If Śaṅkara grants that 'sarvathā vartamāna' (conduct in any manner) does not obstruct liberation for the samyagdarśin, what distinguishes this from moral antinomianism — and how do the Dvaita and bhakti readings contain that risk?

The yogi who worships Me as one self dwelling in all beings, however he moves through the world, lives in Me. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/31.

Rāmānuja and Madhusūdana both use the word 'aparokṣa' (direct vision) but arrive at different metaphysical claims — Rāmānuja at mat-sāmyam (sameness-in-Me), Madhusūdana at atyanta-abheda (absolute non-difference). What practical difference does this doctrinal split make for a practitioner?

The yogi who worships Me as one self dwelling in all beings, however he moves through the world, lives in Me. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/31.

Madhva's appended verse promises that small adharma committed through inadvertence will be 'incinerated like a seed.' Does this mean the Dvaita yogin is morally safer (through proximity to Viṣṇu), or is it closer to Śaṅkara's claim that bondage simply cannot apply?

The yogi who worships Me as one self dwelling in all beings, however he moves through the world, lives in Me. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/31.

Vallabha elevates bhakti above jñāna by citing 'jñānī ced bhajate Kṛṣṇaṁ tasmān nāsty adhikaḥ paraḥ.' What is the structural implication: is jñāna here a precondition for the highest bhakti, or a separate achievement bhakti transcends?

The yogi who worships Me as one self dwelling in all beings, however he moves through the world, lives in Me. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/31.

Śrīdhara's phrase 'na vidhi-kiṅkaraḥ' (not a servant of injunction) — does this represent liberation from dharmaśāstra entirely, or only from its instrumental, transactional mode? How do the other five schools answer the same question?

The yogi who worships Me as one self dwelling in all beings, however he moves through the world, lives in Me. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/31.

Madhusūdana's three paradigm figures — Yājñavalkya (full renunciation), Janaka (prescribed duty), Dattātreya (transgressive conduct) — each represent a different social-institutional role. What does naming all three as equally valid post-realization paths imply for the Gītā's theory of social order?

The yogi who worships Me as one self dwelling in all beings, however he moves through the world, lives in Me. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/31.

BG 6.31 says the yogin 'worships Me' (māṁ bhajati) while already established in oneness (ekatva). Is bhajana here an effect of ekatva-realization, a cause of it, or simultaneously both — and does the answer differ by school?

The yogi who worships Me as one self dwelling in all beings, however he moves through the world, lives in Me. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/31.

BG 6.31 — Dhyāna-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 6.31Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

सर्वभूतस्थितं यो मां भजत्येकत्वमास्थितः ।

सर्वथा वर्तमानो ऽपि स योगी मयि वर्तते ॥

sarva-bhūta-sthitaṃ yo māṃ bhajaty ekatvam āsthitaḥ

sarvathā vartamāno 'pi sa yogī mayi vartate

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

meaning

The yogi who worships Me as one self dwelling in all beings, however he moves through the world, lives in Me.

ekras · bhāṣya

The yogi who, established in oneness, worships Me as the one seated in all beings — however he moves through ordinary life, he abides in Me. Sarvatha vartamanah api: even moving in any way, in any circumstance — the abiding condition does not break.

Shankara reads sarvatha vartamanah api with a precise emphasis. The yogi of right vision dwells in the supreme station whatever the outer circumstance — not because outer action is perfected, but because no obstacle to moksha can arise for one who has seen non-difference. The seeing has displaced the conditions under which the obstacles used to arise.

Madhusudana places the verse as the technical conclusion of the tat tvam asi recognition. Having recognized the tvam-pada — the empirical I — and the tat-pada — Brahman — each in their purified, upadhi-free form, the yogi collapses them into atyanta-abheda. The image is the jar-akasha merging with the maha-akasha when the vessel is removed: the space inside the pot was never different from the space outside; the pot was the only difference. That direct realization — aparokshi-karana — is itself jivanmukti.

Ramanuja softens the architecture: the yogi who has abandoned prakrita-bheda — the conventional distinction between beings — beholds Me pervading all with asamkucha-jnana-eka-akarata, undimmed cognition. Even at vyutthana-kala, when he rises from formal meditation and moves through ordinary life, he still sees Me and only Me in himself and in every creature.

