Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 7, Verse 25: Krishna to Arjuna — Jñāna-Vijñāna-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  I am not manifest to all the world — concealed by yoga-māyā (the operative power of my own qualities), I remain hidden from ordinary cognition. Only to certain devotees does my true nature become apparent. This yoga-māyā does not obstruct Īśvara's own omniscience, just as a magician's trick does not delude the magician himself — it bewilders only those outside the vantage of knowledge. Thus the deluded world (mūḍha-loka) fails to know me as unborn (aja) and imperishable (avyaya), mistaking the Absolute for a conditioned being.

  divergence: Śaṅkara: 'yogamāyā — guṇānāṃ yuktiḥ, the co-ordination of qualities — that is the māyā; by it I am concealed (saṃchanna). And this māyā of mine, belonging to me the Lord, does not obstruct knowledge of me, just as a magician's own māyā does not obstruct his own knowledge (yathā anyasyāpi māyāvinaḥ māyājñānaṃ tadvaṭ).'

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  I take on the form of a human being (manuṣyatva-saṃsthāna) precisely so that all may take refuge in me — yet that very human appearance, which is itself the vehicle of kaiṅkarya (devoted service), becomes the veil through which the deluded world sees only a man and misses the one who surpasses wind and Indra in power, who exceeds the sun and fire in brilliance. The bewildered (mūḍha) do not recognise me as the unborn, imperishable, single cause of all worlds (nikhila-jagad-eka-kāraṇa), the Lord of all beings who has descended precisely to be accessible. The yoga-māyā here is the concealment inherent in assuming human form for the sake of universal shelter (sarva-samāśrayaṇīyatva).

  divergence: Rāmānuja: 'māyī manuṣyatva-saṃsthāna-darśana-mātreṇa mūḍhaḥ ayaṃ lokaḥ — seeing only my human form, the deluded world does not recognise me as the unborn, imperishable, universal Lord who has taken that very form for shelter's sake.'

• Madhvadvaita

  The non-recognition of the Lord by the world is not an accident — it is Hari's own sovereign will (mad-icchayā). By his own power (sāmarthya) and his own māyā he causes the ignorance; the jīva (eternally distinct from Brahman) is rendered incapable of knowing the Lord unless the Lord himself wills it. The Pādma-Purāṇa cited by Madhva confirms: 'The great Lord (Maheśvara) veils himself and binds the mind of the world by his own power and by his Devī.' The unborn, imperishable Hari remains forever the independent agent; no amount of effort by the bound jīva suffices without his grace.

  divergence: Madhva: 'ajñānaṃ ca mad-icchayā — the ignorance is by my will. mayaiva mūḍho nābhijānāti — it is by me alone that the deluded one does not know.' Pādma citation: 'ātmanaḥ prāvṛtiṃ caiva loka-cittasya bandhanam / sva-sāmarthyena devyā ca kurute sa maheśvaraḥ.'

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  I am not revealed to the bound world of saṃsāra — I reveal myself only to my own devotees, because I am covered by yoga-māyā. Here yoga-śakti is the very power through which all becoming occurs (saṃsāra-rūpā); she is the deluder of those outside the circle of Kṛṣṇa's grace (prasāda). The root 'vṛ' in the sense of covering (vṛñ-varaṇe) signifies that this concealment is total — the world is itself wrapped in yoga-māyā. For the puṣṭi-jīva, this verse is the very reason why nothing but Kṛṣṇa's own grace (puṣṭi) can lift the veil — no human effort suffices.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'yogaśaktiḥ eva anyeṣāṃ vyāmohikā māyā — the yoga-power itself is the deluder of others; by it, fully covered (vṛñ-varaṇe from the root), the world does not know.' Only svabhaktas receive the light; the rest remain in the covering.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  The verse gives the reason for the ignorance described in the previous verse: I do not manifest (prakāśa) to the whole world — only to my devotees. The yoga-māyā here is glossed as an inconceivable play of wisdom (acintyaprajñāvilāsa), a marvel of bringing the impossible to pass (aghaṭamānaghāṭanācāturya). It is this concealment that keeps the bewildered world from knowing me as unborn and imperishable. Śrīdhara reads the verse in the spirit of straightforward bhakti: the devotee who has surrendered cognises the Lord; the non-devotee, however learned, remains blocked.

  divergence: Śrīdhara: 'yogaḥ yuktiḥ — yoga is a coordination; madīyaḥ ko'py acintyaprajñāvilāsaḥ — some inconceivable play of wisdom belonging to me; sa eva māyā aghaṭamānaghāṭanācāturya — that very māyā is the skill of accomplishing the impossible.' Verse framed as explaining why tṣāṃ svājñāne hetu — the cause of their ignorance.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Arjuna's implicit question — how can even the dull-witted form a merely human opinion of one so supremely manifest in divine form, worshipped by all gods and demons, destroyer of Naraka, bearer of sixteen thousand divine forms? — is answered here: I am not self-luminous to all, because the yoga-māyā that operates by my own saṅkalpa (intention) covers the undevoted world. The māyā here is not Śaṅkara's epistemological screen alone: it is the Lord's own sovereign resolve that the non-devotee shall not know me by form alone. Yet this very concealment is the mystery that drives sincere seekers to transcend form-perception altogether — the Advaita dissolution and the bhakti-submission meet at the same point of vanishing ego.

  divergence: Madhusūdana: 'yogaḥ mama saṅkalpaḥ tad-vaśavartinī māyā yoga-māyā — yoga is my intention, the māyā that follows that intention is yoga-māyā; tayā ayam abhakto jano māṃ svarūpeṇa na jānātv iti saṅkalpānuvidhāyinyā māyayā samyag āvṛtaḥ — by the māyā that follows my resolve that the non-devotee shall not know me, he is completely covered.' The non-devotee mistakes the Lord for a mere human (manuṣyam eva kaṃcin manyata).