{ "verse_id": "17.18", "mūla": { "devanāgarī": "सत्कार-मान-पूजार्थं तपो दम्भेन चैव यत् | क्रियते तद् इह प्रोक्तं राजसं चलम् अध्रुवम्", "iast": "satkāra-māna-pūjārthaṃ tapo dambhena caiva yat | kriyate tad iha proktaṃ rājasaṃ calam adhruvam", "chapter_position": "Chapter 17 (Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga (The Yoga of Distinction of Threefold Faith)), verse 18", "speaker": "Krishna", "addressed_to": "Arjuna" }, "word_by_word": [ { "surface_form": "satkāra", "lemma": "satkāra", "grammar": "compound (compound member)", "senses_attested_in_panel": [ { "sense": "इति। सत्कारः साधुकारः साधुरयमिति तापस इत्यादि वाक्पूजा, मानः प्रत्युत्थानाभिवादनादिः दैहिकीपूजाऽर्थलाभादिः, एतदर्थं दम्", "school": "bhakti", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "sridhara" ] } ], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "सत्कार" }, { "surface_form": "māna", "lemma": "māna", "grammar": "compound (compound member)", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "मान" }, { "surface_form": "pūjā", "lemma": "pūjā", "grammar": "compound (compound member)", "senses_attested_in_panel": [ { "sense": "पादप्रक्षालनार्चनाशयितृत्वादिः तदर्थं", "school": "advaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "shankara" ] }, { "sense": "। फलाभिसन्धिपूर्वकं सत्काराद्यर्थं च दम्भेन हेतुना यत् तपः क्रियते तद् इह राजसं प्रोक्तम् स्वर्गादिफलसाधनत्वेनास्थिरत्वा", "school": "viśiṣṭādvaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "ramanuja" ] }, { "sense": "पादप्रक्षालनार्चनदानादिस्तदर्थं दम्भेनैव", "school": "advaita-bhakti", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "madhusudan" ] } ], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "पूजा" }, { "surface_form": "artham", "lemma": "artha", "grammar": "accusative masculine singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "अर्थम्" }, { "surface_form": "tapaḥ", "lemma": "tapas", "grammar": "nominative neuter singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "तपः" }, { "surface_form": "dambhena", "lemma": "dambha", "grammar": "instrumental masculine singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [ { "sense": "चैव यत् क्रियते तपः तत् इह प्रोक्तं कथितं राजसं चलं कादाचित्कफलत्वेन अध्रुवम् ।।", "school": "advaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "shankara", "anandgiri" ] }, { "sense": "हेतुना", "school": "viśiṣṭādvaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "ramanuja" ] }, { "sense": "च यत्तपः क्रियते अतएव चलं अनियतं अध्रुवं च क्षणिकं। यदेवंभूतं तपस्तदिह राजसं प्रोक्तम्।", "school": "bhakti", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "sridhara" ] } ], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "दम्भेन" }, { "surface_form": "ca", "lemma": "ca", "grammar": "", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "च" }, { "surface_form": "eva", "lemma": "eva", "grammar": "", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "एव" }, { "surface_form": "yat", "lemma": "yad", "grammar": "nominative neuter singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "यत्" }, { "surface_form": "kriyate", "lemma": "√kṛ", "grammar": "present indicative pass 3rd person singular verb", "senses_attested_in_panel": [ { "sense": "तपः तत् इह प्रोक्तं कथितं राजसं चलं कादाचित्कफलत्वेन अध्रुवम् ।।", "school": "advaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "shankara" ] }, { "sense": "तद् इह राजसं प्रोक्तम् स्वर्गादिफलसाधनत्वेनास्थिरत्वात् चलम् अध्रुवम् चलत्वं पातभयेन चलनहेतुत्वम् अध्रुवत्वं क्षयिष्णुत", "school": "viśiṣṭādvaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "ramanuja" ] }, { "sense": "अतएव चलं अनियतं अध्रुवं", "school": "bhakti", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "sridhara" ] } ], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "क्रियते" }, { "surface_form": "tat", "lemma": "tad", "grammar": "nominative neuter singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "तत्" }, { "surface_form": "iha", "lemma": "iha", "grammar": "", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "इह" }, { "surface_form": "proktam", "lemma": "pra-√vac", "grammar": "nominative neuter singular participle noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "प्रोक्तम्" }, { "surface_form": "rājasam", "lemma": "rājasa", "grammar": "nominative neuter singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "राजसम्" }, { "surface_form": "calam", "lemma": "cala", "grammar": "nominative neuter singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "चलम्" }, { "surface_form": "adhruvam", "lemma": "adhruva", "grammar": "nominative neuter singular noun", "senses_attested_in_panel": [ { "sense": "चलत्वं पातभयेन चलनहेतुत्वम् अध्रुवत्वं क्षयिष्णुत्वम्", "school": "viśiṣṭādvaita", "weight": 0.8, "witnesses": [ "ramanuja" ] } ], "theme_lists": [], "surface_devanagari": "अध्रुवम्" } ], "intertextual_panel": [ { "verse": "17.15", "type": "near-cluster echo", "score": 0.9028, "feature_breakdown": { "cosine": 0.8228, "theme_graph": 0.0, "vocative": 0.0, "substring": 0.0, "lemma_overlap": 10.6218, "stem_prefix": 8.0 } }, { "verse": "18.31", "type": "lemma-family resonance", "score": 0.8916, "feature_breakdown": { "cosine": 0.8316, "theme_graph": 0.0, "vocative": 0.0, "substring": 0.0, "lemma_overlap": 8.2961, "stem_prefix": 6.0 } }, { "verse": "17.12", "type": "lemma-family resonance", "score": 0.891, "feature_breakdown": { "cosine": 0.841, "theme_graph": 0.0, "vocative": 0.0, "substring": 0.0, "lemma_overlap": 8.3459, "stem_prefix": 5.0 } }, { "verse": "8.28", "type": "lemma-family resonance", "score": 0.8905, "feature_breakdown": { "cosine": 0.8305, "theme_graph": 0.0, "vocative": 0.0, "substring": 0.0, "lemma_overlap": 9.7661, "stem_prefix": 6.0 } }, { "verse": "17.28", "type": "lemma-family resonance", "score": 0.8902, "feature_breakdown": { "cosine": 0.8202, "theme_graph": 0.0, "vocative": 0.0, "substring": 0.0, "lemma_overlap": 14.6641, "stem_prefix": 7.0 } }, { "verse": "3.21", "type": "shared-vocabulary echo", "score": 0.8898, "feature_breakdown": { "cosine": 0.8298, "theme_graph": 0.0, "vocative": 0.0, "substring": 0.0, "lemma_overlap": 7.9698, "stem_prefix": 6.0 } }, { "verse": "9.2", "type": "shared-vocabulary echo", "score": 0.889, "feature_breakdown": { "cosine": 0.849, "theme_graph": 0.0, "vocative": 0.0, "substring": 0.0, "lemma_overlap": 5.7401, "stem_prefix": 4.0 } }, { "verse": "18.8", "type": "lemma-family resonance", "score": 0.8882, "feature_breakdown": { "cosine": 0.8382, "theme_graph": 0.0, "vocative": 0.0, "substring": 0.0, "lemma_overlap": 9.1918, "stem_prefix": 5.0 } } ], "doctrinal_projections": { "advaita": { "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)", "key_cross_references": [], "witness_passages": [ "shankara_17.18", "anandgiri_17.18" ], "score": 0.5, "english_rendering": "Austerity performed for the sake of honor (satkara, verbal acclaim that 'this is a worthy brahmin'), respect (mana, gestures of rising and salutation), and worship (puja, washing of feet and similar service) — all of this done through ostentation (dambha) — is declared here to be rajasic. Shankara specifies each term precisely: satkara is the acclaim of 'this ascetic is good,' mana is the rising-and-bowing of others, puja is foot-washing and hospitality. Such tapas yields only occasional fruit (kadachitkaphalatva) and is therefore unstable (chala) and impermanent (adhruva). It does not purify the antahkarana for jnana; it binds the agent more firmly to the cycle of result-and-expectation.", "commentator": "Shankaracharya" }, "viśiṣṭādvaita": { "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)", "key_cross_references": [], "witness_passages": [ "ramanuja_17.18", "vedantadeshika_17.18" ], "score": 0.5, "english_rendering": "Tapas performed with a prior intention