Sanskrit
तस्मादज्ञानसम्भूतं हृत्स्थं ज्ञानासिनाऽऽत्मनः । छित्त्वैनं संशयं योगमातिष्ठोत्तिष्ठ भारत ॥
tasmād ajñāna-sambhūtaṃ hṛt-sthaṃ jñānāsinātmanaḥ chittvainaṃ saṃśayaṃ yogam ātiṣṭhottiṣṭha bhārata
Translation
Therefore, with the sword of the wisdom of the Self cleaving asunder this ignorance-born doubt dwelling in thy heart, be established in yoga. Stand up, O Bhârata.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The chapter’s closing command completes a frame that opened all the way back in Chapter 1: cut this ignorance-born doubt sitting in the heart with the sword of self-knowledge, be established in yoga, and stand up — uttiṣṭha, the same summons to rise that Krishna issued more bluntly at 2.3, now earned through four chapters of argument rather than merely asserted. What began as Arjuna’s collapse into doubt and grief on the battlefield is answered here with a specific instrument, jñāna imaged as a weapon, rather than with a bare command to stop feeling that way. The third uttiṣṭha of the poem (after BG 2.3 and BG 2.37) is the one with a tool attached: the jñāna-sword against doubt seated in the heart — the exact location of Arjuna’s chapter-1 collapse.
Study deeper
Word by word
- tasmād ajñāna-sambhūtaṃतस्माद् अज्ञान-संभूतं
- therefore, this doubt born of ignorance (tasmāt + ajñāna-sambhūtam)
- hṛt-sthaṃ jñānāsinātmanaḥहृत्-स्थं ज्ञानासिनात्मनः
- seated in the heart, with the sword of self-knowledge (hṛt-stham + jñāna-asinā + ātmanaḥ)
- chittvainaṃ saṃśayaṃछित्त्वैनं संशयं
- having cut this doubt (chittvā + enam + saṃśayam)
- yogam ātiṣṭhottiṣṭha bhārataयोगं आतिष्ठोत्तिष्ठ भारत
- take up yoga, stand up, O Bhārata (yogam + ātiṣṭha + uttiṣṭha + bhārata)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Verse 33 said all action culminates in knowledge; this closing verse reverses the direction — the knowledge just spent four chapters establishing culminates in a command to act, uttiṣṭha, stand up. The chapter doesn’t end on a statement of fact for Arjuna to accept, it ends on an imperative aimed at his feet. That reversal is easy to miss if you read the two verses in isolation: action feeds into knowledge, and knowledge feeds right back out into action, with nothing in the loop meant to be a permanent resting place.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Don't let insight about yourself become a stopping point — this chapter spends itself building understanding only to end on a command to stand up and act, not a summary to feel settled by. If a moment of clarity hasn't converted into some next action, treat it as unfinished, not complete.
Professional
- After a strategy session or root-cause analysis produces real clarity, don't let the clarity itself be the deliverable — drive it explicitly into a concrete next action, the way this chapter's argument culminates not in a conclusion but in a command to act.
Family & Social
- After you've genuinely understood what went wrong in a conflict — really understood, not just apologized — follow it through into an actual changed behavior; understanding that stops at 'I get it now' without a next action attached hasn't finished the job this verse describes.
Ask yourself
A few ways to take this verse past reading. Ticks and the note stay in this browser.
Reflect on this verse
Keep exploring
Topics