Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 3, Verse 40: Krishna to Arjuna — Karma-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Śaṅkara identifies the three-fold seat of kāma (desire) — indriya (sense-organ), manas (mind), and buddhi (intellect) — as the graduated loci through which this enemy envelops the jīva. Each faculty, from gross sense-contact to subtle discriminative intellect, becomes a fortress for kāma when not disciplined toward the ātman. The ācārya's point is tactical: knowing where the enemy dwells (adhiṣṭhāna, 'base of operations') makes its removal possible through viveka (discernment) applied at each stratum.

  divergence: Śaṅkara's bhāṣya: 'indriyāṇi manaḥ buddhiś ca asya kāmasya adhiṣṭhānam āśrayaḥ ucyate — etaiḥ indriyādibhiḥ āśrayaiḥ vimohayati' — the three form a nested āśraya, not a flat list.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Rāmānuja reads the indriya-manas-buddhi triad as prakaraṇa-specific: these faculties belong to the prakṛti-entangled jīva (dehin), not to the soul in its svarūpa of pure service to Bhagavān. Kāma seizes them precisely because they are naturally oriented toward viṣaya (sense-objects); by redirecting that very orientation as kainkarya (service), the bhakta converts what was the enemy's seat into a site of dāsya. The rendering turns the warning into an invitation: the indriyāṇi that kāma occupies are the same faculties through which the Lord's qualities are tasted.

  divergence: Rāmānuja's bhāṣya: 'viṣayapraṇavaiḥ dehinaṃ prakṛtisaṃsṛṣṭaṃ jñānam āvṛtya vimohayati... ātmajñānavimukhaṃ viṣayānubhavaparaṃ karoti' — the faculties are 'viṣaya-prone' (viṣayapraṇava) by conditioning, not by essence.

• Madhvadvaita

  Madhva condenses the verse to its military kernel: knowing the enemy's adhiṣṭhāna (garrison) is the prerequisite for hṛtādhiṣṭhāna — dislodging it from that base — after which the enemy perishes. The triad buddhi-ādi (intellect and the rest) becomes the theater of occupation when these faculties turn viṣayaga (sense-ward); the jīva's dependence on Hari (Lord Viṣṇu), if maintained, withdraws this occupation. Distinctive Dvaita note: the jīva cannot dislodge kāma through its own jñāna alone; only Hari's anugraha (grace) reclaims the occupied seat.

  divergence: Madhva's bhāṣya: 'hṛtādhiṣṭhāno hi śatruḥ naśyati — etair jñānam āvṛtya buddhyādibhir hi viṣayagair jñānam āvṛtaṃ bhavati' — dislodgment is the single aim.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Vallabha treats these two verses (3.40–41) as a teaching unit: Kṛṣṇa first names the adhiṣṭhāna, then immediately (next verse) reveals the jayopāya (means of victory). In Puṣṭi-mārga the very indriyāṇi that kāma occupies are the same faculties gifted by Kṛṣṇa for His own āsvādana (tasting) of līlā; surrender (ātmanivedana) converts the seat from an enemy garrison to a site of sevā. The brevity of Vallabha's commentary here is itself doctrinal: excessive analysis of kāma's mechanics is not the Puṣṭi way; the cure (Kṛṣṇa-prasāda) is named two verses later.

  divergence: Vallabha's bhāṣya: 'adhunā tasyādhiṣṭhānaṃ vadan jayopāyam āha indriyāṇīti dvābhyām' — seat and victory-means are announced together as a unit.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Śrīdhara Svāmī gives the fullest functional account of the triad: indriyāṇi are activated by viṣaya-darśana and viṣaya-śravaṇa (seeing and hearing objects); manas by saṃkalpa (volition); buddhi by adhyavasāya (determination). These three modes of kāma's manifestation (āvirbhāva) mean that the enemy colonizes perception, intention, and resolve in sequence. Śrīdhara's commentary frames this as diagnostic before prescriptive: the jijñāsu must know at which stratum kāma arises in their own experience before choosing the counter-practice.

  divergence: Śrīdhara's bhāṣya: 'viṣayadarśanaśravaṇādibhiḥ saṃkalpena adhyavasāyena ca kāmasyāvirbhāvāt indriyāṇi ca manaś ca buddhiś ca asya adhiṣṭhānam ucyate' — three distinct modes of manifestation, not a single lump.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusūdana Sarasvatī gives the most granular anatomical reading: indriyāṇi includes both jñānendriyas (ear etc., apprehending śabda/sparśa/rūpa/rasa/gandha) and karmendriyas (speech, hands, feet, excretion, generation) — ten faculties, not five; manas is saṃkalpātmaka (volition-constituted); buddhi is adhyavasāyātmikā (determination-constituted). Kāma occupies all twelve stations simultaneously, covering viveka-jñāna and deluding the dehin (the body-identified jīva). His synthesis: Advaita supplies the map (twelve stations, one illusion), bhakti supplies the remedy (Kṛṣṇa as the one who can reclaim each station).

  divergence: Madhusūdana's bhāṣya: 'śabdaparśarūparasagandhagrāhakāṇi śrotrādīni vāgādīni ca manaḥ saṃkalpātmakaṃ buddhir adhyavasāyātmikā ca asya kāmasya adhiṣṭhānam ucyate' — ten-faculty enumeration, explicit.