Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 7, Verse 12: Krishna to Arjuna — Jñāna-Vijñāna-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Whatever sāttvika (quality-of-clarity), rājasa (quality-of-agitation), or tāmasa (quality-of-inertia) states arise in beings through the force of their own karma — know all of them as issuing from Me alone. Yet I do not dwell in them as a dependent, bound by their flux as a saṃsārin (worldly-bound soul) is bound. They, by contrast, rest in Me, under My sovereignty. The Lord, being eternally pure, liberated by nature, the inner self of all beings, and free of all guṇa (primary qualities), is paradoxically unrecognised by the very world that flows from Him — this is the compassion Bhagavān reveals.

  divergence: Śaṅkara: 'na tu ahaṃ teṣu taddhīnaḥ tadvśaḥ yathā saṃsāriṇaḥ — te punaḥ mayi madvśāḥ madadhīnāḥ' — the asymmetry is total: saṃsārins are owned by the guṇas; the Lord owns but is not owned.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  All sāttvika, rājasa, and tāmasa states that stand in the world as objects of enjoyment, as bodies, as sense-faculties, and as their respective causes — know all of them as having arisen from Me. They subsist as My body (mac-charīratayā), held within Me. I, however, do not depend upon them for My own subsistence; the relationship is entirely asymmetrical: I sustain them as ātman (self) sustains śarīra (body), while they contribute nothing to Me. My sole purpose in this play is līlā (divine play) — nothing more.

  divergence: Rāmānuja: 'te mac-charīratayā mayi eva avasthitāḥ — mam tu taiḥ na kaścit tathāvidha upakāraḥ, kevalaṃ līlā eva prayojanam' — the śarīra-ātman relation anchors the asymmetry.

• Madhvadvaita

  All three orders of being — sāttvika, rājasa, tāmasa — originate from the Lord, yet Hari is the regulator of the very svabhāva (own-nature) of each, not merely its occasion. The Lord is not bound by any of them: 'tad-āśritaṃ jagat sarvaṃ — na asau kutracid āśritaḥ' (the entire world rests on Him; He rests nowhere). The jīva (individual self) remains eternally distinct, subject to bondage or liberation, while the Lord is the bhoktr (supreme enjoyer) at the subtle level of every sāttvika quality — worshipped through upāsanā (meditative devotion), not collapsed into.

  divergence: Madhva cites Gītā-kalpa: 'rasādīnāṃ rasāditva-svabhāvatve tathā ca / sāratve sarva-dharmeṣu viśeṣeṇāpi kāraṇam' — Hari is specifically the inner regulator (niyāmaka) of essence-qualities, not merely their source.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  What was said before — 'there is nothing higher than Me' — is here made vivid: even the prakṛta (natural, material) states are from Me, because all guṇas are operations of My own sat-prakṛti (being-nature). I am the primary agent as upādāna (material cause): the guṇas are My creation through direct śakti (power), not through intermediary. Still I do not live in them as the jīva does — dependent and conditioned. They in turn do not subsist in Me directly but in My prakṛti, of which I am the mūla-kartā (root-agent). I am the ground; they are the play.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'prākṛtā apy ete matta eva mat-sat-prakṛti-guṇa-kāryatvāt mama ca prakṛtyādi-kāraṇatva-mukhya-kartṛtvam' — the guṇas are sat-prakṛti's operations, making them Kṛṣṇa's without diminishing His transcendence.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Not only the enumerated manifestations, but all sāttvika states such as śama (inner calm) and dama (self-restraint), all rājasa states such as dveṣa (aversion) and darpa (pride), and all tāmasa states such as śoka (grief) and moha (delusion) — arising in beings through their own karma — know all of these as born from Me. They are effects of the threefold guṇas of My prakṛti (primal nature). Even so, I do not reside in them as a jīva does, subservient to their pull. They, remaining under My sovereignty, dwell in Me.

  divergence: Śrīdhara: 'madīya-prakṛti-guṇa-traya-kāryatvāt — jīvavat tadadhīno'haṃ na bhavāmītyarthaḥ' — the guṇas are My prakṛti's effects; I am never their subordinate as the jīva is.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Why enumerate further? All bhāvas (mental modifications) — sāttvika ones like śama (calm), rājasa ones like harṣa (elation) and darpa (pride), and tāmasa ones like śoka (grief) and moha (delusion) — arising in beings through avidyā (ignorance) and karma: know all of them as issuing from Me. The eva (only) here marks total scope. As for My relation to them: just as a rope does not become defiled by the superimposed serpent, I am not tainted by these guṇa-modifications. They, however, are superimposed upon Me — their very sattā (existence) and sphūrti (luminosity) are borrowed from Me, as the serpent's apparent reality is borrowed from the rope.

  divergence: Madhusūdana: 'rajju-khaṇḍa iva kalpita-sarpa-vikāra-rūṣito'haṃ na bhavāmi — te tu madadhīna-sattā-sphūrtikāḥ' — the rope-snake metaphor becomes the precision instrument for the Advaita-bhakti resolution.