Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 18, Verse 71: Krishna to Arjuna — Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Even the person who merely hears this teaching with faith (shraddha) and without envy (asuya) — let alone one who grasps its meaning — is freed from sin and attains the auspicious worlds of those who perform meritorious acts such as the agnihotra. Shankara notes the 'api' (even) marks ascending force: mere hearing surpasses elaborate ritual, how much more so genuine understanding. The teacher's duty is to keep finding new means until the student is established in the truth.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  The person who hears this scripture with faith and without envy is freed specifically from sins that obstruct bhakti (bhakti-virodhi-papebhyah muktah) — Ramanuja specifies this class of sin, not sin in general. Such a hearer then attains the worlds of those who are devoted to Bhagavan, the communities of His bhaktas. Hearing itself, as an act of kainkarya, carries transformative power proportional to the orientation of the heart toward the Lord.

• Madhvadvaita

  *Śraddhā* (faith) and *anasūyā* (absence of envy) are the two *paratantra* qualities that open the *jīva* to Hari's teaching. The mūla states: *śraddhāvānanasūyaś ca śṛṇuyād api yo naraḥ / so'pi muktaḥ śubhāl lokān prāpnuyāt puṇyakarmaṇām* — even such a one who merely *hears* attains liberation and the auspicious *lokāḥ* (spheres) of those who have performed meritorious deeds. In *dvaita* reading, *mukta* here does not name dissolution into Brahman but real arrival at the *śubha-lokāḥ* appropriate to the *jīva*'s grade within *taratamya* (the graded ontological hierarchy of liberated souls). The hearing itself is not self-generated; it is Hari's *svatantra* (independently real, self-sufficient) will that draws the *jīva* receptively into the transmission of the Gītā-śāstra. *Anasūyā* is the *pañca-bheda* (five-fold real distinction: Lord–jīva, Lord–matter, jīva–jīva, jīva–matter, matter–matter) correctly acknowledged — no resentment at the Lord's absolute supremacy, no leveling of the distinction between *svatantra* Hari and *paratantra jīva*. Where that *bheda* is accepted and *śraddhā* is present, even passive audition of the Gītā accrues the *puṇya* of the highest *karma*, and *mukti* follows by Hari's free conferral, not by the *jīva*'s autonomous effort.

  divergence: Madhva and Jayatīrtha are silent on this verse. The reading draws *mukta* away from any advaitic dissolution-reading toward the dvaita doctrine of differentiated liberation: the liberated *jīva* retains its distinct identity and attains graded *śubha-lokāḥ* within *taratamya*, not merger with *brahman*.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  [Vallabha's commentary reads only 'spashta-arthah' — the meaning is evident — offering no elaboration.] Within Pushti-marga's spirit: the one who hears with shraddha participates in the Lord's own lila-prasada; Krishna's words are not instruction but gift, and mere reception with a trusting heart already draws the hearer into the company of the punya-karminam — those whom Krishna has blessed with acts of puṇya.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Shridhara addresses the case of a third party who overhears someone else reciting aloud: even such a bystander, if faithful and free from the carping thought 'why does he chant so loudly?' or 'he chants carelessly,' is freed from all sins and attains worlds earned by asvamedha and similar great sacrificial acts. The condition is twofold — sraddha (faith) and asuya-rahitatva (absence of fault-finding) — both being qualities of the receptive heart.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusudan distinguishes three levels of hearer: the one who merely catches the syllables (kevala-akshara-matra-shrota), the faithful hearer without envy, and the one who knows the meaning. Even the lowest — the mere syllable-hearer with faith and no fault-finding — is freed from sins and attains the praiseworthy worlds of those who have performed asvamedha and similar acts. 'What then need be said of the one who knows?' — the ascending scale from bare hearing to full jnana is implied by the 'api.'