Madhva keeps the bheda-frame: the yogi who stands firm in the recognition that there is one Ishvara present everywhere and worships Me from that aparoksha vision abides in Me whatever the outer conduct.

Vallabha catches the warmest reading: the yogi makes mat-pravana chetah — the heart flowing toward Me — and becomes mat-kinkara, as Shuka and Uddhava became.

Context

where

Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 6.30

Whoever sees Me in all things and sees all things in Me, I will never be hidden from that one, and that one will never be hidden from Me.

What's going on

The yogi who worships Me as one self dwelling in all beings, however he moves through the world, lives in Me.

Sūtras through this verse (63)

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

6.1True renouncing acts; drops the inner hook.───→here6.31───→7.30Hold the Lord through every layer of life.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

2.39Practice seam begins.───→here6.31───→6.46The yogi outranks every other path.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

6.9Souls differ by nature not by accident alone.───→here6.31───→13.23Soul and Lord coexist in the body, not as one.

show all 63

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

6.1Renouncer and yogi together───→here6.31───→9.22Yogakshema as offering returned

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one under two views.───→here6.31───→7.16Four kinds of devotee, ranked by ripeness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

6.1Renouncing too lives by purity of mind.───→here6.31───→16.1The dispositions decide who can even begin.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

6.1The fruit-unattached one is yogi and renouncer.───→here6.31───→9.22The undivided ones the Lord himself sustains.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

6.1Calling a karma-yogi 'renouncer' is only a courtesy.───→here6.31───→18.1At the very end, the line still holds.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.───→here6.31───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesapproach

───→here6.31───→7.1The chapter elaborates the prior bhajana-line.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherapproach

───→here6.31───→7.1A bow to the bliss-cloud, Nanda's son, opens seven.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

3.8Even keeping the body alive requires action.───→here6.31───→6.40A fallen seeker still keeps the human birth.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

6.24Renounce every desire born of will.───→here6.31───→18.49Free of longing everywhere — same goal.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

6.8Clay, stone, and gold are all level to him.───→here6.31───→6.32Sees others' pain and joy as his own.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

5.4Insight and practice are not two paths.───→here6.31───→6.46The lover outranks every other yogi.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

6.30See Me everywhere, I am never lost.───→here6.31───→8.22The highest Person, reached by the undivided.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

6.3Body, senses, and mind: none of them yours.───→here6.31───→13.20Nature causes the act; you only experience.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here6.31───→

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

6.1The renouncer and yogi are the same person.───→here6.31───→7.1Open the second ṣaṭka: mind clung to Me.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

6.1The renouncer is the one who acts for Me.───→here6.31───→9.27Whatever you do, do it as offering.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

6.9Devas, asuras, mortals are three native kinds.───→here6.31───→14.27Brahman has gradations within its own form.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

6.6Maitrāyaṇī defines the stilled mind.───→here6.31───→7.5Doubled prakṛti named from a single śruti.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one person, two names.───→here6.31───→18.2The ritualists' śruti fixes the closing definition.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

6.7The stilled mind sees the seated supreme self.───→here6.31───→6.46The five-rung ladder ends in love, not knowledge.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

6.30Devotion brings what the seeker cannot earn.───→here6.31───→7.16Four kinds approach; the devoted is best.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

6.20'Self' here is not soul but the Lord within.───→here6.31───→6.32'Self' as mind, not soul, when symmetry is needed.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

6.1Real renouncing keeps the act alive.───→here6.31───→18.1The closing chapter reopens this question.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

6.1Prelude binds yoga to puṣṭi-bhakti.───→here6.31───→7.1Seven-verse prelude opens the bhakti-ṣaṭka.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

6.1The two paths are one through fruit-renouncing act.───→here6.31───→6.46The lover outranks the wise and the disciplined.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordbetween

2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.───→here6.31───→6.46The yogi closing the ṣaṭka is a mind-stiller.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)approach

───→here6.31───→7.4Two natures of the Lord: matter and selves.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionapproach

───→here6.31───→7.17I am dearest to him.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaapproach

───→here6.31───→7.4Lower nature: matter.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata simileapproach

