Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 17, Verse 26: Krishna to Arjuna — Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  The syllable 'sat' (existence, reality) is the name of Brahman itself, deployed in three registers: to affirm sheer existence where absence might be imputed (as when one says a man's son exists), to affirm virtuous conduct where vice might be suspected, and to consecrate auspicious ritual acts such as marriage. Shankara reads the three usages as one: 'sat' names Brahman, and each application reminds speaker and hearer that the ultimately real underlies every legitimate predication. The verse is thus a semantic anchor — any act called 'sat' is implicitly referred back to the non-dual ground.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Ramanuja extends the range of 'sat' across all objects and all Vedic usages: wherever existence (vidyamana-ta, being-present) or goodness (kalyana-bhava, auspicious quality) is being named, the word 'sat' is the correct Vedic term. When a worshipper performs an auspicious worldly act and calls it 'sat-karma,' he is identifying that act as aligned with the divine goodness (kalyane) inhering in Bhagavan who is the inner self of all. 'Sat' thus binds cosmological presence, moral excellence, and liturgical sanction into a single Vedic term whose ultimate referent is the Lord.

• Madhvadvaita

  Madhva's compressed gloss reads 'sad-bhava' as pointing to generation or manifestation (prajanana) — 'sat' marks what Hari has brought into being. Crucially, when yajne (sacrifice), dane (giving), and tapasi (austerity) are performed with the syllable 'Om Tat Sat' and without fruit-desire (anabhisandhaya phalam), the identity of the act's name with Brahman's name signals that Brahman himself has accomplished the act. The jiva's role is dependent instrument; the real agent is Hari, whose name-equivalence with 'sat' proves his ultimate authorship of every genuine sacred act.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Vallabha grounds 'sat' in the Vedantic axiom that 'sat' names what simply is (asti iti sat, that which exists). 'Sad-bhave' means: the manifest thing (vastu) in which Being has become visible (avirbhutam). The important move is that 'sat' signals not mere logical predication but Brahman's own self-disclosure in each existing thing; when goodness (sadhu-tva) and auspicious karma are called 'sat,' it is because the all-pervading Brahman (sarvatra-shravana) is present there and authorizes the usage. Every legitimate use of the word is thus a moment of Brahman's self-manifestation in the world.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Sridhara reads this verse as an explication of the praiseworthy scope of the word 'sat' (sac-chabdasya prashastya). First register: existence — 'Devadatta's son exists' (asti) is a correct use. Second register: quality — 'Devadatta's son is excellent' (shreshtham) is equally correct. Third register: auspicious act — when a marriage ceremony is called 'sat idam karma,' the word marks the rite as mangalika (auspicious, good-omened). Sridhara's reading is explicitly lexicographic, cataloguing the domains where 'sat' legitimately operates before the next verse applies all three to Om-Tat-Sat ritual performance.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusudana anchors 'sat' directly in shruti: 'sad eva somya idam agra asit' (Chandogya 6.2.1) — before creation, only Being (sat) was. This is the primary Brahman-name. Its two corrective functions follow: where non-existence might be doubted, 'sat' affirms existence; where badness might be suspected, 'sat' affirms virtue. From this the consequential point emerges: calling a sacrifice 'sat' resolves both doubts simultaneously — it declares the act to be real (its fruit will actually come) and good (no defect obstructs it). The third usage, auspicious acts like marriage, inherits this double assurance: 'sat-karma' means the act is unobstructed and will bear fruit swiftly.