BG 2.58 — Sāṅkhya-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 2.58Chapter 2 · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

यदा संहरते चायं कूर्मो ऽङ्गानीव सर्वशः ।

इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस् तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ॥

yadā saṃharate cāyaṃ kūrmo 'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ

indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā

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

meaning

When you draw your senses back from their objects, as a tortoise pulls its limbs inside the shell, your wisdom stands firm.

ekras · bhāṣya

Krishna gives the analogy that lives in the ear long after the chapter ends. "As a tortoise draws its limbs in from every side — when this one withdraws the senses from sense-objects, that one's prajna stands established." The tortoise — kurma — is the chosen image. When threat or adversity approaches, the tortoise pulls its limbs into the shell. When the conditions change, it sends them out again. The withdrawal is not a fixed condition; it is a capacity exercised at will.

Vallabha reads the analogy through svabhava — innate nature. Just as the tortoise withdraws its limbs anayasena, effortlessly, without external compulsion, so the sthita-prajna does not perform sense-withdrawal as a strain. The capacity sits inside the nature; it operates without being summoned.

Ramanuja sharpens the timing. The sthita-prajna does not wait until the senses have already wandered toward an object and then yank them back. The very moment they are poised to reach outward — tada eva, at that precise moment — the withdrawal is exercised. The yogi has installed the capacity at the boundary, not at the recovery.

Madhusudana adds the two-phase shape. During samadhi the senses are withdrawn naturally; during vyutthana — when the prarabdha-karma stirs the body again — the senses move outward and are withdrawn at will. Both phases share the same prajna-pratishtha: the wisdom standing established. The image is one that any reader, child or sage, can carry. The chapter has been giving doctrinal arguments for fifteen verses; here the teaching becomes a picture you can hold in your hand.

Context

where

Chapter 2 · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 2.57

The one who clings to nothing, and meets good or bad fortune without exulting or recoiling, has wisdom that stands firm.

What's going on

When you draw your senses back from their objects, as a tortoise pulls its limbs inside the shell, your wisdom stands firm.

Sūtras through this verse (111)

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

2.18'Imperishable' is said to mark off the Lord.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→4.23Clinging to anything is what binds you.

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.───→here2.58───→3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.

show all 111

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

2.18Image perishes, source endures───→here2.58───→4.13Creates yet uncreated

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

2.20The soul is conscious but only as reflection.───→here2.58───→3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

2.52Higher devotion earns higher liberation.───→here2.58───→4.6Avatāras differ in their fullness of Hari.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionbetween

2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→2.72The verse closes with the Akṣapāda rejection.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

2.49Action without wisdom is the lower zone.───→here2.58───→3.3Two registers, one task, told two ways.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

2.55Steady wisdom is what direct vision produces.───→here2.58───→2.59The taste fades only when the source is seen.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

2.50Even in liberation grace remains the agent.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→2.72Akṣapāda and Kaṇāda are simply ruled out.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.───→here2.58───→4.11'Me' is glossed by what the speaker is doing.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here2.58───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

2.10Thesis flat───→here2.58───→3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipbetween

2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva───→here2.58───→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───→here2.58───→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───→here2.58───→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,───→here2.58───→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───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→2.69Ignorance is night, wisdom alone wakes.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.───→here2.58───→3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→2.69Action holds only while ignorance still holds.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→13.5Field and knower: body-self cut returns.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by versebetween

2.24No jaḍa-property fits the dehin.───→here2.58───→7.5Higher prakṛti is Lakṣmī, not matter.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.───→here2.58───→2.72Old-age renunciation is off topic here.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.───→here2.58───→2.72Chapter closes here; upasaṁharati names it.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

2.50Smṛti runs nine citations deep.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga literal, not external schools.───→here2.58───→3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

2.50Each chain closes with iti śeṣaḥ.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→3.5No one can stop acting even for a moment.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.───→here2.58───→2.62Object pulls gaze, gaze ends in ruin.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

