If yoga surpasses tapas, jñāna, and karma severally, does this mean a practitioner need not cultivate the other three at all — or does the verse imply an integrated ascent where yoga subsumes and fulfills them?

The yogī stands above the ascetic, the scholar, and the ritual performer alike, so become a yogī, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/46.

Madhva distinguishes between yoga-jñānins and śāstra-jñānins — what is at stake in that distinction, and how does knowing or not knowing Hari's absolute independence change the quality of meditation?

The yogī stands above the ascetic, the scholar, and the ritual performer alike, so become a yogī, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/46.

Śaṅkara reads jñāna here as mere erudition (śāstrārtha-pāṇḍitya), not direct realization — does this reading let Advaita escape an apparent inconsistency (how can yoga surpass jñāna if jñāna is the ultimate)?

The yogī stands above the ascetic, the scholar, and the ritual performer alike, so become a yogī, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/46.

Vallabha insists the commanded yoga is not external practice but inner mano-nirodha as vessel for prasāda — what distinguishes this from the other schools' accounts of what 'being a yogī' means in daily life?

The yogī stands above the ascetic, the scholar, and the ritual performer alike, so become a yogī, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/46.

Madhusūdana's three-fold criterion (tattva-jñāna + mano-nāśa + vāsanā-kṣaya together) sets a very high bar for the 'supreme yogī' — is the verse then a call to an attainable standard or an eschatological ideal?

The yogī stands above the ascetic, the scholar, and the ritual performer alike, so become a yogī, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/46.

Rāmānuja grounds superiority in puruṣārtha (human ends achievable) rather than metaphysical hierarchy — what are the practical implications of ranking paths by their teleological reach rather than their ontological content?

The yogī stands above the ascetic, the scholar, and the ritual performer alike, so become a yogī, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/46.

Across all six schools the imperative 'tasmād yogī bhava' (therefore be a yogī) is addressed to Arjuna specifically — how should the vocative 'Arjuna' (and Madhusūdana's reading of it as śuddha, pure) shape who receives this command as addressed to them?

The yogī stands above the ascetic, the scholar, and the ritual performer alike, so become a yogī, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/6/46.

BG 6.46 — Dhyāna-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 6.46Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

तपस्विभ्यो ऽधिको योगी ज्ञानिभ्यो ऽपि मतो ऽधिकः ।

कर्मिभ्यश् चाधिको योगी तस्माद् योगी भवार्जुन ॥

tapasvibhyo 'dhiko yogī jñānibhyo 'pi mato 'dhikaḥ

karmibhyaś cādhiko yogī tasmād yogī bhavārjuna

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

meaning

The yogī stands above the ascetic, the scholar, and the ritual performer alike, so become a yogī, Arjuna.

ekras · bhāṣya

The yogi is held above the tapasvi, above the jnani, above the karmi. Therefore — yogi bhava — be a yogi. Three superlatives in succession, then the imperative.

Shankara reads the hierarchy with characteristic precision. The yogi surpasses the tapasvin because bodily mortification without inward-withdrawal is merely rajasic exertion. Surpasses the jnani here understood as one versed in shastrartha-panditya — scholastic learning without direct Self-realization, still within the domain of words. Surpasses the karmi because karma alone, even Ashvamedha, cannot bridge the soul to the supreme goal. The verse names which yogi is meant: the dhyana-yogi who has actually withdrawn the inner instrument, not someone holding the title without the practice.

Madhusudana constructs the most fine-grained ascent. Over tapasvin — no tattva-jnana, no moksha-fitness. Over karmin — same. Over paroksha-jnanin — indirect, inferential knowledge — and even over one who has tattva-jnana but lacks mano-nasha and vasana-kshaya. The supreme yogi is the one in whom both manas-dissolution and root-impression exhaustion have occurred, leaving the witness-self in its luminous condition.

Ramanuja gives a doctrinal reading. Tapas without atma-jnana secures only limited purushartha. Jnana outside bhakti-yoga reaches atman as object only, not as Bhagavan's mode. Karma alone — even the great sacrifices — cannot bridge the soul to Bhagavan's feet. Yoga as integral practice culminating in bhakti surpasses each.

Madhva sharpens the hierarchy with a decisive citation: even among yogis, dhyana of Shesha or Brahma or Shiva is a koti — fraction — of dhyana of Hari; darshana surpasses both, while bhakti toward Hari surpasses all means whatsoever.

Vallabha names the structural reason: kaya-klesha tapas, samkhya-jnana, kevala-karma each operate by self-effort alone, whereas yoga is mano-rodha, the stilling of the mind, which makes the space in which Shri Vasudeva can enter.

Context

where

Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 6.45

The yogi who strives with growing effort, burning through sin across many lifetimes, reaches the supreme destination.

What's going on

The yogī stands above the ascetic, the scholar, and the ritual performer alike, so become a yogī, Arjuna.

Sūtras through this verse · hub (63)

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

6.1True renouncing acts; drops the inner hook.───→here6.46───→7.30Hold the Lord through every layer of life.

