BG 15.11 — Puruṣottama-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 15.11Chapter 15 · Puruṣottama-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Tāta · anuṣṭubh

यतन्तो योगिनश् चैनं पश्यन्त्यात्मन्यवस्थितम् ।

यतन्तो ऽप्यकृतात्मानो नैनं पश्यन्त्यचेतसः ॥

yatanto yoginaś cainaṃ paśyanty ātmany avasthitam

yatanto 'py akṛtātmāno nainaṃ paśyanty acetasaḥ

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Striving yogins see this self settled within, but those who strive without a prepared mind, their understanding still impure, do not see it at all.

ekras · bhāṣya

The yoginah, yatantah — striving — pashyanti, see this enam — the self — atmani avasthitam, settled within. Akrita-atmanah — those whose self has not been made ready — yatantah api — even striving — na pashyanti, do not see. Achetasah — without discriminative awareness.

Krishna names the diagnostic distinction sharply: striving alone does not produce seeing; the antahkarana must be purified before the seeing can land.

Shankara reads precisely. The yoginah perceive this self as established in the buddhi — they see 'this am I.' Yet those who strive but have not purified themselves through tapas and indriya-jaya — akrita-atmanah — who have not desisted from evil conduct and remain bereft of viveka — achetasah — do not perceive it. Effort through scripture alone without inner purification produces no vision. The verse refines 15.10's diagnostic: jnana-chakshus does not arrive automatically with effort; it requires the prior purification that effort, rightly applied, accomplishes.

Madhusudana glosses pashyanti jnana-chakshushah from 15.10: the yoginah striving through dhyana and like means see this self pratiphalitam — reflected — in their own purified buddhi, sva-buddhau avasthitam. The particle cha is used emphatically — only they see. Those with antahkarana unrefined by yajna and like purificatory acts — yajna-adibhih asoddhita-antahkarana — strive but do not see; the seeing requires both effort and prior shuddhi.

Ramanuja reads those yoginah who strive preceded by mat-prapatti — surrender to the Lord — and thereby gain purified inner instruments behold this self through the eye of yoga. They see it as distinct from the body even while residing in it — sharire avasthitam api sharirat viviktam. Those who strive without mat-prapatti remain asamskrita-manasah — minds unrefined by devotion — and thus achetasah, lacking the bhakti-prepared sensorium. The bhakta who has surrendered first is the one whose effort actually lands.

Madhva reads on the bheda-frame: the yoginah attain jnana through Hari's grace and thereby see; the akrita-atmanah are those with ashuddha-buddhayah who, though striving, fail to see.

Madhva's gloss is characteristically terse: perception of the self is conditional on cognitive purity, and cognitive purity is itself a function of Hari's grace. Effort without grace produces no seeing; with grace, the seeing arrives precisely. The bheda is preserved — the seer remains paratantra throughout.

Vallabha notes that the self is durvijneya — difficult to know — even among the discriminating, some see and some do not. Yoginah who arrest the chitta-vritti-nirodhakah do perceive; those akrita-chitta and therefore manda-matayah do not. The pushti-marga register: readiness is itself granted by Krishna's prasada; the yogin's purification is grace appearing as effort. Effort without grace cannot purify; with grace, purification opens the seeing.

Shridhara distinguishes between practitioners: those striving through dhyana and like disciplines see this self — established in the body yet distinct from it. Those who strive through scriptural study yet remain ashuddha-chitta and manda-matayah do not.

Shridhara's framing is balanced: external practice — shastric study — without inner shuddhi yields no fruit; inner shuddhi without external practice is insufficient; both together open the eye.

Context

where

Chapter 15 · Puruṣottama-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Tāta

preceded by — BG 15.10

The deluded do not see the self as it departs a body, dwells in one, or takes in sense-objects along with the qualities. Those whose eye is knowledge do see it.

What's going on

Striving yogins see this self settled within, but those who strive without a prepared mind, their understanding still impure, do not see it at all.