2.47Even renouncing has three flavors.───→here2.58───→3.27The modes act, ego claims to do.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here2.58───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.───→here2.58───→7.1Mind on Me, refuge wholly in Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.───→here2.58───→5.18See a sage, a cow, a dog as one.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.───→here2.58───→4.23Action's flagship verse: it dissolves itself.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here2.58───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here2.58───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here2.58───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here2.58───→4.11'Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham.' As they approach me, so I

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here2.58───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here2.58───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it wereapproach

───→here2.58───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here2.58───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here2.58───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here2.58───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here2.58───→4.11Fruit proportional to the service offered.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here2.58───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here2.58───→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───→here2.58───→

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentstation · v2 · station 2/10

───→here2.58───→

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

2.47Right to action───→here2.58───→3.3Two paths, named

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourbetween · v2

2.22Worn-out garments───→here2.58───→8.5Last-thought rule

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

2.22Worn-out garments───→here2.58───→4.16Even the wise are confused

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

2.41Single-pointed buddhi───→here2.58───→9.22Yogakshema for the undivided

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.───→here2.58───→6.46Inner-self hexad closes; pivot prepared.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

2.55Same words: fruit for one, means for one.───→here2.58───→3.3Three classes, each its own niṣṭhā.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

2.47Four objections in one paragraph. Anchor.───→here2.58───→7.1Doubt about refuge, blocked by mad-āśraya.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.───→here2.58───→3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyatebetween

2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.───→here2.58───→12.12Bhakta's gradient read as description.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

2.48Yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi: stand and act.───→here2.58───→3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

2.39Wisdom section wound up here.───→here2.58───→6.46Dhyāna section sealed: yogin is supreme.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.───→here2.58───→3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here2.58───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here2.58───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here2.58───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here2.58───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here2.58───→

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind───→here2.58───→3.30Offer all your acts

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.───→here2.58───→3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→11.1Arjuna marks the universal moha cured.

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here2.58───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here2.58───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here2.58───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

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

───→here2.58───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→7.18The jñānin is dearest; not interchangeable.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.───→here2.58───→3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.───→here2.58───→3.3Two paths, one orientation toward Me.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

2.11First grief — chapter-1 cowardice — closed.───→here2.58───→5.16Knowledge-darkness cleared — not yet refuge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here2.58───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→13.2For their rescue, truth-knowledge is uttered.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.───→here2.58───→3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here2.58───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here2.58───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here2.58───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here2.58───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerbetween

2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→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.───→here2.58───→8.3Brahman, ātman, all facets of one Lord.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here2.58───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here2.58───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

2.39Practice seam begins.───→here2.58───→6.46The yogi outranks every other path.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.───→here2.58───→3.3Action without claim = worship.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here2.58───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here2.58───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

Śabda · lemmas (13 unique · 13 occurrences)

संहरते saṃ-√hṛ — to withdraw, gather (sam- + √hṛ) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
तस्य tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · genitive masculine singular noun
प्रज्ञा prajñā — wisdom, insight, discriminating intelligence · nominative feminine singular noun
प्रतिष्ठिता prati-√ṣṭhā — foundation, support, established position (prati- + √sthā) · nominative feminine singular participle noun

show all 13

यदा yadā — when
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
अयम् idam — this (proximal demonstrative) · nominative masculine singular noun
कूर्मः kūrma — tortoise · nominative masculine singular noun
अङ्गानि aṅga — limb, body, member; vocative 'O dear' · accusative neuter plural noun
इव iva — like, as if
सर्वशस् sarvaśas — in every way, completely
इन्द्रियाणि indriya — sense, sense-organ; the eleven indriyas (5 jñānendriyas + 5 karmendriyas + manas) · accusative neuter plural noun
इन्द्रियार्थेभ्यः indriyārtha — sense-object (indriya + artha) · ablative masculine plural noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01The verse says 'as a tortoise withdraws its limbs' — but a tortoise withdraws from danger, while wisdom-withdrawal (prajñā-pratiṣṭhā) is not fear-based: what distinguishes mechanical suppression of the senses from genuine pratyāhāra (internalization)?
02Śaṅkara immediately asks: even if the limbs are restrained, the rāga (craving) toward objects persists — so at what point does the kūrma-analogy break down, and what must be added to complete the picture of withdrawal?

