BG 2.52 — Sāṅkhya-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 2.52Chapter 2 · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

यदा ते मोहकलिलं बुद्धिर् व्यतितरिष्यति ।

तदा गन्तासि निर्वेदं श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च ॥

yadā te moha-kalilaṃ buddhir vyatitariṣyati

tadā gantāsi nirvedaṃ śrotavyasya śrutasya ca

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

When your mind crosses through the dense fog of delusion, you will feel a deep dispassion toward everything you have heard and everything yet to be heard.

ekras · bhāṣya

Krishna names the inner threshold the practice will eventually cross. "When your buddhi shall have crossed over the moha-kalila, then you will reach nirveda toward what has been heard and what has yet to be heard." Two technical terms hold the verse. Moha-kalila — the dense thicket of delusion.

Shridhara reads moha as deha-adi-atma-buddhi, the identification of the self with the body and its extensions; kalila as the impenetrable thicket-state of that identification. The metaphor is precise. A thicket is not a single obstacle to push past but a tangle of many small obstacles that catches every limb. Most lives are spent inside it without recognizing it as the cause of difficulty. Crossing it is what the buddhi is being trained to do.

Madhusudana refuses to give a kala-niyama — a time-rule — for when this crossing will arrive. There is no fixed schedule. The cultivation has to continue; the threshold will appear when the conditions for it are met. The verse names the recognizable mark of having crossed. Nirveda — a deep dispassion. Specifically, nirveda toward the shrotavyasya cha shrutasya — toward what has been heard already and what is yet to be heard. The Vedic shastra-content, the philosophical positions, the interpretive schools, all the layers of teaching one might still pursue: when the moha-kalila is crossed, the appetite for one more layer falls away. Not because the layers are wrong, but because the seeking-and-acquiring orientation that was driving the appetite has dropped. The verse is a milestone-marker.

Krishna is telling Arjuna what to look for in himself as the practice settles.

Context

where

Chapter 2 · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 2.51

Those who act with steady understanding, giving up the fruits that action breeds, break free from the bondage of rebirth and reach a state untouched by sorrow.

What's going on

When your mind crosses through the dense fog of delusion, you will feel a deep dispassion toward everything you have heard and everything yet to be heard.

Sūtras through this verse (111)

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

2.18'Imperishable' is said to mark off the Lord.───→here2.52───→4.24Every word for ritual points back to Viṣṇu.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

2.47Hold no mine-ness on body or on fruit.───→here2.52───→4.23Clinging to anything is what binds you.

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.───→here2.52───→3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.

show all 111

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesstation

───→here2.52───→

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

2.18Image perishes, source endures───→here2.52───→4.13Creates yet uncreated

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

2.20The soul is conscious but only as reflection.───→here2.52───→3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionbetween

2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.───→here2.52───→2.72Body-loss in the verse is only material body.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksbetween

2.18The image perishes, but the source endures.───→here2.52───→4.13He creates and yet is uncreated by it.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

2.50Six texts in thirty lines carry the long excursus.───→here2.52───→2.72The verse closes with the Akṣapāda rejection.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

2.49Action without wisdom is the lower zone.───→here2.52───→3.3Two registers, one task, told two ways.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

2.46Scripture is a small well when the flood arrives.───→here2.52───→2.55Steady wisdom is what direct vision produces.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

2.50Even in liberation grace remains the agent.───→here2.52───→2.72Many lives of bhakti precede the final crossing.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotbetween

2.24When two scriptures clash the higher one rules.───→here2.52───→2.72Akṣapāda and Kaṇāda are simply ruled out.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here2.52───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoireapproach

───→here2.52───→2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

2.10Thesis flat───→here2.52───→3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipbetween

2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva───→here2.52───→6.7'Jitatmanah prashantasya paramatma samahitah.' For the self-conquered, in-peace,

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

2.50Thumb. Kausalam. 'Yogah karmasu kausalam' is the line Gaurav opens the whole mne───→here2.52───→3.27Palm, kartala. Akartritva, non-doership. 'Prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani s

