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

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  The striving yogins (yatantah yoginah) perceive this self (enam atmanam) as established in the buddhi — they see 'this am I.' Yet those who strive but have not purified themselves through tapas and indriya-jaya (akrthatmanah), who have not desisted from evil conduct and remain bereft of discrimination (acetasah), do not perceive it — effort through scripture alone without inner refinement is useless. Sankara's point is unambiguous: the obstacle to self-vision is not lack of effort but an unprepared, unrefined locus of cognition.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Those yogins 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 (sarire avastthitam api sarirad viviktam). Those who strive without mat-prapatti remain asamskrta-manasah (minds unrefined by devotion) and thus acetasah — lacking the consciousness capable of atma-avalokana. For Ramanuja the key discriminant is not jnana-effort alone but whether that effort is rooted in surrender to Bhagavan.

• Madhvadvaita

  The yogins attain knowledge (jnanam prapya) and thereby see; the akrthatmanah are those with impure understanding (asuddha-buddhayah) who, though striving, fail to see. Madhva's gloss is characteristically terse and precise: perception of the self is conditional on cognitive purity, and cognitive purity is itself a function of Hari's grace — effort without that grace produces no result. The eternal distinction between jiva and Brahman remains whether one sees or not.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Vallabha notes that the self is difficult to know (durvijneyah) — even among the discriminating, some see and some do not. Yogins who arrest the modifications of the mind (citta-vrtti-nirodhakah) do perceive; those who are akrta-citta (minds not made ready) and therefore manda-matayah (dull of understanding) do not. The implication in the Pusthi-marga register is that readiness of mind is itself a form of Krsna's prasada — self-effort without that bestowal remains structurally incomplete.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Sridhara distinguishes between practitioners: those striving through dhyana and like disciplines (yoginah) do see this self — established in the body yet distinct from it (dehe 'vastthitam viviktam). Those who strive through scriptural study yet remain avifuddha-citta (impure-minded) and therefore manda-matayah do not see. Sridhara's framing is balanced: external practice (sastraabhyasa) without internal purification of citta is insufficient; the seeing faculty is constituted by the quality of the inner organ.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusudana glosses 'pasyanti jnana-caksusah' from the prior verse: the yogins striving through dhyana and like means see this self reflected (pratiphalitam) in their own purified buddhi (sva-buddhau avastthitam). The particle 'ca' is used emphatically (avadhyarane) — only they see. Those with antahkarana unrefined by yajna and like purificatory acts (yajnadibhir asoddhita-antahkaranah) remain viveka-sunya (devoid of discrimination) and do not see — they are the 'deluded' (mudha) referenced in the preceding verse. Madhusudana thus closes the loop between 15.10 and 15.11 through buddhi as the mirror.