Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 3, Verse 29: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Those wholly deluded by the three constituents (guṇa-s) of prakṛti cling to actions born of those same guṇa-s, believing 'we act for fruit.' Śaṅkara insists these are akṛtsna-vid-s (partial-knowers) who see only the surface of karma-phala and lack the discernment of the ātman. The kṛtsna-vit (knower-of-the-whole) must not fracture their conviction — disrupting their karma-niṣṭhā (commitment to action) before readiness for jñāna only produces confusion, not liberation.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Those entangled in prakṛti's guṇa-s cannot yet perceive the ātman in its true distinctness, so karma-yoga (disciplined action as service) remains their proper path — jñāna-yoga is simply not accessible to them. Rāmānuja argues the kṛtsna-vit should himself remain visibly engaged in karma-yoga, demonstrating by example that action is itself a complete means to ātma-darśana (self-seeing), so that the akṛtsna-vid-s follow suit rather than being uprooted. The wise person's continued practice is not a concession but a proof: karma-yoga is not inferior, it is independently sufficient for reaching the Lord.

• Madhvadvaita

  The deluded are confused about the indriya-s (sense-organs) and their objects — misidentifying the instruments of action with the self. Madhva clarifies that the guṇa-s here include sensory faculties (indriya-ādi), sense-objects (viṣaya), and the three-fold sattva-ādi qualities, each binding the jīva to false ownership of action. The one who knows Hari's absolute independence must not shake those bound by these layers, for their karma, however entangled, is still Hari-worship in embryo.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Vallabha reads this verse as the Lord solidifying the earlier injunction 'do not fracture the intellect of others' (BG 3.26): the deluded are embedded in Kṛṣṇa's own playful dispensation (līlā-prasāda), and disturbance of their engagement is disturbance of the divine play itself. The Puṣṭi-mārga accepts that most souls move through the guṇa-s by Bhagavān's grace alone, not by their own effort; the wise person's silence before them is a form of reverence toward that grace.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Śrīdhara frames the verse as the summation of the preceding teaching: those bewildered by sattva, rajas, and tamas cling to indriya-s and their functions, declaring 'we are the doers.' The sarvajña (all-knowing one) — here understood as the devotee who sees both the real and unreal — must not dislodge these manda-mati-s (dull-minded ones) from their karma, since destabilisation without readiness produces neither knowledge nor devotion.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusūdana synthesises: māyā's guṇa-s produce a complete mis-identification — the deluded take body, senses, and antaḥkaraṇa (inner instrument) as the self and act for their fruit. The kṛtsna-vit is the pūrṇa-ātma-vit (knower of the complete non-dual self); he must not shake the karma-śraddhā (faith in action) of the impure-minded, for without that śraddhā they have no bridge at all. Those with śuddha-antaḥkaraṇa (pure inner instrument) will depart from karma naturally when discrimination dawns — no external dislodging is needed.