Chapter 6, Verse 39
etan-me saṁśayaṁ kṛṣṇa
chettum arhasy-aśeṣataḥ
tvad-anyaḥ saṁśayasyāsya
chettā na hy-upapadyate
O Krishna, please completely dispel this doubt without leaving any residue,for there is none else than You who can destroy this doubt.
“O Krishna, please completely dispel this doubt without leaving any residue.” Here Arjuna is showing his willingness to completely surrender to Lord Krishna. He is asking Krishna, “Dispel all my ignorance! Dispel it to the state where there is none left, so that there isn’t ‘any residue.’ Wash me completely clean!" It’s like when you have butter in a bowl. Even if you wash the bowl, if you put your hand in it, you can feel some residue. You can still feel the grease. Arjuna says, “Krishna, wash me completely clean! There is no one else who can do that but You!” He was well aware that Krishna was the Supreme Lord, Narayana Himself. He had realised that life after death was a mystery and that didn’t have any idea what would happen after death.
“There is none else than You who can destroy this doubt.” Even if people talk about death using all kinds of arguments, all kinds of reasoning, they can’t take away the effect of karma. That’s why Arjuna says, “O Krishna, no one else can do that!” The devas are busy with their own things. They can give certain gifts, but they can’t completely cleanse the karma so that there is no residue left from past and present karma.
Arjuna says to Lord Krishna, “You are the full embodiment of the secret knowledge that You have given me. You are the sole Lord of this universe!” Arjuna was fully aware that Krishna was the most Sublime One, the most wonderful One, beyond everything! He was God Himself. He says, “You are the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Compassionate One! Who else can cleanse me? Who else can reveal such mystery? I am humbly asking You, I am humbly praying to You, Lord, the revealer of this Truth, please destroy this doubt. Clear my mind completely of this doubt! I can’t do it by myself. If I had time, I could practise what You have taught me right now. But I don’t have much time, Lord. If I sit and practise meditation now, the war will be longer. So I fully surrender, I throw myself at Your Feet. Cleanse me, remove this doubt from me!”
Lord Krishna replies to Arjuna, “Yes, I perceive your doubt. You are hanging onto it. And that’s why I am repeating Myself! Everything that I am saying right now, is just the same thing! I see your eagerness, you are willing to hear it and you are absorbed in what I am saying to you. But I want you to also make an effort.”
Bhagavad Gita