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralbetween

2.27'Jatasya hi dhruvo mrityur dhruvam janma mritasya cha.' Death is certain for the───→here2.52───→8.6'Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam.' Whatever state of being one remembers at the last

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

2.22'Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya' — body as worn-out clothes. Sister verse to 2.13,───→here2.52───→3.27Karma pillar. The 'ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate' line is where Gaura

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netibetween

2.20'Na jayate mriyate va kadachit, nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah, ajo nityah sh───→here2.52───→6.20'Yatroparamate chittam niruddham yoga-sevaya, yatra chaivatmana'tmanam pashyann

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseasebetween

2.11The wise mourn neither the living nor the dead.───→here2.52───→2.69Ignorance is night, wisdom alone wakes.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.───→here2.52───→3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.───→here2.52───→3.1If insight is higher, why this dreadful work?

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

2.39So far for the seeker of the real; now hear yoga.───→here2.52───→2.69Action holds only while ignorance still holds.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.───→here2.52───→3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sidebetween

2.24Uncuttable, unburnt, steady, all-pervading.───→here2.52───→13.5Field and knower: body-self cut returns.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by versebetween

2.24No jaḍa-property fits the dehin.───→here2.52───→7.5Higher prakṛti is Lakṣmī, not matter.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.───→here2.52───→2.72Old-age renunciation is off topic here.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.───→here2.52───→2.72Chapter closes here; upasaṁharati names it.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātrabetween

2.50Smṛti runs nine citations deep.───→here2.52───→2.62Smṛti pins each link of the chain.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhabetween

2.50Nanu opens, smṛti runs nine deep.───→here2.52───→3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga literal, not external schools.───→here2.52───→3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

2.50Each chain closes with iti śeṣaḥ.───→here2.52───→2.68Supply marks the chapter-seal gap.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

2.47Only a human body can do new action.───→here2.52───→3.5No one can stop acting even for a moment.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

2.47Even renouncing has three flavors.───→here2.52───→3.27The modes act, ego claims to do.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here2.52───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.───→here2.52───→7.1Mind on Me, refuge wholly in Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.───→here2.52───→5.18See a sage, a cow, a dog as one.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here2.52───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here2.52───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here2.52───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here2.52───→4.11'Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham.' As they approach me, so I

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here2.52───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here2.52───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it wereapproach

───→here2.52───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here2.52───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here2.52───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here2.52───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here2.52───→4.11Fruit proportional to the service offered.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionapproach

───→here2.52───→2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomapproach

───→here2.52───→2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here2.52───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here2.52───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunaexit

2.11'Ashochyan anvashochas tvam prajna-vadamsh cha bhashase.' You grieve those not t───→here2.52───→

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

2.47Right to action───→here2.52───→3.3Two paths, named

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourbetween · v2

2.22Worn-out garments───→here2.52───→8.5Last-thought rule

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

2.22Worn-out garments───→here2.52───→4.16Even the wise are confused

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

2.41Single-pointed buddhi───→here2.52───→9.22Yogakshema for the undivided

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.───→here2.52───→6.46Inner-self hexad closes; pivot prepared.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

2.47Primary fitness needs ripened conditions.───→here2.52───→2.55Same words: fruit for one, means for one.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

2.47Four objections in one paragraph. Anchor.───→here2.52───→7.1Doubt about refuge, blocked by mad-āśraya.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.───→here2.52───→3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

2.48Yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi: stand and act.───→here2.52───→3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

2.39Wisdom section wound up here.───→here2.52───→6.46Dhyāna section sealed: yogin is supreme.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.───→here2.52───→3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentapproach · v2

───→here2.52───→2.55Sthitaprajna defined

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here2.52───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here2.52───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here2.52───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here2.52───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateapproach

───→here2.52───→2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here2.52───→

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind───→here2.52───→3.30Offer all your acts

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.───→here2.52───→3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.───→here2.52───→5.4Only the foolish call the two paths different.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personbetween

2.16Real and unreal sort into pure and impure.───→here2.52───→7.4Lower nature is eight-fold; higher is the soul-collective.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordbetween

2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.───→here2.52───→6.46The yogi closing the ṣaṭka is a mind-stiller.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.───→here2.52───→3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.───→here2.52───→3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

2.47The unready can only act, not yet know.───→here2.52───→3.30Even a seeker not-yet-pure offers, drops fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

2.47Action offered, fruit-free, cannot bear bondage.───→here2.52───→3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

2.39Like light and dark, they cannot share a place.───→here2.52───→2.69The knower wakes to what the world sleeps to.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

2.11Anchor: two confusions — one universal, one yours alone.───→here2.52───→11.1Arjuna marks the universal moha cured.

