Gita 04.42 – Win the inner war with spiritual knowledge and fight the outer war
tasmād ajñāna-sambhūtaṁ
hṛt-sthaṁ jñānāsinātmanaḥ
chittvainaṁ saṁśayaṁ yogam
ātiṣṭhottiṣṭha bhārata (Bg 4.42)
Word-for-word:
tasmāt — therefore; ajñāna-sambhūtam — born of ignorance; hṛt-stham — situated in the heart; jñāna — of knowledge; asinā — by the weapon; ātmanaḥ — of the self; chittvā — cutting off; enam — this; saṁśayam — doubt; yogam — in yoga; ātiṣṭha — be situated; uttiṣṭha — stand up to fight; bhārata — O descendant of Bharata.
Translation:
Therefore the doubts which have arisen in your heart out of ignorance should be slashed by the weapon of knowledge. Armed with yoga, O Bhārata, stand and fight.
Explanation:
This is the concluding verse of the fourth chapter, which begins with tasmād—”therefore.” To understand what ‘therefore’ refers to, we must look back at the previous verse, where Kṛṣṇa exhorts Arjuna to work in yoga, renouncing the fruits of action, and to counter his doubts through knowledge. By doing so, Arjuna will become situated in the self and will no longer be bound.
tasmād ajñāna-sambhūtam: Therefore, that which is born of ignorance,
hṛt-sthaṁ saṁśayaṁ: the doubts that have taken residence in your heart,
jñānāsinātmanaḥ chittvā: cut them off with the sword of self-knowledge,
yogam ātiṣṭha: take to the practice of yoga,
uttiṣṭha bhārata: and rise, O descendant of the Bhārata dynasty!
This is a call for an inner war. Arjuna is on the outer battlefield, and the impetus for speaking the Bhagavad-gītā was his refusal to fight. In 2.9, Arjuna told Kṛṣṇa, na yotsya iti govindam uktvā tūṣṇīṁ babhūva ha — “I shall not fight,” and then he fell silent.
At one level, Kṛṣṇa is speaking the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna to persuade him to fight the war. Interestingly, however, in this verse, Kṛṣṇa does not issue a call for physical warfare. ‘Ātiṣṭha’ and ‘uttiṣṭha’ may appear to be calls to rise and fight, but Kṛṣṇa is not referring to the physical battle here. Rather, He is calling for an inner battle, for He speaks of using the weapon of jñāna—jñānāsinā. He does not tell Arjuna that he is an archer and must wield his Gāṇḍīva; instead, He instructs him to use the sword of knowledge.
Arjuna possesses the skill, competence, and expertise to win the outer war, but he has become disheartened in the inner war. If one has lost the inner war, there is little chance of winning the outer war.
This principle is evident even in sports like cricket, which is often described as a mental game. If one player appears calm, confident, and composed, they may end up intimidating their opponent. For instance, when a batsman needs to score heavily in the final over but remains cool under pressure, the bowler may become nervous. This nervousness can affect the bowler’s line and length, leading to mistakes—and the composed batsman takes advantage of that and wins the match.
The point is that a person can often underperform if the mind is unsettled. When the mind is jittery, even well-trained skills may not manifest properly. If one has lost inner confidence, it becomes difficult to perform outwardly. Outer performance is a function of inner confidence.
At times, gaining that inner confidence requires fighting an internal battle—with one’s lower self. By overcoming inner resistance and weakness, we build the inner strength necessary for effective outer action.
Kṛṣṇa is not calling for outer performance directly in this verse. Rather, He is calling for inner confidence—through an inner war. That is why He begins with “therefore,” referring to all that has been explained earlier.
The doubt that gripped Arjuna was: “If I fight, I will be bound by karma; therefore, I should renounce the world.” Kṛṣṇa comprehensively refutes this by teaching that one should not simplistically equate activity with bondage and inactivity with freedom. He urges Arjuna to go beyond such a superficial understanding and grasp the truth properly.
