BG 17.25 — Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 17.25Chapter 17 · Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

तदित्यनभिसंधाय फलं यज्ञतपःक्रियाः ।

दानक्रियाश् च विविधाः क्रियन्ते मोक्षकाङ्क्षिभिः ॥

tad ity anabhisaṃdhāya phalaṃ yajña-tapaḥ-kriyāḥ

dāna-kriyāś ca vividhāḥ kriyante mokṣa-kāṅkṣibhiḥ

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

meaning

Those who seek liberation perform their sacrifices, austerities, and acts of giving with the word *tat*, a name of Brahman, on their lips and with no thought of any reward.

ekras · bhāṣya

Tat iti — with 'tat' uttered. Anabhisandhaya — without intending. Phalam — fruit. Yajna-tapah-kriyah — sacrifices and austerities. Dana-kriyah cha vividhah — and various giving-acts. Kriyante moksha-kankshibhih — performed by mumukshus, those desiring liberation.

Krishna names Tat's particular operation: those who seek release perform sacrifice, austerity, giving with 'tat' uttered and without targeting fruit.

Shankara reads Tat as a name of Brahman uttered at the outset of sacrifice, austerity, and the diverse acts of gift-giving such as offering land or gold. The mumukshu performs these acts without orientation toward fruit — anabhisandhaya phalam — so that no residue of desire accrues to form a new karmic bind. The Tat-utterance signals the act's orientation: it is offered into Brahman, not extracted for personal benefit. The chapter's middle term completes the structural picture.

Madhusudana anchors Tat in the Upanishadic shruti formula 'tat tvam asi' and its cognates, making explicit that Tat is a proper name of Brahman drawn from the highest scriptural usage. Diverse acts of yajna, tapas, dana are performed by moksha-seekers with this name declared and no fruit-orientation, specifically for the purpose of purifying the antahkarana. Tat-utterance marks the act as moksha-conducive; without it, even technically correct acts may persist as bondage-conducive.

Ramanuja identifies the acts named — Veda-adhyayana, yajna, tapas, dana — as belonging specifically to traivarnika seekers of release. These acts are qualified as 'directed by Tat' because they function as upaya for reaching Brahman, and Tat is well-known as a Brahman-denoting word per Vedanta. The mumukshu's offering of these acts to Bhagavan via the Tat-utterance is the relational ground; without that ground, the acts cannot reach their goal.

Madhva's comment is terse to the point of being axiomatic: 'tat-phalam me syat iti anabhisandhaya' — without entertaining the thought 'this fruit should be mine.' The jiva is eternally distinct from and wholly dependent on Hari; any act performed with the thought 'this reward will be mine' collapses into self-assertion and ruptures the dependent mode. Tat-utterance is the operational way of holding the dependent mode in active practice.

Vallabha presses the Bharata-sahasranama testimony — 'sarva kah kim yat tat padam anuttamam' — to establish that Tat denotes Brahman itself, not a generic absolute, but Krishna as the supreme name-bearer. Moksha-seekers who perform yajna and the rest without laukika phalam are distinguished from all others — anyaih tu anyatha iti nirnayah — who perform the same acts with worldly aims. The pushti-marga reading: Tat names the supreme telos that pushti-flow lifts the bhakta toward; the utterance is the bhakta's recognition of where his action is offered.

Shridhara presents Tat as the second of three auspicious syllables expounded in this section. Those of shuddha-chitta who seek liberation utter Tat and then, without forming any phala-abhisandhi, carry out yajna and the rest. The mechanism is chitta-shodhana — purification of mind through act-orientation. The chapter's structural completion-pattern uses each name to perform a specific role.

Context

where

Chapter 17 · Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 17.24

Those who speak of Brahman always begin their acts of sacrifice, giving, and austerity by uttering Om, as the scriptures prescribe.

What's going on

Those who seek liberation perform their sacrifices, austerities, and acts of giving with the word tat, a name of Brahman, on their lips and with no thought of any reward.

Sūtras through this verse (29)

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

17.14'Worship of gods' is worship of the One.───→here17.25───→18.65'Me' at the end carries fifteen chapters of gloss.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

17.2Even faith itself comes in three flavors.───→here17.25───→18.19Knowledge, action, doer, each one threefold.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by verseexit

15.17Three orders, each a distinct relatum.───→here17.25───→

show all 29

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-ruleexit

17.23Oṃ-tat-sat names the Lord, three times.───→here17.25───→

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesexit

15.17Beyond all selves stands the Highest Person alone.───→here17.25───→

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionexit

15.6The supreme abode does not return its dwellers.───→here17.25───→

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordexit

15.4Cut the world-tree by knowing whose play it is.───→here17.25───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

17.15Mantra and speech. 'Anudvega-karam vakyam satyam priya-hitam cha yat, svadhyaya-───→here17.25───→18.61Astrology-as-externalizer and karma-as-frame for why-bad-things-happen. 'Ishvara

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here17.25───→

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningexit

16.21'Tri-vidham narakasyedam dvaram nashanam atmanah, kamah krodhas tatha lobhah.' T───→here17.25───→

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netiexit

15.7'Mamaivamsho jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah.' A part of me, eternal, has become───→here17.25───→

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsexit

15.16Uttama-puruṣa is Viṣṇu, beyond both.───→here17.25───→

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

15.16Aṣṭādhyāyī 5.2.127 controls bhūta.───→here17.25───→

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥexit

15.1Tat-prasaṅge alaukikaṁ — iti śeṣaḥ.───→here17.25───→

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsexit

17.5Hard penance off-script is still demonic.───→here17.25───→

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursexit

15.7Self drags the senses like wind drags scent.───→here17.25───→

RāmānujaclassicalK

Tri-guṇa diagnostic for the bhaktabetween

17.2Even faith is sorted by the three modes.───→here17.25───→18.7Wrong renunciation.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

17.1A third class: faith without textual training.───→here17.25───→18.1Three kinds of renouncing, one for each grade.

