Bhagavad Gita 4.42 · BG 4.42
Chapter 4Verse 42
Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga
तस्मादज्ञानसम्भूतं हृत्स्थं ज्ञानासिनात्मनः। छित्त्वैनं संशयं योगमातिष्ठोत्तिष्ठ भारत॥
tasmād ajñāna-sambhūtaṁ hṛt-sthaṁ jñānāsinātmanaḥ, chittvainaṁ saṁśayaṁ yogam ātiṣṭhottiṣṭha bhārata
Translation
So with the sword of knowledge cut down this doubt in your heart, born of not seeing clearly. Take refuge in yoga, and rise up, Arjuna.
Cut through the doubt with what you know is true. Then get up.
What does this mean?
Doubt that sits in you unaddressed will keep you stuck longer than any outside obstacle. Krishna's instruction is direct: cut through it with what you actually know to be true, and then get up. Endless deliberation isn't the same as being careful. At some point you have to stand and move.
In simple words
Krishna tells Arjuna that the doubt sitting unaddressed in his heart, the kind that comes from not seeing the situation clearly, will keep him stuck longer than any outside obstacle. Cut through it with what you actually know to be true, and then get up and move.
The deeper idea
The verse distinguishes doubt that comes from genuine uncertainty from doubt that comes from not seeing clearly, confusion you could resolve if you looked straight at it. Krishna's prescription for the second kind is decisive: use knowledge as a blade, cut the doubt, and act. Endless deliberation gets mistaken for being careful, but past a point it's just paralysis wearing a responsible face. At some stage you have to stand and move on what you know.
How it applies to life
There's a kind of stuckness that feels like thoroughness but is really just circling. You've had the information for weeks. You keep re-examining it and feeling no closer. This verse says that at that point, more analysis isn't the answer, deciding is. Name what you actually know to be true, let that settle the question, and take the next step. The clarity often comes from moving, not from more sitting still.