It is ajñāna—ignorance—to equate inactivity with freedom from reaction and activity with bondage. In reality, it is one’s motivation that determines whether an action will lead to bondage or liberation.
Kṛṣṇa urges Arjuna to counter the doubts lodged in his heart using the sword of knowledge—hṛt-sthaṁ jñānāsinātmanaḥ. A sword is sharp and meant for cutting. Likewise, doubts act like shackles—thick ropes that bind our consciousness, preventing it from moving toward spiritual truth, from progressing on the path, from moving toward Kṛṣṇa.
Hence, Kṛṣṇa uses the word chittvā, which means to cut—to cut the doubts that hold one back (chittvainaṁ). A similar expression appears in the previous verse: sañchinna (jñāna-sañchinna-saṁśayam)—cut off all doubts with knowledge.
Once these doubts are dispelled, Kṛṣṇa concludes with the words: ātiṣṭhottiṣṭha bhārata—Rise and take your stand, O descendant of Bharata, O Arjuna.
The call to “rise and fight” carries, in one sense, a double meaning. Kṛṣṇa certainly wants Arjuna to rise and fight—to not give in to uncharacteristic and unbecoming weakness, which would be seen as spinelessness, even as cowardice, and would ultimately result in infamy. More than that, such a retreat would also be adharmic for Arjuna. Kṛṣṇa clearly does not want him to capitulate or cop out.
At the same time, however, Kṛṣṇa does not dogmatically insist that Arjuna obey Him without understanding. Rather, He offers a thorough philosophical analysis throughout the Bhagavad-gītā, enabling Arjuna to grasp the reasoning behind Kṛṣṇa’s instruction. Once Arjuna understands this rationale, he will be able to act—not just dutifully, but effectively and with inner conviction.
Here, Kṛṣṇa uses the word jñānāsina—the sword of knowledge. Later in the Gītā, He will speak of the ropes of desire. In 16.12, He says, āśā-pāśa-śatair baddhāḥ—that materialistic people are bound by hundreds of ropes of desires. These ropes arise because we imagine that fulfilling each desire will bring us happiness.
Just as an alcoholic is bound by the desire to move towards the bottle and drink, we too can be bound by desires that pull us toward sense gratification. Trying to resist such urges purely through willpower—by repeatedly telling ourselves, “I will not do it”—can be very difficult.
However, if we use our intelligence and recall the knowledge we have received—I am a soul; material things cannot give me lasting happiness—then a deeper strength arises. This is not a new realization; we may have tried fulfilling these desires many times before, only to find that far from bringing happiness, they brought misery. As Kṛṣṇa will later explain in 5.22: duḥkha-yonaya eva te—worldly indulgences ultimately lead to misery.
When one reflects in this way—that indulging in sense gratification will ultimately end in misery—then the desire begins to lose its hold. With this understanding, a person no longer feels tempted to get entangled. Instead, they naturally stay away from sense enjoyment, not just out of forceful restraint but out of clear, reasoned conviction.
Just as there can be a rope of desire, there can also be a rope of doubt. Desire drags our emotions, while doubt often pulls our intelligence in a particular direction. When we harbour a doubt, it’s like having a sore spot—we feel compelled to keep scratching it, but the more we do, the worse it becomes. Similarly, when we repeatedly focus on our doubts, they tend to grow larger and more consuming.
Instead, if we bring those doubts to light—by asking questions, seeking knowledge, and getting them resolved—we can free ourselves from their grip and move forward steadily on our spiritual path.
Kṛṣṇa is telling Arjuna: fight. But the fight begins within. Use the sword of knowledge to dispel the doubts that cloud the heart. Once those doubts are removed, inner confidence will naturally arise.
With that confidence, Arjuna will rise internally—intellectually and emotionally—with clarity and strength. Then, externally too, he will rise physically, ready with his Gāṇḍīva bow uplifted to fight.
Thank you.
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