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03The verse uses sarvataḥ ('from every direction, completely') — is partial sense-withdrawal possible as a stable state, or does any opening left unguarded eventually destabilize the whole?
04Rāmānuja specifies that the sage withdraws the senses tadā eva (at the very moment they are poised to reach outward) — what does this immediacy imply about the temporal structure of vairagya (dispassion): is it a standing disposition or an active real-time response?
05Vallabha and Śrīdhara both emphasize anāyāsena (effortlessly): what is the relationship between effort-based restraint in the early stages of practice and the effortless natural contraction that marks maturity — and how does a practitioner know which stage they are in?
06Madhusūdana maps the verse onto a two-phase cycle (vyutthāna → samādhi → vyutthāna again): does the kūrma that keeps extending and retracting its limbs represent failure or the normal rhythm of advanced practice?
07Across all six schools the tortoise is a single shared image yet it is read as suppression (Advaita), redirected service (Viśiṣṭādvaita), dependent recoil (Dvaita), effortless fullness (Śuddhādvaita), mature habituation (Bhakti), and loving return (Advaita-Bhakti) — what does this divergence reveal about which element of the analogy each school treats as primary?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When a strong sensory craving arises — food, screen, approval-seeking — the Advaita practitioner does not fight the craving on its own terms but asks: 'to whom is this craving appearing?' This viveka-pṛcchā (discriminative inquiry) is the inward retraction Śaṅkara describes. The discipline is not to avoid the café or the phone but to notice the moment attention leaves the ātman-ground and, without drama, return it — as completely (sarvataḥ) as possible, knowing that any residual rāga is the next day's enquiry.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Rāmānuja's tadā eva (at that precise moment) translates practically as the pause before the reach: before picking up the phone, before the retort, before the second serving — a half-second of deliberate return of the mind to Bhagavān. This is not suppression but re-dedication: the practitioner inwardly offers the sense-energy back to its owner (Bhagavān) rather than spending it on viṣaya. Over time the pause becomes the natural first motion, and the reach becomes genuinely optional.

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Dvaita

Madhva's sarvatra-anabhisneha (non-adhesion everywhere) applied daily means cultivating equal non-clinging toward both successes and failures, pleasant news and unpleasant news. The practitioner trains to receive both śubha and aśubha as Hari's dispensation — not through passive resignation but through the active recognition that the jīva (individual) does not own outcomes. A useful discipline: before labeling an event 'good' or 'bad,' pause and ask 'whose is this?' — the answer steadies the senses without suppressing experience.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's anāyāsena (effortless) withdrawal points to the practice of filling the senses with Kṛṣṇa's forms first — nāma-smaraṇa (name-remembrance), rūpa-dhyāna (form-meditation), kīrtana — so that when external viṣaya arise they find no vacancy to occupy. The practical implication: instead of fighting distraction by suppression, the Puṣṭi-mārga practitioner crowds out distraction by saturating attention with Kṛṣṇa's sweetness before entering potentially distracting situations (commute, social media, difficult conversations).

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's reading of svabhāva (natural character) as the key to effortless withdrawal suggests a long-arc application: the practitioner cultivates sangha (company), texts, and daily rituals that gradually make devotional orientation the default mode of the nervous system. Just as the tortoise's withdrawal is habit not heroism, the bhakta works to make Bhagavān-orientation structurally habitual — scheduling the day so that satsaṅga, pāṭha (recitation), and seva (service) are the lowest-effort default, and sense-indulgence requires extra friction.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's two-phase rhythm (vyutthāna/scattering → samādhi/return) normalises the experience of 'I was present, then I got pulled away, now I'm back.' The practical discipline is the re-centering itself — not shame about having been distracted but the swift, warm return, like a practitioner of mantra who has drifted mid-recitation: the distraction is not the failure, failing to return is. Each conscious return is simultaneously a jñāna-act (recognising the movement of vṛttis) and a bhakti-act (returning to Kṛṣṇa), so the two paths reinforce rather than compete.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

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

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

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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 58: Krishna to Arjuna — Sāṅkhya-Yoga