Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 18, Verse 4: Krishna to Arjuna — Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Hear from me the settled determination (nishchaya) concerning this matter of tyaga, O best of the Bharatas. Tyaga is threefold — tamasic, rajasic, and sattvic — as declared in the scriptures; this threefold division belongs to the karma-adhikari (one qualified for action), not to the knower of the Self (paramartha-darshi). Because the karmi who has not realized the Self can relinquish in three corrupted modes, Krishna's authoritative word is required to distinguish the path that prepares for jnana.

  divergence: Shankara: 'tamisadibhedena tyagasannyasashabdavachyah arthah adhikritasya karminah anatmajnasya trividhah sambhavati na paramarthadarshinah' — threefold tyaga belongs to the non-Self-knower, not to the seer of ultimate truth.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Hear my determination concerning tyaga, O Arjuna, for I have already declared threefold renunciation — of fruit, of ownership (mamata), and of agentship (kartritva) — earlier in 3.30 where I said 'mayi sarvani karmani sannyasya.' All Vedic action performed as kainkarya (service) to Bhagavan involves these three layers of surrender: relinquishing the fruit as 'this must not accrue to me,' relinquishing ownership of the action as 'this work is His, not mine,' and relinquishing the sense of independent agentship by contemplating the Lord as the true kartri.

  divergence: Ramanuja: 'karmajanyam svargadikam phalam mama na syad iti phalatyagah... sarveshvare kartritvanusamdhanena atmanah kartrtatyagah' — three-fold tyaga as surrender of fruit, mamata, and kartritva to Ishvara.

• Madhvadvaita

  Hear the firm determination (nishchaya) concerning tyaga, O tiger among men. The threefold character of tyaga corresponds to the threefold division of sacrifice (yajna) declared from 4.28 onward; even dana (gift) includes abhaya-dana (gift of fearlessness). Among these varieties some form of yajna-adi is always obligatory — the Vyasa-smriti confirms that for brahmachari, grhastha, vanaprastha, or sannyasi, obligatory duty (kartavya) is non-negotiable. Where a statement appears to conflict, it must be reconciled by reference to adhikara-bheda (difference in qualification).

  divergence: Madhva: 'yajnabheda ukto dravyayajnah [4.28] ityadina... yatkincidyajnadikam kartavyameveti arthah' — some form of sacrifice is always obligatory; apparent contradictions resolved by adhikara.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  The Vedic determination (shruta-nishchaya) has been stated; now Krishna declares his own nishchaya directly, because without this clarification tyaga can be reduced to a secondary (gauna) sense. The threefold tyaga — tamasic, rajasic, sattvic — has been proclaimed; and within the sattvic mode, as taught in BG 3.30, offering all actions to Krishna (mayi sarvani karmani sannyasya) with the awareness 'I act under His power, this kartritva is His' constitutes the real surrendering. This is Pushti-pantha: not earned renunciation but the prasada of recognizing that Krsna is the true kartri of every act.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'myi karmani sannyasya samarpya tatkartritvam myyanusamdhaya tadadhinashaktir idam karomi iti dhiya kritakarmansu kartritvamamamatva-phalanam tyago yah sa sannyasa iti' — surrendering kartritva to Krishna is the real tyaga.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Having presented the disagreement among teachers, Krishna now offers his own siddhanta: 'Hear my nishchaya.' Tyaga may seem familiar to the world, but it is in fact difficult to comprehend (durbodha), hence the address 'O best of men (purushavyaghra).' This difficulty is precisely why the knowledge-holders (tattva-vids) have carefully delineated it as threefold — tamasic, rajasic, sattvic — and that threefold analysis will follow in 'niyatasya tu sannyasah' and subsequent verses.

  divergence: Shridhara: 'tyago ayam durbodha... karmatyagastattvvidbhistamisadibhedena trividhah samyagvivekena prakirtitah' — tyaga is difficult to grasp and hence requires the careful threefold discrimination by the tattva-vids.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusudana opens three distinct analytical registers simultaneously: (1) the threefold tyaga for the karma-adhikari is distinguished by whether fruit, action, or both are relinquished; (2) a further non-adjectival (vishishta-abhava-rupa) reading yields a different threefold — absence of the qualifier, of the qualified, and of both; (3) beyond the karma-adhikari's tyaga stands the jnani's double path: vividisha-sannyasa (renunciation that enables seeking, purifying the antahkarana) and vidvat-sannyasa (the spontaneous dropping of all action by one in whom Self-knowledge has fully dawned). This verse is thus addressed to Arjuna as karma-adhikari, not as a question about the jnani's stateless liberation.

  divergence: Madhusudana: 'phalaabhisandhi-purvaka-karmatyagah... trividhah... prathamah sattvika adeyah... viviidisha-sannyasah... vidvat-sannyasah' — the two-level sannyasa (vividiisha and vidvat) and the three-fold karma-adhikari tyaga as analytically distinct domains.