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here2.52───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here2.52───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here2.52───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningapproach

───→here2.52───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here2.52───→3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

2.12From here to 18.66: one Krishna-utterance.───→here2.52───→5.16Knowledge dispels what mā śucaḥ will close.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorbetween

2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga split: not two methods, two angles.───→here2.52───→7.18The jñānin is dearest; not interchangeable.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.───→here2.52───→3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.───→here2.52───→3.3Two paths, one orientation toward Me.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

2.11First grief — chapter-1 cowardice — closed.───→here2.52───→5.16Knowledge-darkness cleared — not yet refuge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here2.52───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here2.52───→4.11'Yathā' is open; the verb is the gate.

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

2.11Confusing self with body is the source of grief.───→here2.52───→13.2For their rescue, truth-knowledge is uttered.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.───→here2.52───→3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here2.52───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here2.52───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here2.52───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here2.52───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerbetween

2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.───→here2.52───→3.1Knowing versus acting is the wrong cut.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessbetween

2.45Exit the modes — not better modes are the goal.───→here2.52───→7.12Modes from the Lord — the Lord not in them.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesbetween

2.20Cit alone — the self cannot be destroyed.───→here2.52───→8.3Brahman, ātman, all facets of one Lord.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here2.52───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here2.52───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

2.39Practice seam begins.───→here2.52───→6.46The yogi outranks every other path.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.───→here2.52───→3.3Action without claim = worship.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here2.52───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here2.52───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

Śabda · lemmas (12 unique · 12 occurrences)

श्रोतव्यस्य śru — to hear (verbal root) · genitive neuter singular gdv noun
श्रुतस्य √śru — to hear (verbal root) · genitive neuter singular participle noun
गन्तासि √gam — to go (verbal root) · future indicative peri 2nd person singular verb
व्यतितरिष्यति √vyatitṛ — to cross over, pass beyond (vi- + ati- + √tṛ) · future indicative 3rd person singular verb

show all 12

यदा yadā — when
ते tvad — you (2nd person pronoun stem) · genitive singular noun
मोह moha — delusion, infatuation, bewilderment · compound
कलिलम् kalila — covered, mass, thicket · accusative neuter singular noun
बुद्धिः buddhi — intellect, intelligence, discriminating faculty · nominative feminine singular noun
तदा tadā — then, at that time
निर्वेदम् nirveda — indifference, disgust with the world (nis- + veda) · accusative masculine singular noun
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)

Praśna · so what (7)

01The verse says buddhi 'crosses' the moha-kalila (turbidity of delusion) — does this crossing happen in one decisive moment (like waking from sleep) or is it a gradual thinning, and does the answer differ between the schools?
02All six schools treat nirveda as the downstream marker of a purified buddhi, not as a practice one cultivates directly — what does that imply for someone who is trying to 'manufacture' dispassion through willpower?

