣya identifies 'chettā' explicitly as 'nivartakaḥ' — the one who turns back, dispels, removes — and confirms that no other agent of doubt-removal exists. Śrīdhara's gloss is philo logically clean: the verse functions as a closing appeal that completes the question-structure before the Bhagavān speaks, and any elaboration is, as he says, 'spaṣṭam' — self-evident.

  divergence: Śrīdhara on 6.39 — 'tvayaiva sarvajñena ayaṃ mama sandehonirasakīyaḥ tvattaḥ anyaḥ tu etat saṃdeha nivartakaḥ nāsti... chettā nivartakaḥ. spaṣṭam anyat.' Bhāṣya is clean Sanskrit; no HTML/JS artifacts detected.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusūdana's bhāṣya is the most expansive of all six panels. He identifies two interlocking arguments: first, the root (mūla) of the doubt — adharma and its consequences — must be severed entirely (saṃśayamūla-adharma-uccheda), not merely soothed; second, the reason no other agent can cut it is Kṛṣṇa's triple identity as paramaguruḥ (supreme teacher), sarvajñaḥ (omniscient), and kāruṇikaḥ (compassionate). Any ṛṣi or deva who lacks sovereignty (anīśvaratva) also lacks omniscience and so cannot give a complete answer about the yoga-bhraṣṭa's fate across lifetimes. Arjuna addresses Kṛṣṇa as the antaryāmin (inner witness) who sees directly without inference.

  divergence: Madhusūdana on 6.39 — 'saṃśayamūlādharma-ādi-uccheda... tvadanyaḥ... anīśvaratvena asarvajñaḥ... chettā samyag-uttaradānena nāśayitā... na upapadyate... pratyakṣadarśī sarvasya paramaguruḥ.' Anchor is very solid.