Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 15, Verse 12: Krishna to Arjuna — Puruṣottama-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  The luminosity (tejas) dwelling in the sun that illuminates the entire world, the luminosity in the moon, the luminosity in fire — know all that to be Mine, the light of Visnu. Sankara reads 'tejas' as consciousness-light (caitanya-atmaka jyotis): the same awareness that shines equally through all beings appears more manifestly in the sun and moon only because their sattva-guna is exceedingly pure, just as a face is reflected in a mirror but not in wood — the face itself is unchanged, only the medium differs.

  divergence: Sankara: 'yad adityagatam tejas caitanyatmakam jyotih... tat tejas viddhi mamakam' — the qualifier 'adityagatam' does not mean the light is quantitatively greater there, but that the sattvic clarity of the sun-medium allows the identical brahma-caitanya to manifest more fully (avistarena).

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  The tejas (radiance) of the sun, moon, and fire that illuminates the entire world is My own radiance, given by Me to those luminaries after they have worshipped Me. Ramanuja reads this as Bhagavan's real and direct gift of power to dependent realities: the sun and moon are not independent sources but recipients of Isvara's grace-radiation, which He confers upon them as their indwelling inner controller.

  divergence: Ramanuja: 'tais tair aradhitena maya tebhyo dattam iti viddhi' — the light was given by Me, worshipped by them; the luminaries are Bhagavan's sarira (body), dependent and sustained by His antaratman.

• Madhvadvaita

  *Pūrvoktam eva jñānam* (the very knowledge stated before) is here *prapañcayati* (unfolded in detail) — so Madhva opens his reading of *yad āditya-gataṃ* and the verses following. The *tejo* (luminous power) in sun, moon, and fire that illuminates the whole *jagat* is *māmakam* — Hari's own, belonging solely to the *svatantra* Lord. Jayatīrtha presses the question: since Krishna already declared *na tad bhāsayate* (15.6), why continue? The answer: *adhaś ca mūlāny anusantatāni* (15.2) conveyed the knowledge of *sarvāntaryāmi-svarūpa* (the form as inner-controller of all); the superlative *ūrdhva* registered *sarvoттamatva* (the Lord's all-surpassing excellence); and the remainder of the chapter — beginning with *yad āditya-gatam* — *prapañcayati* that same knowledge. The *pañca-bheda* (the five-fold real distinction) is operative throughout: the *jīva* (the individual self) is never the source of cosmic *tejas*, only the *paratantra* (eternally dependent) recipient of what the *svatantra* Hari alone emits.

  divergence: Madhva: *pūrvoktam eva jñānam prapañcayati — yad āditya-gatam ity ādinā* — treating 15.12–14 as a single unfolding of the *sarvāntaryāmi-svarūpa* established earlier; Jayatīrtha specifies that both the inner-controller knowledge (*adhaś ca mūlāny anusantatāni*) and the Lord's *sarvoттamatva* (signaled by *ūrdhva*) are what these verses extend. The *jīva*'s utter *paratantra* with respect to *tejas* confirms *svabheda* (essential distinction) rather than any shared luminosity.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  The radiance in sun, moon, and fire is a portion (amsa) of Me, Krsna, the one eternal-bliss-consciousness-abode (sadananda-cid-rupa-dhama); even the insentient transformation of matter that produces light is My vibhuti. Vallabha stresses that even the acit (material) side of light — the dispersal of darkness that enables the senses to function — is Bhagavan's gift-grace (prasada), not a natural mechanical fact.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'aditiyadisu mamaivamso tejo yatha jivaloke jivabhuta iti' — the tejas in the sun is Krsna's own amsa just as the jiva is His amsa; the Maitrayani-sruti ('yo'sav aditye purusah so'sav aham') confirms this as the adhidaivata meaning.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  After establishing in the prior verses that Bhagavan's supreme dhama is beyond the light of sun, moon, and fire, the Lord now reveals His infinite-power form: the very tejas by which sun, moon, and fire illuminate the world is nothing other than the Lord's own radiance. Sridhara reads these four verses as a connected demonstration of ananta-saktitva: the devotee who sees the world lit should recognise that light as Isvara's direct self-disclosure.

  divergence: Sridhara: 'idanim tad eva paramasvaram rupam anantasaktitve nirUpayati — yad ity adi caturbhih' — the entire range of cosmic illumination is gathered under the single fact 'tat tejo madiyam eva janIhi'.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  The sruti declares both 'na tatra suryo bhati' (that supreme abode needs no sun) and 'tasya bhasa sarvam idam vibhati' (by His light all this shines); Madhusudana reads 15.12 as the explication of the second half: every tejas — solar, lunar, fire — is caitanya-jyotis, the one brahma-consciousness shining through sattvic mediums of varying purity. Yet this is also Krsna's own vibhuti: jnana and bhakti here converge, for the light one adores in the sun is the same brahman one recognises in self-inquiry.

  divergence: Madhusudan: 'tameva bhantam anu bhati sarvam tasya bhasa sarvam idam vibhati iti srutyardham anena vyakhyayate' — 15.12 is the Gita's commentary on the Mundaka/Katha passage; yad adityagatam is the empirical entry-point to the non-dual tejas.