Bhagavad Gita 4.40
अज्ञश्चाश्रद्दधानश्च संशयात्मा विनश्यति । नायं लोकोऽस्ति न परो न सुखं संशयात्मनः ॥
ajñaś cāśraddadhānaś ca saṃśayātmā vinaśyati | nāyaṃ loko 'sti na paro na sukhaṃ saṃśayātmanaḥ ||
Translation
He who is ignorant, who has no faith, whose self is full of doubt, perishes. Neither this world, nor the next, nor happiness, is for him whose self is full of doubt.
Reflection
Whose doubt of yours has been asked from outside the bowing, and what would change if you bowed first?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Four
The mirror of the previous verse. Saṃśayātmā vinaśyati, the doubt-selved one perishes. The verse is severe and short. Doubt here is not the legitimate questioning that 4.34 sanctioned; that doubt asked from a posture of bowing. This doubt is the one that argues with the teacher from outside the relationship. Na ayaṃ loko, na paraḥ, na sukham, not this world, not the next, not happiness. Three losses, three lines. The verse names the cost without softening it. Aurobindo: the difference between question and doubt is which side of the practice the asker is standing on.