Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 4, Verse 1: Krishna to Arjuna — Jñāna-Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  At the opening of creation (sarga, manifestation), I declared this imperishable yoga (avyaya yoga) to Vivasvān, the sun, so that the kṣatriyas who protect the world might be strengthened — for when brahma and kṣatra (wisdom and power) are preserved together, the cosmos is sustained. Vivasvān taught it to Manu, and Manu transmitted it to Ikṣvāku, the first king. The yoga's fruit is mokṣa (liberation), which itself never perishes — that is why it is called avyaya (imperishable).

  divergence: Śaṅkara: 'avyayaphalatvāt avyayam — the fruit of this yoga, namely mokṣa known as samyagdarśana-niṣṭhā, does not perish.'

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Do not mistake this yoga as merely battlefield counsel for Arjuna — at the very commencement of this manvantara (cosmic age) I proclaimed it to Vivasvān for the deliverance of all worlds, as the means to mokṣa, the supreme puruṣārtha (human end). Through the guruparampara (disciplic succession) it descended to Manu and then to Ikṣvāku; but over vast time, by the dulling of the minds of successive hearers, it became nearly lost. I repeat it now because you, Arjuna, are my devoted friend — and the world's rescue depends on its restoration.

  divergence: Rāmānuja: 'nikhilajagaduddhāraṇāya paramapuruṣārthalakṣaṇamokṣasādhanatayā imaṃ yogam aham eva vivasvate proktavān.'

• Madhvadvaita

  This chapter declares the greatness of Hari's transcendent intelligence (para-buddhi), the distinction of right action, and the supremacy of jñāna — and it opens by establishing that this dharma is not novel but was performed and transmitted from before. Kṛṣṇa says 'I declared this' — meaning Hari himself, eternally distinct from all jīvas (individual souls), directly initiated the lineage; the jīva's only eligibility is to receive and act as dependent worshipper of Hari. The succession proves the sanātana (eternal) character of the teaching.

  divergence: Madhva: 'buddherprasya māhātmyaṃ karmabhedo jñānamāhātmyaṃ coccyate — pūrvānuṣṭhitaś cāyaṃ dharma ity āha imamiti.'

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  The imperishable yoga taught in the first two chapters is now glorified through its paramparā (succession) before being expanded in its brahman-quality (brahmabhāva): Kṛṣṇa himself, not any secondary teacher, was its first utterer — to the sun Vivasvān, who is the origin of the Sūrya dynasty and foreshadows the Rāmacandra avatāra through Ikṣvāku. The succession is itself an act of Kṛṣṇa's prasāda (grace-dispensation), and the nityatva (eternality) of the yoga is its guarantee that no fruit is lost to the devotee who abandons all separate fruit and offers action as brahma-offering (brahma-arpaṇa).

  divergence: Vallabha: 'avyayaphalatvādavyayam imaṃ yogaṃ vivasvate proktavān... nikhilajagaduddhāraṇāyemaṃ proktavānasmīti sampradāyapūrvakam āha.'

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Hari himself now praises karma-yoga through its ancient lineage, in order to clarify the distinction between the 'tat' and the 'tvam' (the supreme and the individual self) — a clarification necessary before his own divine manifestation and withdrawal (āvirbhāva-tirobhāva) can be truly understood. The imperishable yoga was told first to Āditya (Vivasvān), then to Manu Śrāddhadeva, and then to Ikṣvāku; the triple-transmission across fathers and sons establishes its smṛti (memory-tradition) authority. Śrīdhara frames this as the bhagavān's own lauding of the path before expanding it.

  divergence: Śrīdhara: 'āvirbhāvatirobhāvāv āviṣkartuṃ svayaṃ hariḥ tattvampadavivekārthaṃ karmayogaṃ praśaṃsati — avyayaphalatvādavyayam imaṃ yogaṃ purā ahaṃ vivasvate ādityāya kathitavān.'

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Although jñāna-yoga (knowledge) and karma-yoga (action) appear as two paths, Madhusūdana notes that Kṛṣṇa has already indicated their unity of fruit (sādhya-sādhana-phala-aikya) — he now glorifies both together through the genealogy of transmission. The yoga is avyaya (imperishable) because it is rooted in the avyaya Veda and because its fruit, mokṣa, does not perish; Kṛṣṇa taught it to Vivasvān at cosmic dawn to give strength to kings who protect all creatures, tracing the current Vaivasvata-manvantara lineage from Āditya through Manu Vaivasvata to Ikṣvāku — even though the teaching is common to all manvantaras, only the present succession is named here.

  divergence: Madhusūdana: 'avyayavedamūlatvādavyayamokṣaphalatvāc ca na vyeti svaphalādityavyayam avyabhicāriphalamn... sāmpratikavaivasvatamanvantarābhiprāyeṇādityam ārabhya sampradāyo gaṇitaḥ.'