Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 7, Verse 29: Krishna to Arjuna — Jñāna-Vijñāna-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Those who take refuge in me — the supreme Ishvara (Lord) — with minds wholly absorbed in me, striving for liberation from old age and death: they come to know that Brahman (the absolute), know the entirety of adhyatma (the inner-self domain), and know all karma (action) without remainder. Shankara reads the verse as a ladder: the seeker begins in dependence on a personal Lord, but what is finally cognized is the impersonal Brahman and the pratyag-atman (the innermost self). Karma is not ends-in-itself but is known as the preparatory field whose exhaustion clears the way to jnana (knowledge).

  divergence: Shankara: 'mat-samaahita-cittaah santah yatanti ye — those with minds concentrated in me strive; tat Brahma param tat viduh — they know that supreme Brahman; krtsnnam adhyatmam pratyag-aatma-vishayam vastu — the entirety of adhyatma, the matter concerning the inner self.'

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Those who take refuge in me striving for liberation from prakriti (primal matter) — for the vision of the jiva's (soul's) own true nature disentangled from matter — come to know Brahman, know the entirety of adhyatma, and know all karma. Ramanuja reads moksha here not as dissolution but as the self's own luminous nature becoming visible once prakriti's veil is removed; the knowing is therefore threefold: the substrate (Brahman-as-Ishvara), the individual-self in its own form, and the karma-yoga path that purifies the seeker for that vision.

  divergence: Ramanuja: 'prakrti-viyukta-atma-svarupa-darshanaya mam aashritya ye yatante — those who strive, having taken refuge in me for the sake of seeing the soul's own nature disentangled from prakriti, they know Brahman, know the entirety of adhyatma, and know all karma.'

• Madhvadvaita

  The phrase 'for liberation from old age and death' marks a special excellence of the mumukshu's (liberation-seeker's) devotion — it praises attachment to moksha, not merely prescribes it; but a higher excellence still belongs to the one-pointed bhakta (devotee) who seeks Hari alone, even beyond moksha. Madhva cites Naradiya scripture: the non-mumukshu who has one-pointed devotion is yet more praiseworthy. Those who do take this refuge come to know — but the knowing is Hari's gift, for 'whom the self chooses, by that one is the self attained' (Katha / Mundaka shruti). All Vedas serve the devas, all devas serve Narayana, and Narayana alone is the purpose of moksha; no other purpose is admitted.

  divergence: Madhva: 'jara-marana-mokshaaya ity anya-kama-vyavrttty-artham moksha-sakti-stuty-artham va na vidhih — the phrase serves to praise attachment to liberation and to exclude lesser motives, not as a bare injunction.' Also: 'yam evaisah vrnute — whom this self chooses (Katha 2.22 / Mundaka 2.3).'

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Vallabha situates this verse as the pivot where the four types of devotees — the afflicted, the wealth-seeker, the inquirer, the jnanin (man of knowledge) — are recapped before the chapter closes. The arthi (wealth-seeker) and the aarta (afflicted), having received the Lord's grace, later become mumukshus (liberation-seekers) and jijnasas (inquirers); the verse declares their fruit: they come to know the supreme imperishable Brahman, they know adhyatma (the self's own nature), and they know the entirety of karma. Liberation from old age and death is Brahma-jnana (knowledge of Brahman) alone, and the path to it is prapatti (self-surrender) to the Lord.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'jara-maranato moksho hi brahmaatma-jnaana eva — liberation from old age and death is Brahma-atma-jnana alone; tad-artham mumukshavo maam aashritya prapadya yatanti — for that purpose the mumukshus strive, having surrendered to me.'

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Sridhara reads the verse straightforwardly as the fruit of devoted striving: those who take refuge in the Lord aiming at the removal of old age and death come to know the supreme Brahman; they know the entirety of adhyatma — namely, the pure self that is distinct from body and so forth — and they know all karma together with its rahasyam (secret inner meaning). The knowing of Brahman is the summit; adhyatma-jnana (knowledge of the inner self) is its indispensable preparation; karma-jnana (knowledge of action's full purport) is the instrument, including its secret.

  divergence: Sridhara: 'krtsnnam adhyaatmam ca viduh — yena tat praaptavyam tam deha-adi-vyatiriktam shuddham aatmaanam ca jaananti — knowing the entirety of adhyatma, i.e., knowing the pure self that is to-be-attained, distinct from body and so forth.' Also: 'tat-saadhanabhuutam akhilam sa-rahasyam karma ca jaananti — they know all karma that is the means to that, together with its inner secret.'

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusudana frames these two closing verses as the sutra (thread-summary) that will unspool into the entire eighth chapter. Those disgusted with samsara's suffering take refuge in the Lord in his saguna (qualified, personal) aspect — surrendering with complete turning-away from all else — and perform prescribed karma with no desire for fruit, offering it to the Lord. Progressively their antahkarana (inner instrument) is purified; they then come to know the supreme nirguna (unqualified) Brahman that is the world's cause and the ground of maya (illusion), which is what 'tat-pada' (the word 'That') ultimately points to; they know the entirety of the adhyatma, the self not circumscribed by limiting adjuncts, which is what 'tvam-pada' (the word 'Thou') ultimately points to; and they know all karma — hearing, reflection, and meditation under a guru's guidance — as the unfailing means to that identity.

  divergence: Madhusudana: 'maam sa-gunam bhagavantam aashritya itara-sarva-vaimukhyena sharanam gatva yatanti — taking refuge in me as the personal Lord, turning away from everything else, they strive; kramasho shuddha-antahkaranah santah taj jagat-kaaranam maayaadhishthaanam shuddham param brahma nirgunam tat-pada-lakshyam maam viduh — progressively, their inner instruments purified, they know the supreme nirguna Brahman, the referent of tat-pada.'