BG 15.5 — Puruṣottama-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 15.5Chapter 15 · Puruṣottama-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · triṣṭubh

निर्मानमोहा जितसङ्गदोषा अध्यात्मनित्या विनिवृत्तकामाः ।

द्वन्द्वैर् विमुक्ताः सुखदुःखसंज्ञैर् गच्छन्त्यमूढाः पदमव्ययं तत् ॥

nirmāna-mohā jita-saṅga-doṣā

adhyātma-nityā vinivṛtta-kāmāḥ

dvandvair vimuktāḥ sukha-duḥkha-saṃjñair

gacchanty amūḍhāḥ padam avyayaṃ tat

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

meaning

Free from pride and delusion, their grip on attachment broken, rooted in self-knowledge, desires spent, and the pull of pleasure and pain stilled, the clear-eyed reach that imperishable state.

ekras · bhāṣya

The verse names the qualifications for reaching the pada. Jita — having conquered — sanga-dosha — the defect of attachment. Adhyatma-nitya — constant in self-knowing. Vinivritta-kama — desires withdrawn. Dvandvaih vimukta — released from the pairs called sukha and duhkha. Amudha — undeluded — they reach that avyaya pada. Five qualifications, one destination.

Krishna names the inner shape of the bhakta who actually arrives.

Shankara reads the five qualifications as the purificatory sequence that strips the sannyasin of every obstacle and admits him to the avyaya pada. Nirmana — without pride, the ahamkara-related self-display. Moha — delusion, the false superimposition. Jita-sanga-dosha — having conquered attachment to all that is not the Self. Adhyatma-nitya — settled in atma-jnana. Vinivritta-kama — desires withdrawn. Dvandva-vimukti — beyond the pairs of opposites. The amudha bhakta who lives these five reaches the pada and does not return.

Madhusudana synthesizes by reading mana as ahamkara-garva — pride of ego — and moha as aviveka or viparyaya — confusion of real and unreal. Jita-sanga-dosha means freedom from raga-dvesha even in the presence of pleasant and unpleasant — a Vedantic precision that goes beyond mere absence of attachment to indifference within active engagement. Adhyatma-nitya is settled rooting in atma-jnana through shravana, manana, nididhyasana. The avyaya pada follows from this five-fold purification.

Ramanuja opens with mam sharanam upagamya — 'having taken refuge in Me' — embedding all five qualifications inside the logic of prapatti. Freedom from the moha of identifying the non-Self as Self. Conquest of guna-driven enjoyment's pull. Constancy in atma-dhyana — meditation on the individual Self as distinct from matter. Renunciation of desires. Liberation from dvandvas. The amudha — clear-eyed — reach the avyaya pada, which for Ramanuja is Bhagavan's eternal abode where the bhakta dwells in unobstructed kainkarya.

Madhva's bhashya is maximally terse: sadhanantaram aha — 'He states an additional means.' He marks the verse without further expansion in this passage. Anchoring in the Dvaita corpus: the five qualifications are the jiva's dependent effort, exercised only by the grace of Hari who is the svatantra-kartri. The avyaya pada is unobstructed presence in the eternally distinct relation; the qualifications align the jiva for what only grace can grant.

Vallabha lists the qualifications in his characteristic enumerative style — freedom from mana-moha, from sanga-dosha, constancy in adhyatma-jnana, cessation of kama, release from sukha-duhkha dvandvas — and calls them sadhana-sampannah, those endowed with the means. Those so equipped reach the avyaya pada glossed as 'tat Vishnoh paramam padam' — that supreme pada of Vishnu, sarva-dosha-rahitam, free of all defects.

Shridhara identifies mana — pride, ahamkara-flavor — and moha — false conviction, mithya-abhinivesha — as the pair to be expelled. Sanga is specifically the defect of attachment to son, kin, intimates — putra-adi-sanga-rupa-dosha. Adhyatma-nitya is parinishthita — a settled, completed rootedness in atma-jnana, not merely periodic contemplation. The dvandvas — heat-cold, sukha-duhkha — are released. The amudhah bhakta reaches the avyaya pada that does not change.

Context

where

Chapter 15 · Puruṣottama-Yoga · meter triṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 15.4

Then seek that place from which none return, and take refuge in the primordial Purusha from whom this ancient current of existence first poured forth.

What's going on

Free from pride and delusion, their grip on attachment broken, rooted in self-knowledge, desires spent, and the pull of pleasure and pain stilled, the clear-eyed reach that imperishable state.