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

6.1The renouncer and yogi are the same person.───→here6.46───→7.1Open the second ṣaṭka: mind clung to Me.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

6.9Souls differ by nature not by accident alone.───→here6.46───→13.23Soul and Lord coexist in the body, not as one.

show all 63

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomstation · anchor

───→here6.46───→

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causestation · anchor

───→here6.46───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runstation

───→here6.46───→

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

6.1Renouncer and yogi together───→here6.46───→9.22Yogakshema as offering returned

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one under two views.───→here6.46───→7.16Four kinds of devotee, ranked by ripeness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

6.1Renouncing too lives by purity of mind.───→here6.46───→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.───→here6.46───→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.───→here6.46───→18.1At the very end, the line still holds.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesapproach

───→here6.46───→7.1The chapter elaborates the prior bhajana-line.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherapproach

───→here6.46───→7.1A bow to the bliss-cloud, Nanda's son, opens seven.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomstation

───→here6.46───→

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

6.43Practice resumes; it never restarts.───→here6.46───→9.32Even the low-born reach the highest goal.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

6.24Renounce every desire born of will.───→here6.46───→18.49Free of longing everywhere — same goal.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

6.32Sees others' pain and joy as his own.───→here6.46───→9.29I am equal to all; lovers live in Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

6.30See Me everywhere, I am never lost.───→here6.46───→8.22The highest Person, reached by the undivided.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

6.3Body, senses, and mind: none of them yours.───→here6.46───→13.20Nature causes the act; you only experience.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)station

───→here6.46───→

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderstation

───→here6.46───→

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordstation

───→here6.46───→

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

6.1The renouncer is the one who acts for Me.───→here6.46───→9.27Whatever you do, do it as offering.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

6.9Devas, asuras, mortals are three native kinds.───→here6.46───→14.27Brahman has gradations within its own form.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

6.6Maitrāyaṇī defines the stilled mind.───→here6.46───→7.5Doubled prakṛti named from a single śruti.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one person, two names.───→here6.46───→18.2The ritualists' śruti fixes the closing definition.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

6.30Devotion brings what the seeker cannot earn.───→here6.46───→7.16Four kinds approach; the devoted is best.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

6.32'Self' as mind, not soul, when symmetry is needed.───→here6.46───→8.3'Imperishable' redirects to the supreme person.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

6.1Real renouncing keeps the act alive.───→here6.46───→18.1The closing chapter reopens this question.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

6.1Prelude binds yoga to puṣṭi-bhakti.───→here6.46───→7.1Seven-verse prelude opens the bhakti-ṣaṭka.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)approach

───→here6.46───→7.4Two natures of the Lord: matter and selves.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionapproach

───→here6.46───→7.17I am dearest to him.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaapproach

───→here6.46───→7.4Lower nature: matter.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata simileapproach

───→here6.46───→7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markapproach

───→here6.46───→7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryapproach

───→here6.46───→6.47Six chapters of aphorism close at this verse.

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

'Tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah, karmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasmstation · station 6/6

───→here6.46───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asistation

───→here6.46───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledstation

───→here6.46───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentstation

───→here6.46───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

6.11Mudra and posture. 'Shuchau deshe pratishthapya sthiram asanam atmanah.' Establi───→here6.46───→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───→here6.46───→16.21'Tri-vidham narakasyedam dvaram nashanam atmanah, kamah krodhas tatha lobhah.' T

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipbetween

6.35'Asamshayam maha-baho mano durnigraham chalam, abhyasena tu Kaunteya vairagyena ───→here6.46───→12.13'Adveshta sarva-bhutanam maitrah karuna eva cha.' Without enmity, friendly, comp

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netibetween

6.29'Sarva-bhuta-stham atmanam sarva-bhutani cha'tmani, ikshate yoga-yuktatma sarvat───→here6.46───→13.32'Anaditvan nirgunatvat paramatma'yam avyayah, sharira-stho'pi Kaunteya na karoti

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelapproach

───→here6.46───→7.1Upāsya and tat-pada in apposition. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousapproach

───→here6.46───→7.4Two-fold prakṛti is the Lord's own power.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationstation

───→here6.46───→

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

6.1Soft sense of renouncer───→here6.46───→18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi by sannyāsa

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

6.1The fire-keeper is renouncer only in a soft sense.───→here6.46───→18.49Action-freedom comes from full renunciation.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here6.46───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

6.1Pure mind is not yet release: now meditate.───→here6.46───→8.1Now, the questions of Brahman and self.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personapproach

───→here6.46───→7.16Of the four devotees, the knower is dearest.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

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

───→here6.46───→7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyaapproach

───→here6.46───→7.21Deity-worship: His self-arrangement of grace.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homeapproach

───→here6.46───→6.47Be a devotee: that is the meaning.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessapproach

───→here6.46───→7.14Undivided love crosses the great mist.