───→here6.31───→7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markapproach

───→here6.31───→7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryapproach

───→here6.31───→6.47Six chapters of aphorism close at this verse.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

6.11Mudra and posture. 'Shuchau deshe pratishthapya sthiram asanam atmanah.' Establi───→here6.31───→9.26Puja and havan. 'Patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayachchhati.' Whoev

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningbetween

6.5'Uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet.' Lift yourself by yourself, do not l───→here6.31───→16.21'Tri-vidham narakasyedam dvaram nashanam atmanah, kamah krodhas tatha lobhah.' T

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipbetween

6.7'Jitatmanah prashantasya paramatma samahitah.' For the self-conquered, in-peace,───→here6.31───→6.35'Asamshayam maha-baho mano durnigraham chalam, abhyasena tu Kaunteya vairagyena

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

5.5'Yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam tad yogair api gamyate.' The place reached by sa───→here6.31───→6.46'Tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah, karmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasm

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netibetween

6.29'Sarva-bhuta-stham atmanam sarva-bhutani cha'tmani, ikshate yoga-yuktatma sarvat───→here6.31───→13.32'Anaditvan nirgunatvat paramatma'yam avyayah, sharira-stho'pi Kaunteya na karoti

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.───→here6.31───→6.46Inner-self hexad closes; pivot prepared.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.───→here6.31───→6.46Yogin vs. jñānin: not synonyms.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

2.39Wisdom section wound up here.───→here6.31───→6.46Dhyāna section sealed: yogin is supreme.

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelapproach

───→here6.31───→7.1Upāsya and tat-pada in apposition. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousapproach

───→here6.31───→7.4Two-fold prakṛti is the Lord's own power.

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

6.1Soft sense of renouncer───→here6.31───→18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi by sannyāsa

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

6.1The fire-keeper is renouncer only in a soft sense.───→here6.31───→18.49Action-freedom comes from full renunciation.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here6.31───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one figure.───→here6.31───→6.46The yogi outranks tapasvi, jñāni, karmin.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

6.1Pure mind is not yet release: now meditate.───→here6.31───→8.1Now, the questions of Brahman and self.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personapproach

───→here6.31───→7.16Of the four devotees, the knower is dearest.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsapproach

───→here6.31───→7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyaapproach

───→here6.31───→7.21Deity-worship: His self-arrangement of grace.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homeapproach

───→here6.31───→6.47Be a devotee: that is the meaning.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessapproach

───→here6.31───→7.14Undivided love crosses the great mist.

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitapproach

───→here6.31───→8.5Whoever remembers Me at the last reaches Me.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldexit

5.8I do nothing at all, says the knower.───→here6.31───→

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourbetween · v2

6.29Self in all beings───→here6.31───→8.12Om at the close

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

6.4Renounced in resolve───→here6.31───→6.35Practice and dispassion

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathapproach · v2

───→here6.31───→7.16Four kinds of bhakta

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.───→here6.31───→7.13Why this declaration? The gloss must answer.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

6.1Karma-yoga is outer; samādhi-yoga inner.───→here6.31───→7.1First ṣaṭka closed; new pratijñā opens.

Śabda · lemmas (14 unique · 16 occurrences)

वर्तमानः·वर्तते √vṛt ×2 — to be, exist, occur, turn (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular present participle verb / present indicative 3rd person singular verb
योगी yogin — yogi (yoga + -in 'possessor of') · nominative masculine singular noun
सर्वथा sarvathā — in every way, entirely
आस्थितः ā-√sthā — to take a stand on, resort to (ā- + √sthā) · nominative masculine singular participle noun

