Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 7, Verse 13: Krishna to Arjuna — Jñāna-Vijñāna-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  The entire world of sentient beings is deluded by these three modes — the modifications of the gunas (qualities) in the form of raga (passion), dvesha (aversion), and moha (confusion) — and therefore does not know Me. What does it fail to know? That I stand utterly distinct from and beyond these very gunas, untouched by their character. I am avyaya (unchanging), free from all modification including birth and destruction — the very ground in which guna-play appears but which no guna can contaminate.

  divergence: Śaṅkara: 'guna-vikāraiḥ rāga-dveṣa-mohādi-prakāraiḥ... na abhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ yathoktebhyaḥ guṇebhyaḥ paraṃ vyatirik­taṃ vilakṣaṇaṃ ca avyayaṃ... janmādi-sarva-bhāva-vikāra-varjitam.' Śaṅkara insists on the strict qualitative difference (vilakṣaṇa) between the Lord and guna-modifications — this is jñāna-mārga's foundational diagnostic.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  The whole sentient-insentient cosmos — which arises from Me, dissolves into Me, and persists as My body (mac-charīra) — is deluded by the three modes: the sattva, rajas, and tamas objects that are fleeting, karma-conditioned, and fit only for momentary enjoyment. Deluded thus, it does not recognize Me: the One who stands utterly superior (paratara) in limitless auspicious qualities (kalyāṇa-guṇa), always uniform (sada ekarūpa), the eternal delight beyond every worldly enjoyment. The tragedy is that the Lord, who is the supreme object of enjoyment, is missed because the jīva is captivated by infinitely inferior objects.

  divergence: Rāmānuja: 'kṣaṇavidhvaṃsibhiḥ pūrvakarmaānuguna-dehendriya-bhogyatvena avasthitaiḥ padārthaiḥ mohitam... svata eva anavadhikātiśayānande nitye sadā ekarūpe... tvayि sthite api atyanта-nihīneṣu guṇamayeṣu... bhogya­buddhiḥ upajāyate.' The mac-charīra framing and the contrast between eternal bliss and momentary guna-enjoyment are distinctively Viśiṣṭādvaita.

• Madhvadvaita

  The suffix -maya in guna-maya (constituted by the modes) indicates tādātmya (identity-by-character, not literal identity): the gunas pervade all visible phenomena such that every object one sees is wholly constituted by them. The world, seeing even the Lord's own form through this guna-conditioned lens — as though He too were guna-bound — remains deluded. I, however, am permanently beyond the three gunas, as both the Gītā (14.19) and śruti ('kevalо nirguṇaś ca,' Śvetāśvataropaniṣad 6.11) declare: Hari's nirguṇa status is real and eternal, never reducible to His guṇa-endowed creation.

  divergence: Madhva: 'tādātmyārthe mayaṭ... guṇamaya-dehādikaṃ dṛṣṭvā Īśvara-dehe api tādṛśa iti māyā-mohita iti arthaḥ... kevalо nirguṇaś ca śve.u.6.11 iti ādi-śrutibhyaś ca.' Madhva's polemical point is that the world's error is projecting guna-bondage onto the Lord, a category mistake Advaita allegedly makes too.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  The Lord who is knowable through Vedānta remains unknown to the world precisely because the world is subordinate to the gunas (guṇa-tantra). The three bhāvas (modes of being) in their essential triple form veil the avyaya (imperishable) Lord who stands beyond all guna-rooted becoming. Māyā's own gunas — sattva, rajas, tamas — function both as āvaraṇa (concealment) and vikṣepa (projection), reinforcing adhyāsa (superimposition) upon adhyāsa in the jīva. Only those who are the Lord's own (madīyā), surrendered through prapatti (refuge-taking) following the ācārya's instruction — 'viśvāsaṃ sarvatas tyaktvā Kṛṣṇam eva bhajet' — cross this māyā by His prasāda (grace) alone.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'bhāvais tribhiḥ padārthaiḥ... mohitaṃ jagad idam āvṛtaṃ ebhyas triguṇātmakebhyo bhāvebhyo... paraṃ avyayaṃ vināśa-rahitaṃ māṃ na jānāti... māyā-guṇā eva hi pariṇatā api svarūpāvaraṇe vikṣepe ca hetv-antara-bhūtāḥ... viśvāsaṃ sarvatas tyaktvā kṛṣṇam eva bhajet.' Śrīdhara's payload for this school had HTML artifacts; Vallabha's own Subodhinī bhāṣya is used exclusively.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Why does the world not know this Supreme Lord? Because it is deluded by the three kinds of bhāvas — natural tendencies (svabhāva) that are guna-modifications such as kāma (desire) and lobha (greed). These tendencies veil Me who am untouched by them (ebhir asaṃspṛṣṭam) and who am their inner regulator (niyantā). I am therefore avyaya (without decay), free from all vikāra (modification). The devotee's task is to perceive the Lord as the transcendent controller standing behind the very forces that obscure Him.

  divergence: Śrīdhara: 'tribuir trividhaiḥ ebhiḥ pūrvōktaiḥ guṇamayaiḥ kāma-lobhādi-guṇa-vikāraiḥ bhāvaiḥ svabhāvaiḥ mohitam... ebhyo bhāvebhyaḥ paraṃ ebhiḥ asaṃspṛṣṭam. eteṣāṃ niyantāram ata eva avyayam. nirvikāram ity arthaḥ.' Compact and devotionally inflected; niyantā framing is Śrīdhara's signature contribution.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Given that the Lord is by nature eternally pure, conscious, and free (nitya-śuddha-buddha-mukta-svabhāva), how does the world — which is nothing other than the Lord Himself — come to be in the condition of saṃsāra? Because this entire world of creatures, deluded by all three guna-modifications (the bhāvas that have the character of mere becoming), is rendered incapable of discrimination (viveka-ayogyatva). It thus fails to know Me who stand beyond these guna-bhāvas as the unchanging substratum, utterly distinct (atyanta-vilakṣaṇa), free from all modification, non-phenomenal, a dense mass of bliss, self-luminous, immediate — and yet the very ground in which all appearance arises. The Lord's compassion (anukrośa) for the undiscriminating here is unmistakable.

  divergence: Madhusūdana: 'ebhiḥ... guṇa-vikāraiḥ bhāvaiḥ sarvair api bhavana-dharma-bhiḥ sarvam idaṃ jagat... mohitaṃ viveka-ayogyatvaṃ āpāditaṃ sat... ebhyo guṇamayebhyo bhāvebhyaḥ paraṃ eṣāṃ kalpanādhiṣṭhānam atyanta-vilakṣaṇam avyayaṃ... ānanda-ghanam ātma-prakāśam avyavahitam api māṃ na abhijānāti. aho daurhbhāgyam aviveki-janasya.' The phrase 'ānanda-ghanam ātma-prakāśam' marks the Advaita-bhakti synthesis: Brahman-as-bliss is also Kṛṣṇa.