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

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Sankara reads 'tat' as a name (abhidhana) of Brahman — the Absolute — uttered at the outset of sacrifice, austerity, and the diverse acts of gift-giving such as offering land or gold. The agent who seeks liberation (mumukshu) performs these acts without any orientation toward their fruit (anabhisandhaya phalam), so that no residue of desire accrues to form a new karmic bind. The 'tat' invocation thus functions as a purifying seal: it subordinates the act to the formless ground, readying the mind for the direct inquiry into Self that alone yields moksha.

  divergence: Sankara glosses: 'tat iti brahma-abhidhanam uccaryya anabhisandhaya ca yajna-adika-karmanah phalam... mumukshubhih' — the word 'tat' names Brahman; acts are performed by those desirous of liberation, without attachment to their result.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Ramanuja identifies the acts named here — Veda-study (veda-adhyayana), sacrifice (yajna), austerity (tapas), and gift-giving (dana) — as belonging specifically to the three upper varnas (traivarnika) who seek release. These acts are qualified as 'directed by tat' because they function as upaya (means) for reaching Brahman, and 'tat' is well-known as a Brahman-denoting word per the Vishnu Sahasranama verse 'sarva kah kim yat tat padam anuttamam.' The acts thus have an inherent referential arrow pointing toward Bhagavan, making desireless performance an act of kainkarya (service) rather than mere renunciation.

  divergence: Ramanuja: 'phalam anabhisandhaya... brahma-prapti-sadhanataya brahma-vacina tat iti sabda-nirdeshyah' — acts done without fruit-desire are designated by 'tat' because they are means of reaching Brahman, whose name 'tat' is established in tradition.

• Madhvadvaita

  Madhva's comment is terse to the point of being axiomatic: 'tat-phalam me syad iti anabhisandhaya' — 'without entertaining the thought that this fruit should be mine.' The jiva (individual soul) 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 constitutes a rupture of that dependence. Liberation is not an impersonal dissolution but the jiva's full realization of its servant-nature; 'tat' names the Lord to whom all action is surrendered as pure worship (bhajana). The verse thus establishes zero-self-claiming as the minimal condition for Hari-centered action.

  divergence: Madhva's full gloss is: 'tat-phalam me syad iti anabhisandhaya' — the only commentary supplied; absence of any self-referential claim to the fruit is the entire teaching.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  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 Krsna as the supreme name-bearer. The moksha-seekers who perform yajna and the rest without the worldly fruit (laukikam phalam) are distinguished from all others ('anyais tv anyatha iti nirnayah'), who perform the same acts with different orientations. The verse marks off a distinct class whose every act is structured by Brahman-reference from the start, so that the absence of fruit-desire is not forced renunciation but the natural posture of those already attracted to the source. This is the inner logic of pushti (grace-nourishment): acts flow from Krsna toward Krsna.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'brahmaiva phalam iti laukikam yat tat phalam anabhisandhaya... brahma-vacina tat iti sabdena nirdeshyah yajna-adi-kriyah kriyante moksha-kankshibhir eva. Anyais tv anyatha iti nirnayah.'

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Sridhara presents 'tat' as the second of the three auspicious syllables being expounded in this section of the chapter. Those of purified mind (suddha-citta) who seek liberation utter 'tat' and then, without forming any intention toward the fruit (phala-abhisandhim akrtva), carry out the acts of yajna and the rest. The mechanism he highlights is citta-sodhana — purification of the inner instrument — achieved precisely by abandoning any resolve about the outcome (phala-sankalpas tyagena). The designation of these acts by 'tat' is therefore 'prasamsta' — highly commendable — because the word simultaneously names Brahman and encodes the psychological movement of relinquishment that makes the act a vehicle of liberation.

  divergence: Sridhara: 'suddha-cittair moksha-kankshibhih purusaih phala-abhisandhim akrtva yajna-adyah kriyah kriyante... citta-sodhana-dvarena phala-sankalpa-tyajanena mumuksutva-sampada-katvat tat-sabda-nirdeshab prasastah ity arthah.'

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  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, and dana are performed by moksha-seekers with this name declared (udahrta) and with no fruit-orientation, specifically for the purpose of purifying the antahkarana (inner organ). The synthesis he achieves is characteristically integrative: jnana (the Upanishadic referent of 'tat') and bhakti (the devotional impulse that makes the inner-instrument fit) are not competing paths but cooperating causes — the Brahman-name purifies the instrument that will then directly intuit Brahman. Hence 'ati-prasastam etat' — this is supremely commendable.

  divergence: Madhusudana: 'tat tvam asi ity-adi-shruti-prasiddham tat iti brahmanah nama udahrtvya phalam anabhisandhaya antahkarana-shuddhy-artham yajna-tapah-kriya dana-kriyash ca vividha moksha-kankshibhih kriyante — tasmat ati-prasastam etat.'