Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 6, Verse 3: Krishna to Arjuna — Dhyāna-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  For the aspirant (ārurukṣu) who cannot yet steady himself in dhyāna-yoga, prescribed action (karma) is the proximate means — purifying the mind so that renunciation of fruit becomes natural. For one already ascended (ārūḍha), cessation from all action (śama) alone is the instrument, because every withdrawal from activity sharpens one-pointed samādhi. Vyāsa's verse is cited approvingly: equanimity, truth, and progressively retreating from action — these are the Brahmin's supreme mental equipment.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Karma-yoga is the sole ladder for the seeker of ātma-darśana (self-vision), and it must be sustained until the direct perception of the self (ātmāvalokana) ripens into liberation. Once that realisation is stabilised — pratiṣṭhita-yoga — withdrawal from ritual action (karma-nivṛtti) becomes the natural deepening of the same continuum, not a new path. The two stages are one teleological arc: karma clears the field; śama harvests the fruit.

• Madhvadvaita

  For the mumukṣu whose upāya-sampūrti (completeness of means) is still incomplete, karma is the cause of supreme bliss (parama-sukha-kāraṇam); the jīva acts as a dependent worshipper of Hari, never as an autonomous agent. Once aparokṣa-jñāna (direct, non-inferential realisation) dawns and residual karma is exhausted, asamprajñāta-samādhi becomes possible — until then even the aparokṣa-jñānin rests in Bhagavat-caritra (the Lord's narratives and praise), maintaining the eternal ontological distinction between jīva and Brahman.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Just as Sāṅkhya has its own graduated discipline, yoga too has a precise inner governance: for the qualified adhikārin who wishes to ascend, performance of sva-dharma (one's own prescribed duty) provides the footing on the ladder. Once yogārūḍha — fully united with Kṛṣṇa's grace — the renunciation of every saṅkalpa (volition) becomes the deep-anchor, like burying a post to fix what is already standing. Śama here is not mere cessation but the siddha's resting in Kṛṣṇa's own svarūpa.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  The objection that karma-yoga must be practised lifelong is refuted: karma serves precisely until it purifies the antaḥkaraṇa (inner organ) enough for jñāna-yoga to be mounted. At that threshold, śama — the stilling of all distraction-causing activity — becomes the cause for the full ripening (jñāna-paripāka) of realisation. [Note: Śrīdhara's bhāṣya is terse and philologically clear; no devotional elaboration beyond purification-schema is offered in the source text.]

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Karma-yoga is not lifelong; it is mandated by the Veda only as long as vairāgya (inner-organ purification) remains incomplete — performed with bhagavad-arpaṇa-buddhi (the mind of offering all to the Lord) it prepares the aspirant for the ascent. Once yogārūḍha, that same person must completely renounce all action (sarva-karma-saṃnyāsa), which alone becomes the means for jñāna to ripen fully. The synthesis: Kṛṣṇa-arpaṇa bhāvana transforms karma into a devotional discipline that dissolves itself naturally when Advaita realisation approaches.