toward fruit (phabhisandhi-purvakam) — seeking honor in mind (satkara as mental esteem), praise in speech (mana as verbal acclaim), and bodily obeisance (puja as prostration and the like) — is declared rajasic. Ramanuja distinguishes chala from adhruva: chalata is the trembling caused by fear of falling from the gained fruit, while adhruvata is its inherent perishability. This tapas cannot serve as kainkarya (selfless service) to Bhagavan, because it is oriented toward svarga and similar impermanent ends rather than toward the Lord's pleasure; it cannot therefore function as preparatory discipline for bhakti-yoga.", "commentator": "Ramanujacharya" }, "dvaita": { "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)", "key_cross_references": [], "witness_passages": [ "madhva_17.18", "jayatirtha_17.18" ], "score": 0.5, "english_rendering": "*Satkāra* (honor), *māna* (respect), and *pūjā* (worship-reception) as ends — *tapas* performed with *dambha* (ostentation) for these is *rājasa*, *cala* (unstable), *adhruva* (transient). The *jīva*, *paratantra* (eternally dependent) upon *svatantra* Hari, possesses a limited derivative agency; when that agency is turned toward self-display rather than *Hari-sevā*, it inverts the proper *bheda*-order established in the *pañca-bheda* (the five-fold real distinction: Lord–jīva, Lord–matter, jīva–jīva, jīva–matter, matter–matter). *Dambha* installs the ego where Hari alone stands as *telos*: the *jīva* solicits recognition from other *jīvas* — themselves *paratantra* and thus shifting — rather than resting in Hari's immutable will. The *cala*-nature of such *tapas* follows directly: what is grounded in the approval of finite, ontologically subordinate beings cannot hold. Its *adhruva*-nature follows equally: any fruit not rooted in *Hari-bhakti* as ontological subordination dissolves, since Hari's *sankalpā* alone confers lasting result. The verse's threefold characterization — *rājasaṃ calam adhruvam* — maps precisely onto the *taratamya* (graded ontological hierarchy): rajasic motivation, unstable support, perishable fruit, all flowing from the *jīva*'s failure to order its agency toward the *svatantra* Lord.", "commentator": "Madhvacharya", "provenance": "siddhānta_reconstruction" }, "śuddhādvaita": { "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)", "key_cross_references": [], "witness_passages": [ "vallabha_17.18" ], "score": 0.5, "english_rendering": "*Tapaḥ* (austerity) performed *satkāra-māna-pūjārtham* — for the sake of honor, respect, and worship from others — and performed *dambhena* (with ostentation) is *rājasam*, *calam* (unstable), and *adhruvam* (impermanent). In *puṣṭi-mārga* (the path of grace), the entire rationale of such *tapaḥ* is already corrupted at its root: its energy flows outward toward an audience rather than inward toward *sevā* (loving service) of Kṛṣṇa. *Dambha* is precisely the inversion of *sevā* — where *sevā* is self-emptying receptivity before Kṛṣṇa's *līlā* (divine play), *dambha* is self-display before human witnesses. Because Kṛṣṇa himself is the one stable reality — Brahman manifesting in *līlā* without illusion — any *tapaḥ* oriented toward creaturely applause carries no *prasāda* (grace-gift) and collapses the moment the applause ceases. *Calam* and *adhruvam* are not merely psychological instabilities; they name the ontological vacancy of an act that substitutes human regard for *brahma-sambandha* (the bond that relates all things to Kṛṣṇa as their real owner and ground). Such *tapaḥ* is rājasic because its fruit is exhausted in the phenomenal order of exchange, touching nothing of the joy — *ānanda* — that Kṛṣṇa freely bestows through *puṣṭi* (nourishing grace) on those whose austerity is surrendered entirely to him.", "commentator": "Vallabhacharya", "provenance": "siddhānta_reconstruction" }, "bhakti": { "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)", "key_cross_references": [], "witness_passages": [ "sridhara_17.18" ], "score": 0.5, "english_rendering": "Sridhara defines satkara as verbal praise — the exclamation 'this is a true ascetic' (tapasa ityadi vakpuja); mana as bodily honor through rising and salutation (pratyutthana-abhivadana); and puja as material gain (arthalabha). Tapas done for these ends, compounded with dambha, is therefore chala (unsteady, aniyata) and adhruva (momentary, kshaniaka). His gloss 'aniyatam kshaniakam' underscores that rajasic tapas lacks any reliable connection between effort and fruit — the applause that motivates it comes and goes, and so the fruit comes and goes with it, leaving no lasting purification of the devotee's heart.", "commentator": "Sridhara Svami" }, "advaita-bhakti": { "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)", "key_cross_references": [], "witness_passages": [ "madhusudan_17.18" ], "score": 0.5, "english_rendering": "Madhusudana adds a crucial qualification: the dambha here is not mere pride but dharmadhvajitva — bearing the flag of dharma while lacking genuine faith (na tv astikyabuddhya). The tapas yields fruit in this world alone (ihasmin eva loke phaladam, na paralaukikam), its fruit is extremely short-lived (atyalpakaalasthaayi), and — his sharpest point — it lacks any reliable causal connection to its result (phalajanakataniyamashunya). This synthesis of Advaita precision with devotional concern identifies the deepest flaw: not that the tapas seeks honor, but that it substitutes social performance for genuine inner orientation toward Brahman or Bhagavan, and thereby generates fruit that is doubly unstable — impermanent in duration and unreliable in arising.", "commentator": "Madhusudana Sarasvati" } }, "prosodic_information": { "meter": "anuṣṭubh", "meter_shift_from_previous": false, "meter_shift_to_next": false, "pragmatic_context": { "vocative": "", "preceding_question": "", "following_response": "" } }, "theme_list_memberships": [ { "list": "ध्रुव", "role": "supporting", "other_verses_in_list": [ "2.27", "12.3", "12.4", "18.78" ] }, { "list": "ध्रुवम्", "role": "supporting", "other_verses_in_list": [ "12.3", "12.4" ] } ], "audit_trail": { "substrate_version": "v2.6-frozen", "fitted_weights": { "a": 1.0, "b": 0.01, "e_v": 0.005, "z": 0.2, "h": 0.0, "th": 0.01 }, "corpus_provenance": { "mūla": "Belvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness", "panel_witnesses": [ "bg-mula", "bg-shankara", "bg-ramanuja", "bg-madhva", "bg-vedantadeshika", "bg-vallabha", "bg-jayatirtha", "bg-anandgiri", "bg-sridhara", "bg-madhusudan" ] }, "extraction_date": "2026-04-21", "score_methodology_documented_at": "Paper 1, Section II.B", "word_by_word_parser": "ByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)", "post_generation_repairs": [ { "date": "2026-05-03", "fix": "verb-lemma-misidentification (broader heuristic: prefix-√root canonical for all verb-tagged tokens)", "scope": "word_by_word[].lemma", "loci": [ "kriyate: kṛ -> √kṛ", "proktam: pravac -> pra-√vac" ] }, { "kind": "qmark_artifact_repair", "applied_at": "2026-05-08T01:56:14.972227Z", "applied_by": "summon-web/scripts/repair_qmark_artifacts.py", "n_senses_repaired": 1, "substitution": "? -> ,", "root_cause": "ITRANS '\\,' (literal-comma escape) in sd_bgshankarabhashya.itx corrupted to '?' during upstream HTML pipeline at gitasupersite; propagated through h_c_panel/commentaries/bg_*.jsonl into substrate.", "verification_source": "sonos-paper/samvad_db/sources/sd_bgshankarabhashya.itx" } ] }, "so_what_questions": [ "When I practice discipline (sadhana, tapas) — fasting, waking early, sustained study — am I doing it to become someone others admire, or is there a different interior ground for it?", "Shankara says the fruit of rajasic tapas is 'occasional' (kadachitka) — what does it