Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 3, Verse 25: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  The unwise act bound by the fruit-expectation that 'this karma's reward will be mine' (phalam mama bhaviṣyati); the knower of the self (ātmavit) acts identically in outward form but without that binding (asaktaḥ). The sole motive is loka-saṅgraha (world-maintenance), which Śaṅkara acknowledges as a concession: the jñānī has no personal obligaton, but teaches by exemplary action. Śaṅkara thus limits cikīrṣur loka-saṅgraham to a pedagogical function — keeping ordinary folk from abandoning prescribed duties — not a positive ideal the ātmavit requires for liberation.

  divergence: Śaṅkara: 'chikīrṣuḥ kartumicchhuḥ loka-saṅgraham' — wishing to do [only] world-maintenance; the ātmavit's action teaches by form, never by attachment.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Rāmānuja reads the contrast as a contrast of adhikāra (qualification): the avidvān is tied to karma-yoga because he lacks the maturity for jñāna-yoga, whereas the kṛtsnavit (one who knows the whole self as Bhagavān's mode) is technically qualified for jñāna-yoga yet deliberately continues karma-yoga — not for self-purification but for loka-rakṣaṇa (protection of the world). Loka-saṅgraha is thus Rāmānuja's key expansion: the realized soul models right conduct (svācāra) so that ordinary people receive dharma-niścaya (certainty about duty). The act is kainkarya — service to Bhagavān through service to Bhagavān's devotees.

  divergence: Rāmānuja: 'loka-rakṣaṇārthaṃ svācāreṇa śiṣṭalokānāṃ dharma-niścayaṃ cikīrṣuḥ karma-yogam eva kuryāt.'

• Madhvadvaita

  The *avidvān* (one without discriminative knowledge) acts *saktaḥ* — bound by attachment, driven by the fiction of independent agency, treating the fruits of action as belonging to the *jīva* (the individual self). The *vidvān*, knowing the *jīva*'s *pāratantrya* (eternal ontological dependence on Hari), acts *tathāsaktaḥ* — in the same outward manner, yet without any claim of *svatantra* (independently real, self-sufficient) authorship. His action is Hari's action flowing through an instrument. *Loka-saṃgraham* — the holding-together of the world — is no mere social cohesion; it is the work of keeping other *paratantra* *jīvas* from deepening bondage and orienting them toward *Hari-sevā* (service to Hari). The *pañca-bheda* (the five-fold real distinction: Lord–jīva, Lord–matter, jīva–jīva, jīva–matter, matter–matter) is never dissolved in this action: the *vidvān* does not merge into Hari by acting without attachment but remains a distinct, dependent instrument. *Taratamya* (graded ontological hierarchy) is preserved — the *vidvān*'s superior station is precisely this conscious subordination, his action a form of *bhakti* (devotion) as ontological subordination to the *svatantra* Lord.

  divergence: No bhāṣya from Madhva or Jayatīrtha is transmitted for this verse. The reading voices Dvaita *siddhānta* directly from the mūla: *pāratantrya*, *pañca-bheda*, *taratamya*, and *Hari-sevā* as the doctrinal coordinates that distinguish the *vidvān*'s detached action from the *avidvān*'s bound action.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Vallabha's upasaṃhāra (concluding synthesis) at this verse reads: the vidvān must perform karma not through personal effort but 'tat-kṛpayā' — by Kṛṣṇa's grace alone. The contrast between the avidvān (who acts from attachment, unknowing ātman from anātman) and the vidvān (who acts for loka-saṅgraha) is a difference of mode, not of outward form. For the Puṣṭi-mārga practitioner the implication is radical: even loka-saṅgraha-motivated action is a gift from Kṛṣṇa flowing through the devotee, not the devotee's autonomous choice — the act is Kṛṣṇa's own līlā expressed through a purified vessel.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'tad-kṛpayā karma kartavyam' — action is to be done by that [Kṛṣṇa's] grace; 'pra-kāra-bhedaṃ darśayati' — only the mode, not the fact of action, differs.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Śrīdhara's reading is clean and traditional: the ātmavit, though knowing he has no personal necessity for action, performs karma 'tat-kṛpayā' — out of compassion for ordinary people — to prevent their confusion (loka-saṅgraha). Asaktaḥ (unattached) is the operative distinction: the wise man's karma looks identical to the ignorant person's from outside, but the wise man is abhiniveśa-mukta (free of fixation). Śrīdhara's bhakti inflection adds that this compassionate action itself reflects the guru's grace-function — the ātmavit acts as Bhagavān's instrument of teaching.

  divergence: Śrīdhara: 'karmaNi saktāḥ abhiniveśitāḥ santaḥ ajñāḥ yathā karma kurvanti tathaiva asaktaḥ san vidvān api kuryāt loka-saṅgrahaṃ kartumiccchuḥ.'

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusūdana directly addresses the apparent asymmetry: Kṛṣṇa as Īśvara can act for loka-saṅgraha without kartṛtva-abhimāna (ego-claim of doership) and sustains no loss; but the jīva who attempts the same risks jñāna-abhibhava (the eclipse of knowledge by the ego-sense of doership). His resolution is precise: the vidvān acts exactly as the avidvān in external form (karma-samānatva), but without kartṛtva-abhimāna and without phala-abhisandhi (intention toward fruit) — 'asaktaḥ san' covers both. The bhārata-address here carries interpretive weight for Madhusūdana: it signals that Arjuna, born of the solar lineage and steeped in jñāna-yogyatā (scriptural fitness), is capable of this discriminative understanding.

  divergence: Madhusūdana: 'kartṛtva-abhimānaṃ phala-abhisandhiṃ ca akurvan' — not performing the ego-claim of doership nor the intention toward fruit.