show all 7

03Śrīdhara and Vallabha both invoke Parameśvara-prasāda (the Lord's grace) as the operative cause of crossing — how does that differ, structurally, from Śaṅkara's account where karma-yoga purifies the antaḥkaraṇa through the sādhaka's own viveka-jā-prajñā?
04Madhva insists that even after the buddhi crosses the moha-swamp the jñāni does NOT become indifferent to hearing Hari's glories — how does his reading of 'śruta-śrotavya' (the heard and the yet-to-be-heard) differ from Śaṅkara's, and which textual signal licenses each reading?
05The mūla specifies 'śrōtavyasya śrutasya ca' (of what is to be heard AND what has been heard) — what is the significance of including both tenses, and do the commentators treat past śravaṇa (hearing) and future śravaṇa as symmetrically disposable?
06Madhusūdana refuses to give a kāla-niyama (time-rule) for sattva-śuddhi — is this epistemically humble or does it risk leaving the sādhaka without a testable criterion for their own progress?
07BG 2.52 occupies a transitional position — it describes what happens when the buddhi matures, while 2.53 will describe the final settled state — how do the schools differ in reading these verses as sequence versus simultaneous arrival?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Every time a decision feels urgent because of what others will think, recognize that urgency as moha-kalila (the turbidity of delusion) coating the antaḥkaraṇa. The Advaita practice is not to suppress the noise but to keep asking 'whose urgency is this?' — letting the ātman-anātman viveka (discrimination between self and not-self) slowly clarify the water. When you notice that a cherished goal or a feared outcome no longer grips you — not because you talked yourself out of it but because the grip simply released — that is the sign Śaṅkara points to: the buddhi has, in that domain, vyatitīrṇa (crossed) the swamp.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Rāmānuja's reading invites the practitioner to reframe every task at work or at home as kainkarya (service) offered to Bhagavān rather than a transaction yielding a personal return. Over months of this reframing, the excitement about promotions, recognition, or outcomes will begin to feel thinner — not forced thinness, but a natural nirdhūta-kalmaṣa (shedding of defilement). When a colleague takes credit for your work and you find yourself mildly curious rather than wounded, that equanimity is Rāmānuja's signal: the buddhi has been sufficiently purified to act from the yoga-lakṣaṇa (the characteristic mark of yoga-as-service) rather than from craving.

show all 6

Dvaita

Madhva's reading corrects a misreading common in modern spirituality: dispassion does not mean indifference to beauty, music, scripture, or Hari-kathā (stories of Hari). The Dvaita sādhaka continues to hear, relish, and seek out devotional content — because that śravaṇa is not a karma-phala-seeking act but an expression of causeless bhakti (ahaituikī bhakti). The practical test: if hearing a beautiful kirtan still opens your chest while negotiating a salary increase no longer consumes your nights, your nirveda is tracking correctly — you have become indifferent to petti-phala (trivial fruit) while remaining fully alive to Hari's mahimā (glories).

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's reading places the turning-point inside the quality of the buddhi itself, not in external achievement. In daily life this means: instead of accumulating more techniques, more workshops, or more advice (all of which belong to the realm of the śrotavya — what is yet to be heard), the Puṣṭi-mārgī invites the buddhi to simply rest in Kṛṣṇa's prasāda-grace. When you notice that the impulse to research another solution or read another book has quietly dissolved — not through discipline but through a kind of natural saturation — the nirveda Vallabha describes is already present, and the buddhi is approaching its acalā-avasthā (immovable state) that opens into yoga-svarūpa.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's key contribution is the causal arrow: it is the Parameśvara-ārādhana (dedicated worship) that dissolves the deha-abhimāna (body-identification), not the reverse. For everyday practice this means: rather than trying to overcome ego-attachment through self-analysis, sustain a daily ritual of worship — pūjā (ritual offering), nāma-japa (repetition of the divine name), or satsaṅga (company of the wise) — and watch whether the body-identified anxieties thin on their own. The criterion Śrīdhara gives is practical: you will know the thicket has been crossed when the question 'what will I get from this?' no longer arises as you sit down to pray, study, or serve.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's refusal of a kāla-niyama (time-rule) is itself practical counsel: stop measuring your spiritual progress by elapsed calendar time, and instead watch for qualitative shifts in the antaḥkaraṇa. The sign is vaitṛṣṇya (freedom from craving) — not a forced detachment but the natural evaporation of the aham-idam-mama complex (I-this-mine overlay) that previously made every outcome feel personally momentous. In daily terms: when a project failure at work registers as information rather than as a verdict on your worth, and when planning for next year's success no longer carries the same charge of necessity, the antaḥkaraṇa-śuddhi Madhusūdana describes is underway — the buddhi is crossing the moha-swamp, even if no date was fixed for the crossing.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 2, Verse 52: Krishna to Arjuna — Sāṅkhya-Yoga