Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 13, Verse 15: Krishna to Arjuna — Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña-Vibhāga-Yoga
It dwells outside all beings and within them, it is the unmoving and the moving both; too subtle to be known directly, it stands at a distance and yet close enough to touch.
Bhāṣyakāra purports
- Śaṅkaraadvaita
The knowable (jneya) appears as though operating through all sense faculties and their functions — hearing, speaking, deliberating — yet it is in truth devoid of all instruments (sarva-karana-rahita), as the Shvetashvatara Upanishad confirms: 'without hands and feet it moves and grasps; without eyes it sees.' Shankara insists this appearance of sense-activity is the superimposition of limiting adjuncts (upadhi) upon the attributeless Brahman: 'it seems to meditate, it seems to stir' (Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad 4.3.7). Though utterly unattached (asakta) and beyond the three gunas, it sustains all existence because nothing — not even a mirage — lacks Brahman as its substratum.
- Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita
Ramanuja reads the verse as describing the inner Self (atma-tattva) that dwells both outside the elements and within every body, moving freely as the Chandogya Upanishad declares: 'sporting, playing, rejoicing with women or vehicles.' It is unknowable (avijneya) to samsarins not because it is contentless, but because those who lack the qualities enumerated from 13.7 onward — humility (amanitvam), non-violence and the rest — cannot perceive what stands right within their own bodies; for those endowed with those qualities it is immediately near (antike). Distance and nearness are thus a function of the seeker's inward preparation, not of the Lord's withdrawal.
- Madhvadvaita
Madhva gives a terse, precise gloss: the knowable (jneya) is that which causes all sense faculties and their objects (guna) to shine forth (abhasayati), hence 'sarvendriya-guna-abhasam.' Its freedom from sense organs was already established in the prior context; here the emphasis falls on the Lord's illuminating causality — he does not merely permit perception, he is the very light that makes each faculty's operation visible. The jiva, permanently distinct from this supreme illuminator, can perceive him only through dependent devotion to Hari; no merger is possible or intended.
- Vallabhaśuddhādvaita
Vallabha situates the verse within his prior gloss on 'anantam' (11.47) and 'avyaktam' (13.6): unlimited, un-manifest Krishna performs all sense-functions (cakshur-adi-karya-krittvam) through what the Shvetashvatara calls 'without hands-and-feet he moves and grasps; without eyes he sees.' The apparent contradiction — all senses yet no senses — is not a logical paradox to be resolved but a declaration of Krishna's 'viruddha-dharma-ashrayatvam,' his simultaneous dwelling in contradictory attributes, which is the signature of his aisharya (sovereign freedom). Pushti-marga practice means resting in that sovereign play rather than resolving it away.
- Śrīdharabhakti
Sridhara explains 'sarvendriya-guna-abhasam' as the knowable (jneya) appearing in the forms of all sense-objects — color, sound, and the rest — as though each faculty's content were a self-expression of the One. He cites the same Shvetashvatara verse on hands-feet-eyes-ears to show that the denial of organs is paired with a higher-register affirmation of their functions. 'Asakta' means wholly free of adhesion (sanga-shunya), yet it is 'sarvabhrit' — the foundational support (adhara-bhuta) of all; 'nirgunam' means free of sattva, rajas, and tamas, yet it is 'guna-bhoktri' in the sense of their sustainer and overseer (palaka).
- Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti
Madhusudana opens with the hermeneutical principle: 'by superimposition and subsequent negation (adhyaropa-apavada) the contentless is unfolded.' Having superimposed all manifestation onto Brahman in the prior verses, this verse now negates via 'na sat tan nasad ucyate.' In ultimate reality (paramartha-tas) Brahman is sans all instruments; through Maya it appears as though all faculties operate in it — inner (buddhi, manas) and outer (shrota and the rest). The same Maya-logic governs the two apparent contradictions: attributeless (nirgunam) yet experiencing-the-gunas; unattached (asakta) yet sustaining all (sarvabhrit). Madhusudana holds both poles without collapsing either: the bhakta's Beloved is precisely the One who is rigorously beyond yet intimately present.