Sūtras through this verse (48)

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

15.1The world-tree's root is Viṣṇu above.───→here15.11───→17.23Oṃ-tat-sat names the Lord, three times.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by versebetween

12.3Avyakta worshippers stay plural, distinct.───→here15.11───→15.16Bhūta is not inert; ranges over jīvas.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerbetween

8.5Remember Me as the inner-ruler form.───→here15.11───→15.15Seated in every heart; memory comes from Me.

show all 48

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

15.8The Lord carries the soul from body to body.───→here15.11───→18.14Of the five causes, Viṣṇu is the prime mover.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

14.27Brahman has gradations within its own form.───→here15.11───→15.17Beyond all selves stands the Highest Person alone.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotbetween

14.27What stands behind brahman is fixed by named texts.───→here15.11───→15.15The Veda's whole knowable is named as Hari.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

15.1'Above' is just Viṣṇu, the upward one.───→here15.11───→17.14'Worship of gods' is worship of the One.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

13.5Brahma-sūtra is text, not just utterance.───→here15.11───→15.16Refusing kṣara=inert, akṣara=soul.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

15.1World-tree rooted up; Viṣṇu is ūrdhva.───→here15.11───→18.1Renunciation closes; threads converge.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsbetween

15.1World-tree rooted up; Viṣṇu is ūrdhva-mūla.───→here15.11───→15.12Sun-moon light is Viṣṇu’s light.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātrabetween

15.1Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.2.4 settles aśvattha.───→here15.11───→15.16Aṣṭādhyāyī 5.2.127 controls bhūta.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

13.5Brahma-sūtra is text, not paraphrase.───→here15.11───→15.16Bhūta covers jīva; literal range holds.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionexit

15.6The supreme abode does not return its dwellers.───→here15.11───→

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeexit

13.25Three classes, one ladder, each class on a different rung.───→here15.11───→

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordexit

15.4Cut the world-tree by knowing whose play it is.───→here15.11───→

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideexit

13.5Field and knower: body-self cut returns.───→here15.11───→

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥexit

15.1Tat-prasaṅge alaukikaṁ — iti śeṣaḥ.───→here15.11───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesbetween

15.1Krishna is the ground, not a partner-god.───→here15.11───→18.55Bhakti is the engine of the highest knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

12.20Therefore I praise him, Kāśirāja, my own.───→here15.11───→15.20The closing verse names Krishna as the supreme.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanbetween

15.1Chapter fifteen unfolds what fourteen sealed.───→here15.11───→18.66Final refuge in Me is final refuge in the ground.

MadhusūdanaclassicalJ

Two kinds of nature — divine and demonicbetween

9.14Constantly singing, striving with steady vow.───→here15.11───→15.20The chapter closes gesturing toward sixteen.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

15.1Cut the world-tree at its root, clinging.───→here15.11───→18.1Renouncing means cutting the false relationship.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

15.7The self wears body as a costume.───→here15.11───→18.46Worship the One through your own work.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

13.17The Knowable lives as the inner light.───→here15.11───→15.15Seated in every heart; memory comes from Me.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here15.11───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningexit

13.1The last six work what 'are' really means.───→here15.11───→

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursexit

15.7Self drags the senses like wind drags scent.───→here15.11───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalG

Soul as His portion, neither cut nor identicalbetween

15.7The soul is My portion, wrapped in unknowing.───→here15.11───→18.55He enters Me; he is not absorbed away.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

15.1Dispassion first; else neither knowing nor love.───→here15.11───→18.1The eighteenth gathers the whole Gītā in one.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personbetween

15.7The soul is My eternal part — its ānanda hidden. .───→here15.11───→15.15The Lord seated in every heart is the witness.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

15.7Three Brahmasūtras quoted in the soul-as-part verse.───→here15.11───→18.55The Nibandha's sevā-section names the means.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentarybetween

13.2The Lord himself writes the third ṣaṭka. .───→here15.11───→15.15The bhāṣya-author is named by the Lord himself.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessexit

14.26Unswerving devotion crosses the modes.───→here15.11───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeexit

13.10A steady evenness is the seeker's mark.───→here15.11───→

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderexit

13.2The third ṣaṭka is the Lord's own bhāṣya.───→here15.11───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

13.1Vākyārtha hexad begins. Anchor.───→here15.11───→15.20Whole teaching named guhyatamaṃ śāstram.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

12.20Bhakti hexad sealed at the close.───→here15.11───→15.20Whole śāstra named most-secret-teaching.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

13.32Touches without being stained.───→here15.11───→15.15I sit in every heart.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśabetween

15.7Eternal fragment, never lost.───→here15.11───→15.16Perishable and imperishable.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyabetween

15.4Find the Origin and take refuge in him.───→here15.11───→18.62Take refuge whole-being.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousexit

15.7Aṃśa pinned to the Lord, not free.───→here15.11───→

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

15.5Free of pride and delusion───→here15.11───→18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it werebetween

7.25The magician sees through his own illusion.───→here15.11───→15.16Both the changing and changeless are below the supreme.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

15.1The world-tree is the tree of the Kaṭha.───→here15.11───→18.66Renounce all dharmas — śruti ratifies.