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitapproach

───→here6.46───→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.───→here6.46───→

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourbetween · v2

6.29Self in all beings───→here6.46───→8.12Om at the close

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

6.35Practice and dispassion───→here6.46───→13.8Field-knowledge as virtues

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathapproach · v2

───→here6.46───→7.16Four kinds of bhakta

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.───→here6.46───→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.───→here6.46───→7.1First ṣaṭka closed; new pratijñā opens.

Śabda · lemmas (11 unique · 15 occurrences)

योगी yogin ×3 — yogi (yoga + -in 'possessor of') · nominative masculine singular noun

show all 11

अधिकः adhika ×3 — (adhi- + ka: who? what?) · nominative masculine singular noun
तपस्विभ्यः tapasvin — ascetic, one who practices tapas (tapas + -vin) · ablative masculine plural noun
ज्ञानिभ्यः jñānin — knower (jñāna 'knowledge' + -in 'possessor') · ablative masculine plural noun
अपि api — also, even, although
मतः √man — to think, regard, consider (verbal root) · nominative masculine singular participle noun
कर्मिभ्यः karmin — doer, one who acts (karma + -in) · ablative masculine plural noun
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
तस्मात् tasmāt — therefore, from that
भव √bhū — to be, become; the earth (verbal root / noun) · present imperative 2nd person singular verb
अर्जुन arjuna — Arjuna (the third Pāṇḍava); also: white, bright · vocative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If yoga surpasses tapas, jñāna, and karma severally, does this mean a practitioner need not cultivate the other three at all — or does the verse imply an integrated ascent where yoga subsumes and fulfills them?
02Madhva distinguishes between yoga-jñānins and śāstra-jñānins — what is at stake in that distinction, and how does knowing or not knowing Hari's absolute independence change the quality of meditation?

show all 7

03Śaṅkara reads jñāna here as mere erudition (śāstrārtha-pāṇḍitya), not direct realization — does this reading let Advaita escape an apparent inconsistency (how can yoga surpass jñāna if jñāna is the ultimate)?
04Vallabha insists the commanded yoga is not external practice but inner mano-nirodha as vessel for prasāda — what distinguishes this from the other schools' accounts of what 'being a yogī' means in daily life?
05Madhusūdana's three-fold criterion (tattva-jñāna + mano-nāśa + vāsanā-kṣaya together) sets a very high bar for the 'supreme yogī' — is the verse then a call to an attainable standard or an eschatological ideal?
06Rāmānuja grounds superiority in puruṣārtha (human ends achievable) rather than metaphysical hierarchy — what are the practical implications of ranking paths by their teleological reach rather than their ontological content?
07Across all six schools the imperative 'tasmād yogī bhava' (therefore be a yogī) is addressed to Arjuna specifically — how should the vocative 'Arjuna' (and Madhusūdana's reading of it as śuddha, pure) shape who receives this command as addressed to them?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Prefer one hour of seated inquiry — watching the 'I' that reads, plans, and worries — over three hours of arduous fasting or scriptural memorization. The Śaṅkara principle here is: effort that quiets the mental organ is closer to liberation than effort that mortifies the body or fills the memory. Practically: when choosing between study and meditation, choose the practice that brings the vrittis (fluctuations) to rest.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Reframe every professional task as kainkarya (service to Bhagavān's body, which includes all persons and creation). A meeting, a deadline, a difficult conversation — enter each asking 'how does this serve the whole of which I am a mode?' This transforms karma into yoga without changing the outer form of the action, and over time builds the anubhava (relishing awareness) Rāmānuja places above mere performance.

show all 6

Dvaita

Begin each meditation session by explicitly invoking Hari's total independence (svatantratā) and your own total dependence — not as a theological statement but as a felt recognition. Madhva's Gāruḍa citation implies that the content of meditation (whose name is on the screen of attention) matters more than the duration or technique. Five minutes of clear Hari-dhyāna outweighs an hour of generic breath-watching.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's yoga-as-mano-nirodha-for-prasāda suggests a practical rule: when agitation is high, stop adding more sādhana (reading, chanting, fasting) and instead create emptiness — sit quietly, offer the restless mind to Vāsudeva, and wait. This is the Puṣṭi discipline of receptivity: less self-effort, more inner clearing, so the grace that is always pouring can actually land.

Bhakti

Use Śrīdhara's abhimataḥ (universally esteemed) framing as a reality-check against sectarian pride: the yogī's superiority is not a tribal victory for any one path. If your practice makes you compare yourself favorably to those doing tapas or study or ritual, the practice is feeding ego rather than dissolving it. The practical application is humility audit: regularly note what other practitioners are doing well that you are not.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's three-fold completion (tattva-jñāna + mano-nāśa + vāsanā-kṣaya) maps to a practical weekly check: (1) Is my intellectual understanding of non-duality sharpening or stagnating? (2) Is the reactive chattering of the mind getting quieter over time? (3) Are the habitual grooves (vāsanā) that drive reactive behavior actually loosening — or just being suppressed? All three must move together; progress in only one is incomplete yoga.

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 46: Krishna to Arjuna — Dhyāna-Yoga