mean for a practice to have only occasional yield, and how would I recognize that in my own experience?", "Ramanuja distinguishes between the fear of losing what tapas gained (chala) and the inherent decay of the gain itself (adhruva) — are these two different kinds of instability I can observe in my own striving?", "Madhusudana identifies dharmadhvajitva — performing the outer form of virtue without inner conviction. Where in my life am I flying the flag without the faith?", "If social recognition of my discipline vanished overnight — no one praised the practice, no one noticed the sacrifice — would I continue? What does my honest answer reveal?", "The verse uses three words for social reward: satkara (being declared good), mana (being bowed to), puja (being served). Are these three distinct hungers in me, and do I pursue them through different practices?", "Rajasic tapas is not condemned as sinful but as chala-adhruva — unstable and impermanent. What would it mean to pursue a form of discipline stable enough that its fruit does not depend on audience?" ], "everyday_applications": { "advaita": "Before beginning any disciplined practice today — a workout, a meditation sit, a period of focused work — pause for one breath and ask: 'Is this for my own clarity, or for the story I will tell about it?' Shankara's point is not that discipline is wrong but that discipline aimed at acclaim produces only 'occasional fruit.' Keep the practice; drop the audience in your mind.", "viśiṣṭādvaita": "When you complete something difficult and feel the pull to share it immediately — post it, report it, announce it — treat that pull as diagnostic. Ramanuja's chalata is 'trembling for fear of losing the gain.' Sit with the completed act for one day before sharing. Notice whether the value of the act changes when it is witnessed versus unwitnessed. Let that observation reorient the action toward kainkarya rather than acclaim.", "dvaita": "When you do something generous or sacrificial and find yourself cataloguing the sacrifice (the hours given, the sleep lost, the cost incurred), recognize this as dambha directed at yourself as audience. In Dvaita terms, the action has been redirected from Hari-seva to self-accounting. Deliberately refrain from the inner ledger: let the act be given and released, not stored as credit.", "śuddhādvaita": "Identify one practice you maintain partly because it makes you legible to your community as a serious person — the early rising, the dietary discipline, the visible reading. For one week, make that practice invisible: do not mention it, do not post it, let no one witness it. Notice what remains of the motivation when the audience is removed. What survives is closer to seva; what collapses was dambha.", "bhakti": "Sridhara's gloss 'aniyatam kshaniakam' — unsteady and momentary — describes any practice whose engine is social praise. Map your current disciplines: which ones feel solid on days when no one notices, and which feel hollow or pointless? Redirect energy from the hollow ones toward the solid ones. The hollow practices are not producing purification of the heart, only occasional bursts of satisfaction that collapse when the praise stops.", "advaita-bhakti": "Madhusudana's 'phalajanakataniyamashunya' — lacking a reliable causal connection to fruit — describes practices whose outcomes depend more on audience reception than on the practice itself. In professional life: identify one discipline you perform for status rather than competence. The status-driven version is structurally unreliable because its returns depend on others' perception, which you do not control. Rebuild the practice on internal standards whose fruit you can actually measure." }, "primary_meaning": "Austerity done to win praise, respect, and honor, performed with ostentation, is rajasic: its fruit is fleeting and unreliable." }