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourexit · v2

15.8Carrying the perfume───→here15.11───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalE

Field and field-knower as Parameśvarabetween

13.12Hands and feet on every side, beyond all.───→here15.11───→15.16Two persons inside the field, one beyond.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

13.2'Cāpi' marks two — not one identity.───→here15.11───→15.15Memory and forgetting both come from Him.

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netiexit

15.7'Mamaivamsho jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah.' A part of me, eternal, has become───→here15.11───→

Śabda · lemmas (11 unique · 14 occurrences)

अवस्थितम् ava-√sthā — state, condition, situation · accusative masculine singular participle noun
अचेतसः acetas — (a- + cetas: consciousness) · nominative masculine plural noun · also at 3.32, 17.6

show all 11

यतन्तः √yat ×2 — who, which (relative pronoun, variant of yad); also: to strive, exert (verbal root) · nominative masculine plural present participle verb
एनम् enad ×2 — this, this here (close demonstrative) · accusative masculine singular noun
पश्यन्ति dṛś ×2 — to see (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person plural verb
योगिनः yogin — yogi (yoga + -in 'possessor of') · nominative masculine plural noun
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
आत्मनि ātman — the Self, soul; one's own self · locative masculine singular noun
अपि api — also, even, although
अकृतात्मानः akṛtātman — one whose self is unformed/uncontrolled (a- + kṛta + ātman) · nominative masculine plural noun
न na — not (negation particle)

Praśna · so what (6)

01If effort alone is insufficient — what exactly constitutes the 'prepared self' (krthatman) that makes perception possible, and who or what does the preparing?
02The verse splits seekers into two groups despite identical striving. What does this imply about the relationship between external practice and inner readiness in any contemplative tradition?

show all 6

03Sankara reads the obstacle as lack of sensory restraint and unpurified character; Ramanuja reads it as absence of surrender (prapatti). Are these diagnoses compatible or in genuine tension?
04The self is described as 'established in the atman' (atmany avastthitam) — why does the Gita locate the self inside itself? What is the grammatical and ontological force of this reflexive formulation?
05All six schools agree that cetasa (the conscious faculty) is the instrument of self-vision. What does it mean that this faculty can be present or absent in a striving person?
06Madhusudana's 'reflection in the buddhi' image (pratiphalitam) implies the self is not directly seen but seen as a reflection. What does this say about the limits and the mode of self-knowledge?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When a practice — meditation, study, inquiry — produces no insight despite years of effort, the Sankara reading diagnoses not insufficient technique but insufficiently prepared ground: unresolved habits, unexamined desires, or continuing attachment to outcomes. The practical prescription is to audit the quality of the container (citta, indriya-jaya) rather than increase the quantity of practice.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Ramanuja's reading offers a corrective to effort-based spiritual culture: the practitioner who grounds all striving in an attitude of surrender (mat-prapatti) — 'I do this as service, not as self-improvement' — develops the inner refinement that makes perception possible. In daily life this means beginning each practice with an explicit gesture of offering rather than acquisition.

show all 6

Dvaita

Madhva's terse gloss has a sharp practical edge: the assumption that diligent practice automatically produces spiritual perception is false. The practitioner who continues to experience the gap between effort and insight is prompted not to redouble effort but to examine the purity of the understanding (buddhi-suddhi) — which in Dvaita frame is maintained by continuous, conscious dependence on Hari rather than on one's own competence.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's 'manda-matayah' (dull of understanding) is not a condemnation but a diagnosis: a mind not yet ready is a mind not yet touched by grace. The practical stance is to remain in the stance of an aspirant rather than an achiever — cultivating receptivity (citta-krta) through satsanga, seva, and kirtana rather than forcing an experience that can only be bestowed.

Bhakti

Sridhara's pairing of dhyana (direct inner practice) with sastraabhyasa (study) as two legitimate but insufficient routes when citta remains impure points to a practical integration: the student who combines scriptural learning with emotional purification — working through grief, resentment, and agitation rather than bypassing them — creates the conditions in which study and practice can converge into actual seeing.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusudana's image of the self reflected in the purified buddhi has an immediate practical application: the quality of our moment-to-moment perception of ourselves and others is a direct function of how clear the 'mirror' of the antahkarana (inner organ) is. Practices that clean the mirror — honest self-examination, disinterested action, bhakti as emotional clearing — are not preliminary to spiritual life; they are spiritual life as it manifests in ordinary time.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 15, Verse 11: Krishna to Arjuna — Puruṣottama-Yoga