MadhusūdanaclassicalJ

Two kinds of nature — divine and demonicbetween

17.1A third class: faith outside the texts.───→here17.25───→18.1Even renouncing splits into three by disposition.

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourexit · v2

15.8Carrying the perfume───→here17.25───→

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementexit · other

16.22Released from the three gates───→here17.25───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateexit

17.2Threefold faith: tagged at this site.───→here17.25───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousexit

15.7Aṃśa pinned to the Lord, not free.───→here17.25───→

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaexit

15.18Named Puruṣottama.───→here17.25───→

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesexit

17.12The threefold yajña/dāna/tapas catalogue is skipped.───→here17.25───→

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryexit

15.15The bhāṣya-author is named by the Lord himself.───→here17.25───→

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyabetween

17.4The mode of worship reveals the worshipper.───→here17.25───→18.46Karma-yoga's act IS indweller-worship.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it wereexit

15.16Both the changing and changeless are below the supreme.───→here17.25───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessexit

17.2Even faith is graded through the three.───→here17.25───→

Śabda · lemmas (14 unique · 15 occurrences)

क्रियन्ते √kṛ — to do, make (verbal root) · present indicative pass 3rd person plural verb
क्रियाः kriyā ×2 — action, ritual act (from √kṛ) · nominative feminine plural noun
विविधाः vividha — (vi- + vidha: kind) · nominative feminine plural noun

show all 14

तत् tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative neuter singular noun
इति iti — thus (quotative particle)
अन् an — negation prefix (variant of a-)
अभिसंधाय abhisaṃdhā — to aim at, intend (abhi- + sam- + √dhā) · conv
फलम् phala — fruit, result · accusative neuter singular noun
यज्ञ yajña — sacrifice, worship, ritual offering · compound
तपः tapas — austerity, ascetic heat, spiritual discipline · compound
दान dāna — giving, charity, gift · compound
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
मोक्ष mokṣa — liberation, release (from √muc) · compound
काङ्क्षिभिः kāṅkṣin — (kāṅkṣ + -in: to desire) · instrumental masculine plural noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01What distinguishes utterance of 'tat' as a genuine Brahman-orientation from a ritual formality that simply substitutes one form of self-reassurance for another?
02If 'tat' names Brahman and Brahman is the goal, does the verse collapse the distinction between the act of performing yajna and the act of seeking moksha — are they the same movement or two separate acts?

show all 7

03All six schools agree that fruit-desire must be absent, yet they disagree about what fills the motivational space left by its removal — Brahman-knowledge, Hari-service, Krsna-grace, or citta-suddhi. Does this motivational residue matter structurally, or is the key simply the absence of self-directed desire?
04Madhva's gloss reduces the entire verse to a single clause about not claiming the fruit for oneself. What is the risk of reading his brevity as agreement with Sankara when the metaphysical structures are wholly incompatible?
05Ramanuja specifies that these acts belong to the three upper varnas. Does restricting moksha-eligible desireless action to traivarnikas represent a limitation on the verse's teaching, or is he making an exegetical point about the specific interlocutors?
06Sridhara identifies two functions that 'tat' performs simultaneously: naming Brahman and encoding relinquishment. Is the naming doing work or is it the relinquishment alone that produces citta-soddhi — and how would you test the difference?
07Madhusudana treats inner-organ purification (antahkarana-suddhi) as the proximate goal and Brahman-realization as the final goal. At what point, if ever, does the purified instrument become identical to the goal it was being prepared for?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before beginning a significant work project, mentally dedicate the activity with the equivalent of 'tat' — a silent acknowledgment that the outcome belongs to the totality rather than to your account of yourself. Notice whether this shifts the quality of engagement without changing the rigor of effort. The Sankara discipline: act with full competence, zero ownership of result.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Frame your regular responsibilities — work, parenting, civic duty — as acts of service directed at a source larger than personal advancement, understanding that fruit-free action is not passivity but a re-routing of the motivational arrow from self to Bhagavan. The Ramanuja discipline: stay fully in the role while the orientation is toward a transcendent receiver.

show all 6

Dvaita

Catch the moment when completing a task you think 'this credit should be mine' — Madhva's single clause names exactly that thought as the rupture point. Cultivate the habit of completing actions without mentally filing them under your personal ledger. The Madhva discipline: do the work, release the ownership, let Hari be the bookkeeper.

Śuddhādvaita

Recognize that acts arising from genuine attraction to a source of meaning (whatever Krsna represents to you) are structurally different from acts done under compulsion to avoid punishment or gain reward. The Vallabha discipline: let your daily work flow from what you are drawn toward rather than what you are afraid of losing — that is the pushti posture.

Bhakti

Use fruit-renunciation as a practical tool for inner clarity: before deciding on a major life action, ask whether you could carry it out identically if you knew in advance that no social recognition would follow. Sridhara's insight is that phala-sankalpa-tyaga (releasing the resolve about outcome) purifies the instrument for clearer perception. The bhakti discipline: declutter the motive before acting, not after.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusudana's application is integrative: let your devotional practice (prayer, gratitude, contemplation) serve as the means of inner-organ purification so that your analytical or professional work operates from a steadier base. The advaita-bhakti discipline: do not treat spiritual practice and practical life as separate departments — one purifies the instrument the other requires.

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 17, Verse 25: Krishna to Arjuna — Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga