Steadiness in adhyatma-jnana — self-knowledge held as a way of life, not as a flash. And tattva-jnana-artha-darshanam — seeing what tattva-jnana is actually for. This Krishna calls jnana. Whatever departs from this — atah anyatha — is ajnana, ignorance. The list closes with two summary qualities: continuity of attention to the witness, and clarity about the purpose of the whole inquiry.
Shankara reads precisely. Adhyatma-jnana-nityatva is the unbroken habit of attending to the inner witness — not a burst of insight but a continuous orientation. Tattva-jnana-artha-darshana is seeing that all this inquiry is aimed at cognition of the non-dual Brahman alone, not at any worldly result. Whatever departs — craving objects, accumulating opinions, technical mastery without orientation — is named ajnana even when it looks like learning.
Madhusudana synthesizes the whole twenty-quality list. The qualities culminate in tattva-jnana-artha-darshana — contemplating the goal, which is the direct cognition expressed as aham brahmasmi, arising through Vedanta-vakya as instrument with all prior disciplines as its ripening conditions. The qualities are jnana-sadhanas, but their convergence is the actual jnana — the pointing settles into the seeing.
Ramanuja reads adhyatma-jnana-nityatva as steady engagement in self-knowledge understood as knowledge of the jiva as the sharira of Ishvara — not impersonal inquiry but a relational one, always knowing oneself as belonging to Bhagavan. Tattva-jnana-artha-darshana is perceiving what that knowledge is actually for: liberation as eternal kainkarya, service in the divine presence. The whole cluster is bhakta-discipline, not philosopher-discipline.
Madhva reads on the bheda-frame: perpetual dwelling in the knowledge that the jiva is absolutely dependent on and distinct from Hari — this is adhyatma-jnana-nityatva. Tattva-jnana-artha-darshana is never losing sight of the goal: liberation as unobstructed vision of Vishnu, not merging. Any stance that obscures the eternal ontological boundary between jiva and Brahman — including Advaita non-difference or attachment to identity-formulas — falls under ajnanam yat atah anyatha.
Vallabha reads the capstone as ananya-yoga with Krishna — unconditional, causeless, nirhetur bhakti. Not a technique of purification but the natural overflow of recognizing that Krishna alone is the whole. This bhakti is hridaya-rupa — heart-formed — not a mental discipline but a grace already flowing when the obstruction of self-importance dissolves. All prior qualities are signs of this bhakti's operation.
Shridhara reads three concrete marks closing the list: single-pointed devotion to Parameshvara with sarva-atma-drishti — vision that He is the self of all; seeking out vivikta-desha that naturally clarifies the mind and settles the heart; and aratih, no relish in the assemblies of the prakrita — the conventionally-minded whose company scatters attention. Knowing this is jnana; departing from this is ajnana, however adorned with learning.