show all 14

माम्·मयि mad ×2 — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · accusative singular noun / locative singular noun
सर्व sarva — all, entire · compound
भूत bhūta — being, creature; element; past, gone · compound
स्थितम् √sthā — to stand, remain (verbal root) · accusative masculine singular participle noun
यः yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · nominative masculine singular noun
भजति √bhaj — to share, partake of, worship, love (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
एक eka — one, alone, single · compound
त्वम् tva — you-ness; abstract suffix making 'X-ness' from X · accusative neuter singular noun · also at 1.1, 2.33, 3.41, 4.4, 4.35, 11.3 +10
अपि api — also, even, although
स tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If Śaṅkara grants that 'sarvathā vartamāna' (conduct in any manner) does not obstruct liberation for the samyagdarśin, what distinguishes this from moral antinomianism — and how do the Dvaita and bhakti readings contain that risk?
02Rāmānuja and Madhusūdana both use the word 'aparokṣa' (direct vision) but arrive at different metaphysical claims — Rāmānuja at mat-sāmyam (sameness-in-Me), Madhusūdana at atyanta-abheda (absolute non-difference). What practical difference does this doctrinal split make for a practitioner?

show all 7

03Madhva's appended verse promises that small adharma committed through inadvertence will be 'incinerated like a seed.' Does this mean the Dvaita yogin is morally safer (through proximity to Viṣṇu), or is it closer to Śaṅkara's claim that bondage simply cannot apply?
04Vallabha elevates bhakti above jñāna by citing 'jñānī ced bhajate Kṛṣṇaṁ tasmān nāsty adhikaḥ paraḥ.' What is the structural implication: is jñāna here a precondition for the highest bhakti, or a separate achievement bhakti transcends?
05Śrīdhara's phrase 'na vidhi-kiṅkaraḥ' (not a servant of injunction) — does this represent liberation from dharmaśāstra entirely, or only from its instrumental, transactional mode? How do the other five schools answer the same question?
06Madhusūdana's three paradigm figures — Yājñavalkya (full renunciation), Janaka (prescribed duty), Dattātreya (transgressive conduct) — each represent a different social-institutional role. What does naming all three as equally valid post-realization paths imply for the Gītā's theory of social order?
07BG 6.31 says the yogin 'worships Me' (māṁ bhajati) while already established in oneness (ekatva). Is bhajana here an effect of ekatva-realization, a cause of it, or simultaneously both — and does the answer differ by school?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Treat every person encountered in a day as a site of the same awareness you call 'I.' The moment irritation or preference arises toward a particular face, register it as the upādhi-superimposition that Śaṅkara names — not moral failure, but the cue to return to the recognizing gaze. The practice is not behavioral uniformity but perceptual consistency: same light, different lamps.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Carry the quality of prārthanā (prayerful address) that you hold in formal pūjā into every conversation and task. Rāmānuja's 'vyutthāna-kāla' (risen-from-meditation time) is the whole workday. When you speak to a colleague, the prākṛta-bheda (conventional separateness) is present but you have agreed to see through it. The test is whether the same attentiveness you give a deity you give a difficult person.

show all 6

Dvaita

Cultivate what Madhva calls aparokṣa: not belief that Hari is present but an experiential, non-inferential recognition in each situation. In practice this means pausing before a decision to ask 'where is the Īśvara-axis in this?' — not as metaphor but as genuine orientation. The Dvaita teaching on small lapses is not a license; it is a reassurance that honest inadvertent error does not define you.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's mat-pravaṇa cetaḥ (mind flowing toward Kṛṣṇa) is a texture of attention, not a schedule of practices. The application: choose one domain of daily life — cooking, driving, a repetitive work task — and treat it as sevā (service) rather than obligation. The Śuka-Uddhava paradigm means full absorption is available even in householder circumstances; the entry point is any act done with the inner current flowing toward the Lord rather than the outcome.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's 'na bhraśyate' (does not fall away) is the everyday anchor: once genuine abheda-dṛṣṭi (non-dual vision) has been tasted — even briefly — the tradition assures it cannot be entirely lost. The practical implication is that a single authentic moment of seeing-Me-in-all is worth more than sustained performance of ritual compliance. Track the moments of genuine recognition rather than the ritual score.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana names Janaka as a valid post-realization model for active householders. The application: do not wait for a specific life-form (renunciate, monastic, retired) to begin treating understanding as the operative fact. Whatever role prārabdha has assigned — organizational leader, parent, professional — exercise it with the background recognition that the role is the upādhi and you are the mahā-ākāśa. The action is not compromised by the knowledge; the knowledge is not compromised by the action.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

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

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

show all metadata

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 6, Verse 31: Krishna to Arjuna — Dhyāna-Yoga