Sūtras through this verse (48)

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

15.1The world-tree's root is Viṣṇu above.───→here15.5───→17.23Oṃ-tat-sat names the Lord, three times.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by versebetween

12.3Avyakta worshippers stay plural, distinct.───→here15.5───→15.16Bhūta is not inert; ranges over jīvas.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerbetween

8.5Remember Me as the inner-ruler form.───→here15.5───→15.15Seated in every heart; memory comes from Me.

show all 48

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

13.23Soul and Lord coexist in the body, not as one.───→here15.5───→15.8The Lord carries the soul from body to body.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

14.27Brahman has gradations within its own form.───→here15.5───→15.17Beyond all selves stands the Highest Person alone.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionbetween

14.2At creation's reissue the released remain free.───→here15.5───→15.6The supreme abode does not return its dwellers.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotbetween

14.27What stands behind brahman is fixed by named texts.───→here15.5───→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.───→here15.5───→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.───→here15.5───→15.16Refusing kṣara=inert, akṣara=soul.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

15.1World-tree rooted up; Viṣṇu is ūrdhva.───→here15.5───→18.1Renunciation closes; threads converge.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsbetween

15.1World-tree rooted up; Viṣṇu is ūrdhva-mūla.───→here15.5───→15.12Sun-moon light is Viṣṇu’s light.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

15.1Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.2.4 settles aśvattha.───→here15.5───→15.16Aṣṭādhyāyī 5.2.127 controls bhūta.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

13.5Brahma-sūtra is text, not paraphrase.───→here15.5───→15.16Bhūta covers jīva; literal range holds.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeexit

13.25Three classes, one ladder, each class on a different rung.───→here15.5───→

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordexit

15.4Cut the world-tree by knowing whose play it is.───→here15.5───→

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideexit

13.5Field and knower: body-self cut returns.───→here15.5───→

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥexit

15.1Tat-prasaṅge alaukikaṁ — iti śeṣaḥ.───→here15.5───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesbetween

15.1Krishna is the ground, not a partner-god.───→here15.5───→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.───→here15.5───→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.───→here15.5───→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.───→here15.5───→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.───→here15.5───→18.1Renouncing means cutting the false relationship.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

14.18The modes decide which womb is next.───→here15.5───→15.7The self wears body as a costume.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

13.17The Knowable lives as the inner light.───→here15.5───→15.15Seated in every heart; memory comes from Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

13.20Nature causes the act; you only experience.───→here15.5───→15.7Self drags the senses like wind drags scent.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here15.5───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

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

13.1The last six work what 'are' really means.───→here15.5───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalG

Soul as His portion, neither cut nor identicalbetween

14.27Brahman is Myself condensed, like sunlight.───→here15.5───→15.7The soul is My portion, wrapped in unknowing.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

15.1Dispassion first; else neither knowing nor love.───→here15.5───→18.1The eighteenth gathers the whole Gītā in one.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personbetween

13.3The soul is part of the supreme Person.───→here15.5───→15.7The soul is My eternal part — its ānanda hidden. .

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

14.26Brahman dwells in the one beyond the modes.───→here15.5───→15.7Three Brahmasūtras quoted in the soul-as-part verse.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentarybetween

13.2The Lord himself writes the third ṣaṭka. .───→here15.5───→15.15The bhāṣya-author is named by the Lord himself.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessexit

14.26Unswerving devotion crosses the modes.───→here15.5───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeexit

13.10A steady evenness is the seeker's mark.───→here15.5───→

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderexit

13.2The third ṣaṭka is the Lord's own bhāṣya.───→here15.5───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

13.1Vākyārtha hexad begins. Anchor.───→here15.5───→15.20Whole teaching named guhyatamaṃ śāstram.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousbetween

14.1Modes belong to the Lord's prakṛti.───→here15.5───→15.7Aṃśa pinned to the Lord, not free.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

12.20Bhakti hexad sealed at the close.───→here15.5───→15.20Whole śāstra named most-secret-teaching.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

13.32Touches without being stained.───→here15.5───→15.15I sit in every heart.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśabetween

13.32Touches without being stained.───→here15.5───→15.7Eternal fragment, never lost.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyabetween

15.4Find the Origin and take refuge in him.───→here15.5───→18.62Take refuge whole-being.

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentstation · v2 · station 9/10

───→here15.5───→

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourbetween · v2

8.13Remembering Me───→here15.5───→15.7The jīva carries the senses

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it werebetween

7.25The magician sees through his own illusion.───→here15.5───→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.───→here15.5───→18.66Renounce all dharmas — śruti ratifies.

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netibetween

13.32'Anaditvan nirgunatvat paramatma'yam avyayah, sharira-stho'pi Kaunteya na karoti───→here15.5───→15.7'Mamaivamsho jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah.' A part of me, eternal, has become

AbhinavaguptaclassicalE

Field and field-knower as Parameśvarabetween

13.12Hands and feet on every side, beyond all.───→here15.5───→15.16Two persons inside the field, one beyond.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

13.2'Cāpi' marks two — not one identity.───→here15.5───→15.15Memory and forgetting both come from Him.

Śabda · lemmas (19 unique · 19 occurrences)

विमुक्ताः vi-√muc — to release (vi- + √muc) · nominative masculine plural participle noun
अमूढाः amūḍha — undeluded (a- + mūḍha) · nominative masculine plural noun
सङ्ग saṅga — attachment, contact (= saṅga in earlier dict — alternate spelling) · compound
विनिवृत्त vi-√nivṛt — (vi- + nivṛt: to cease) · compound participle (compound member)
कामाः kāma — desire, lust, sensual pleasure · nominative masculine plural noun

show all 19

निर्मान nirmāna — construction, fashioning (nis- + √mā) · compound
मोहाः moha — delusion, infatuation, bewilderment · nominative masculine plural noun
जित √ji — to conquer, win (verbal root) · compound participle (compound member)
दोषाः doṣa — fault, defect, sin · nominative masculine plural noun
अध्यात्म adhyātma — pertaining to the self; the inward principle · compound
नित्याः nitya — eternal, permanent, daily · nominative masculine plural noun
द्वन्द्वैः dvaṃdva — pair of opposites (heat/cold, joy/sorrow); duality · instrumental neuter plural noun
सुख sukha — happiness, pleasure, ease · compound
दुःख duḥkha — suffering, sorrow, pain · compound
संज्ञैः saṃjñā — name, designation, consciousness (sam- + √jñā) · instrumental neuter plural noun
गच्छन्ति gam — to go (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person plural verb
पदम् pada — foot, step, place, word · accusative neuter singular noun
अव्ययम् avyaya — imperishable (a- + vyaya 'perishable', from vi-√i 'go away') · accusative neuter singular noun
तत् tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · accusative neuter singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01The verse gives five qualifications in a single compound — are they sequential stages or simultaneous marks, and does the answer differ across schools?
02Mana (pride) and moha (delusion) are paired as the first obstacle: why is pride philosophically upstream of delusion, or vice versa, in the soteriological logic of each school?

show all 7

03Adhyatma-nitya is rendered as constancy in Self-inquiry (Shankara), as atma-dhyana (Ramanuja), and as atma-jnana-nishtha (Sridhara) — what does the shift from inquiry to meditation to settled knowledge reveal about the different theories of how liberation is stabilised?
04The dvandvas (pairs) are specifically labeled sukha-duhkha-samjna — 'known as pleasure-pain' — rather than just 'opposites': what is the verse signalling about the epistemic rather than merely experiential nature of the bondage these pairs create?
05All six schools reach the same avyaya-pada (imperishable state) via different routes: is the destination genuinely identical, or do Shankara's Brahman-recognition, Ramanuja's jiva-in-Vishnu's-body, and Madhva's jiva-in-Vishnu's-abode name categorically different arrivals?
06Madhva's bhashya for this verse is a single indexing line ('sadhanantaram aha'): what does the choice to be maximally terse here — rather than expansive — signal about Dvaita's doctrinal priorities in Chapter 15?
07The amudhah (undeluded) are the ones who go — not the learned, not the devoted, not the surrendered: does the verse offer an epistemological criterion (freedom from error) as the final gateway, cutting across devotional and jnana routes?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you notice you are defending a self-image — in a meeting, an argument, online — that is mana; the Advaita practice is to ask 'who is the one who would be embarrassed?' and trace it to its source rather than soothe it.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Ramanuja's reading suggests that every qualification becomes 'sushakya' (easily achievable) once you have genuinely taken refuge — so the practical move is to reframe daily effort not as self-improvement but as the Lord removing obstacles in response to your surrender.

show all 6

Dvaita

The Dvaita principle of paratantrya (intrinsic dependence) applied daily means noticing whenever you attribute your clarity or competence entirely to yourself, and returning it to Hari as the independent agent; pride dissolves not through effort but through accurate attribution.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's Pushti-marga reframes the removal of kama (desire) not as suppression but as replacement: when a desire arises, the practice is to ask whether this desire is for Krishna's delight or for one's own, and to redirect the energy rather than extinguish it.

Bhakti

Sridhara names the sanga-dosa specifically as attachment to sons and kin — the relational grip, not abstract desire: the everyday application is to serve your family with full presence while holding the relationship lightly, neither fleeing it nor being swallowed by it.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusudana's reading of jita-sanga-dosha as freedom from raga-dvesha even within contact — not withdrawal from contact — is the mature synthesis: the practice is to remain fully engaged in work and relationship while the internal polling mechanism (attracted / repelled?) is switched off.

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 5: Krishna to Arjuna — Puruṣottama-Yoga