Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 18, Verse 46: Krishna to Arjuna — Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  From the antarayamin (inner controller), who is Ishvara, arises the pravitti (activity and origin) of all beings; by that same Ishvara this entire world is pervaded (tatam). By worshipping (abhyarcya) that Ishvara through one's own prescribed duty (sva-karma), the human being attains the siddhi (perfection) that is the qualifying state for jnana-nishtha (steadfastness in knowledge). Shankara is precise: the siddhi here is not liberation itself but the antahkarana-shuddhi (purification of inner faculty) that makes the aspirant eligible for jnana. Sva-karma is not an end; it is the preparation that exhausts its own necessity.

  divergence: Shankara: 'siddhi' = 'kevalain jnananishtayogyatalakshanam' — qualification for jnana-nishtha alone, not final mukti. Abhyarcana of Ishvara as antaryamin through varna-specific karma.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  That Bhagavan from whom the origin and all activity (utpattyadi-pravritti) of beings proceeds, and by whom all this is pervaded, is none other than the Lord dwelling as antaratman within Indra and all presiding deities. By worshipping that 'me' (mam) through one's sva-karma as a form of kainkarya (loving service), the human being attains, by my prasada (grace), the siddhi that is mat-prapti (attainment of Me). Ramanuja cross-links explicitly to BG 7.6, 9.4, 9.10, 10.8: the source, pervasion, and sustaining of the cosmos is Bhagavan himself, so every act of duty is inherently directed toward Him.

  divergence: Ramanuja: 'svakarmana tam mam...abhyarcya mat-prasadat mat-praptirupa siddhi' — siddhi = mat-prapti, not merely jnana-qualification. The 'tam' of the verse is glossed as 'mam' (first-person Bhagavan), not impersonal Ishvara.

• Madhvadvaita

  *Yataḥ pravṛttir bhūtānāṃ* — from whom alone proceeds the activity of all beings — names *Hari* as the sole *svatantra* (independently real, self-sufficient) source. The cosmic pervading indicated by *yena sarvam idaṃ tatam* is Hari's own inherent omnipresence, not a diffusion of impersonal being; the *pañca-bheda* (the five-fold real distinction: Lord–*jīva*, Lord–matter, *jīva*–*jīva*, *jīva*–matter, matter–matter) remains intact even within that pervasion. *Svakarmaṇā tam abhyarcya*: *svakarmā* — one's own duty-bound action performed according to *varṇa* and *āśrama* — is valid only insofar as it is directed toward Hari as explicit worship; the *jīva*, being wholly *paratantra* (eternally dependent), possesses no autonomous efficacy in the act. *Siddhiṃ vindati mānavaḥ*: the *siddhi* (highest attainment) reached here is not dissolution of the *jīva* into Brahman but a real arrival at Hari's grace — *anugraha* — which alone converts *svakarmā* into a vehicle of liberation. The *taratamya* (graded ontological hierarchy) of *jīvas* is preserved throughout: no *jīva*'s *svakarma* carries intrinsic soteriological weight; it orients the *jīva*'s dependence rightly, securing *bhakti* as ontological subordination to the *svatantra* Lord.

  divergence: No Madhva or Jayatīrtha bhāṣya on this verse survives in the corpus; the reading is voiced directly from dvaita siddhānta applied to the mūla.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  From Brahman (aksara) — which is Bhagavan's own svarupa — proceeds that ancient pravrtti (pravrttih prasrta purani, cf. BG 15.4), and by that same Bhagavan this is pervaded. By worshipping that Bhagavan alone — not any other deity (na tu devantaram) — through sva-karma, one attains siddhi, which is mukti. Vallabha's emphasis is sharp: the verse rules out devata-worship of any kind; sva-karma is valid only when directed to Krsna himself as the sole source and pervader. In Pushti-marga, this siddhi is the grace-sustained rasa of seva, not an earned fruit.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'na tu devantaram — tada siddhim muktim prapnoti svakarmana' — moksha only when sva-karma aimed at Bhagavan, not intermediate deities. Connects to BG 15.4 'pravrttih prasrta purani'.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  From the Parameshvara who is the antarayamin (inner mover), the activity (pravitti, cheshtha) of all living beings arises; by that same Lord who is the karanatman (causal self), this entire universe is pervaded (tatam, vyaptam). By worshipping (abhyarcya, pujayitva) that Ishvara through one's own sva-karma, a human being attains siddhi. Sridhara's reading is devotionally balanced: he glosses 'pravitti' as 'cheshtha' (movement, effort), connecting it to the Lord as both source and sustainer, and treats the worship as direct bhakti-in-action rather than a mere qualification for jnana.

  divergence: Sridhara: 'yato'ntaryaminah parameshvarat...pravritticheshtah bhavati...tamisvaram svakarmana'bhyarcya pujayitva siddhim labhate manushyah.'

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  From Ishvara — who is chaitanya-ananda-ghana (dense consciousness-bliss), the Maya-upadhi (Maya-conditioned) sarva-antaryamin — arises the Maya-produced pravitti of beings, as dream-born chariots arise from the dreamer. By the one sat-svarupa (existence-nature) and sphurana (self-luminosity) all this visible world in all three times is pervaded and contained within that self alone. By worshipping that antarayamin Bhagavan through varna-ashrama-specific sva-karma, the human being attains siddhi in the form of antahkarana-shuddhi and thereby the qualification for aikatmya-jnana-nishtha (steadfastness in non-dual knowledge). Madhusudhana weaves Taittiriya Upanishad ('yato va imani bhutani jayante') and Svetasvatara ('mayam tu prakrtim vidyan mayinam tu maheshvaram') into the bhashya, grounding the verse in shruti itself.

  divergence: Madhusudhana: siddhi = 'aikatmyajnananishtayogyatalakshanam antahkaranasuddhi'. Quotes TaittU 3.1.1 and SVU 4.10 to establish Ishvara as both upadana and nimitta karana. Synthesis of Shankara's jnana-qualification with direct Bhagavan-facing abhyarcana.