Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 16, Verse 15: Krishna to Arjuna — Daivāsura-Sampad-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  The asura declares: 'I am wealthy (adhya), I am of noble birth (abhijanavan) — who else equals me?' Shankara reads this triple boast (wealth, lineage, rites) as the symptom of avidya (ignorance) that mistakes the ksetra (body-field) for the atman. The deluded one announces 'I shall sacrifice (yaksye), I shall give (dasyami), I shall rejoice (modisye)' — but each vow is karma bound to ahankara, deepening bondage rather than dissolving it. Shankara's gloss on 'ajnana-vimohitah' is precise: viviksam-aviveka-bhavam apannah — they have fallen into the state of non-discrimination, the exact opposite of the viveka that opens the jnana-marga.

  divergence: Advaita locates the error in ahamkara mistaking the field for the knower of the field.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Ramanuja stresses that the asura's error is not merely pride but Ishvara-nirapekshata — independence from the Lord's grace (anugraha). The boast 'I am self-sufficient in wealth and lineage' is theological rebellion: the asura believes sacrifice (yajna), giving (dana), and pleasure are self-generated achievements, severed from Bhagavan's sustaining will. Ramanuja's gloss reads: svena eva yagas-danadikas kartum sakyam iti ajnana-vimohitah — they think ritual efficacy is wholly their own. This is the Vishishtadvaita inversion of kainkarya: instead of all action flowing toward the Lord as seva (service), it flows inward as self-aggrandizement.

  divergence: Vishishtadvaita uniquely names Ishvara-nirapeksha (grace-rejection) as the structural sin; Advaita names aviveka.

• Madhvadvaita

  The *āsura* (demoniac) *jīva* (the individual self) here declaims: *āḍhyo 'bhijanavān asmi ko 'nyo 'sti sadṛśo mayā* — 'I am wealthy, I am well-born; who else is equal to me?' — and then asserts, 'I shall sacrifice (*yakṣye*), I shall give (*dāsyāmi*), I shall rejoice (*modiṣye*).' Each of these first-person assertions is *ajñāna-vimohita* (deluded by ignorance): the *jīva* mistakes itself for a *svatantra* (independently real, self-sufficient) agent, when in Dvaita *siddhānta* every *jīva* is irreducibly *paratantra* (eternally dependent) on *Hari*. Wealth, birth-lineage, the capacity to sacrifice and give — all are held under Hari's absolute sovereignty; nothing accrues to the *jīva* except by Hari's will. The *pañca-bheda* (the five-fold real distinction: Lord–jīva, Lord–matter, jīva–jīva, jīva–matter, matter–matter) is precisely what the *āsura* collapses into a false unity centered on the self: 'none is equal to me' erases the unbridgeable ontological gap between *Hari* and *jīva*. The act of *yajña* (sacrifice), properly understood, belongs to Hari as its real *kartṛ* (agent); *dāna* (giving) is a conduit of Hari's bounty, not an autonomous human bestowal. To say 'I shall sacrifice, I shall give' as if from self-generated capacity is to invert *taratamya* (the graded ontological hierarchy) entirely, placing the dependent *jīva* where only *Hari* rightfully stands. *Ajñāna* here is not merely ignorance of fact but the deep confounding (*vimoha*) that makes the *paratantra* *jīva* assert *svatantratā* — and this inversion is the defining mark of the *āsura* endowment catalogued throughout this chapter.

  divergence: The *āsura*'s error is the claim of *svatantratā* (self-sufficiency) in *kartṛtva* (agenthood): *yakṣye dāsyāmi modiṣye* presents the *jīva* as self-moved agent in sacrifice and generosity, directly contradicting *paratantra*-hood. Dvaita names this the deepest *tamasic* inversion, since the *jīva* not only ignores Hari but usurps Hari's position as the sole *svatantra* *kartṛ*.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Vallabha's brief gloss on 16.14-15 pivots on the phrase 'abheda-magrhya' — failing to grasp non-difference. In Pushti-marga all jivas are portions of Krishna's own bliss (ananda); the asura who boasts 'Ishvaro'ham asmi' ('I am the Lord') unwittingly speaks a truth — but it is a truth seized in ego rather than received as prasada. The word 'modisye' (I shall rejoice) is exactly what Krishna promises his devotees through lila; the asura pursues the same bliss but through self-will (sveccha) rather than surrender (prapatti), turning krishna-prasada into ahamkara-bhoga.

  divergence: Shuddhadvaita alone finds tragic irony: the asura names the truth ('I am the Lord') but seizes it without grace.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Sridhara parses each boast with characteristic precision: adhya means endowed with wealth and possessions (dhanadisampannah); abhijanavan means of noble family (kulinah). The vow 'yaksye' (I shall sacrifice) is read as: through performance of great rites I shall win prestige (pratishtham prapsyami) over other initiated persons (dikshitantarebhyah). 'Dasyami' is giving to flatterers (stavakebhyah); 'modisye' is gaining pleasure — all three are about social standing and sensory reward rather than devotion. Sridhara's closing phrase 'mithyabhinivesham prapitah' — brought into false tenacity — diagnoses the will locked in delusion as an act of self-binding.

  divergence: Sridhara adds 'prestige over other initiates' as the specific social telos of yajna — absent in other bhashyas.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusudana doubles down on Shankara's reading but adds layers of social mockery. He notes the asura answers an internal objection — someone might be equal in wealth or lineage — then immediately denies it: 'ko'nyo'sti sadrshah maya, na kopi' (who else is like me? no one at all). The three vows are then shown to be socially competitive: 'yaksye — I shall outshine others by sacrifice; dasyami — I shall give wealth to flatterers and performers (natadibhyah); modisye — I shall take pleasure with dancing-girls (nartakyadibhih).' Madhusudana renders 'ajnanena avivekena vimohitah' as falling into a 'cascade of delusion upon delusion' (vibhram-paramparam prapitah) — not a single error but a self-reinforcing spiral.

  divergence: Madhusudana uniquely specifies nartakyadibhih (dancing-girls) and vibhrama-parampara (cascade of delusions) — absent in all other bhashyas.