Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 8, Verse 2: Krishna to Arjuna — Akṣara-Brahma-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Arjuna here asks the question whose seed Bhagavān Himself planted at 7.29 — 'those who seek liberation know brahma, adhyātma (the self as its own ground), and karma in full.' The present verse completes that inquiry by adding the adhiyajña dimension: who presides over yajña in this very body (deha), and how, at the moment of departure (prāyaṇa-kāla), is He to be known by those of disciplined mind (niyatātman)? Śaṅkara's bhāṣya treats these as question-seeds awaiting sequential resolution in Bhagavān's reply, not as independent puzzles — the entire cluster arises from the single desire for mokṣa.

  divergence: Śaṅkara: 'ते ब्रह्म तद्विदुः कृत्स्नम् (7.29) इत्यादिना भगवता अर्जुनस्य प्रश्नबीजानि उपदिष्टानि' — the questions are seeds sown by Bhagavān Himself in chapter 7.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Arjuna's question is precise and threefold: for the mumukṣu seeking liberation from old-age and death through Bhagavān, what are brahma, adhyātma, and karma? For the aiśvarya-seeker, what are adhibhūta and adhidaiva? And for all three types of devotees, who is the adhiyajña indicated by that compound word, and how does He abide in this body? The clinching question — how do the niyatātmans, those whose minds have been steadied through bhakti-yoga, come to know You at the moment of departure — ties the entire inquiry to the practitioner's last breath.

  divergence: Rāmānuja: 'अधियज्ञशब्दनिर्दिष्टश्च कः तस्य च अधियज्ञभावः कथं प्रयाणकाले च एभिः त्रिभिः नियतात्मभिः कथं ज्ञेयः असि' — three categories of seekers, one adhiyajña, one moment of departure.

• Madhvadvaita

  This verse is the threshold of the chapter whose subject is what must be done — and what path must be taken — at the hour of death (maraṇa-kāla). Arjuna asks who the adhiyajña is and how a jīva, eternally distinct from yet wholly dependent on Hari, can hold the mind steady enough at departure to reach Him. For Madhva, the answer will be that only Viṣṇu is the adhiyajña, and only the jīva who has cultivated direct dependence on Hari through karma-as-worship can meet Him knowingly at that moment.

  divergence: Madhva: 'मरणकालकर्त्तव्यगत्याद्यस्मिन्नध्याय उपदिशति' — this chapter instructs on what is to be done and what path is taken at the time of death.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Arjuna's question is simple and immediate: the adhiyajña — whoever oversees the yajña in this body (deha) — who is He, and how is He to be known? At prāyaṇa-kāla, when the body that hosted this yajña is being surrendered, how do the niyatātmans — those whose very selves have been steadied by Kṛṣṇa's grace — come to know You? For Vallabha, the entire question points to Kṛṣṇa's prasāda: the yajña in the body is His līlā, and knowing Him at death is not an achievement but a gift.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'अधियज्ञश्च कः स चाधियज्ञोऽत्र देहे कथ ज्ञेयः' — the question is structural paraphrase of the mūla, with no independent elaboration.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Śrīdhara unpacks the verse's inner grammar: the yajña that takes place in this body has an adhiṣṭhātā (presiding lord), a prayojaka (efficient cause who sets it in motion), and a phala-dātā (giver of its fruit) — and Arjuna's first question is simply: who is that person? The second question then asks about mode of abiding: how, and by what means, does that adhiyajña reside within and preside over this bodily yajña? Śrīdhara adds that 'yajña' here is synecdoche for all karma — every act of embodied life is a yajña, and every act has this hidden presiding lord. The final question — how the niyatacittāḥ (those of controlled mind) know Him at death — implies that such knowing requires a method, and that method is the chapter's real teaching.

  divergence: Śrīdhara: 'अत्र देहे यो यज्ञो वर्तते तस्मिन्कोऽधियज्ञः। अधिष्ठाता प्रयोजकः फलदाता च क इत्यर्थः... यज्ञग्रहणं सर्वकर्मणामुपलक्षणार्थम्।'

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusūdana opens a cluster of nested questions inside the single word adhiyajña: is it the deity-self (devatātmā) resident in yajña, or is it Parabrahman itself? If the latter, is Arjuna asking about tādātmya (the identity of yajña with Brahman) or atyanta-abheda (absolute non-difference)? And where does this adhiyajña dwell — within the body, or outside it? If within, is it buddhi, or something distinct from buddhi? Madhusūdana reads the doubled question ('adhiyajña kaḥ, katham') not as two questions but as a single question with its mode of inquiry built in. He also notes that Arjuna invokes the epithet 'Madhusūdana' (slayer of Madhu) deliberately — just as Bhagavān effortlessly removes the demon Madhu, so too can He effortlessly remove the obstacle of Arjuna's doubt. The final worry: at prāyaṇa-kāla all the sense-faculties are in disarray (karaṇa-grāma-vaiyagrya), and how can a samāhita-citta (collected mind) be achieved under those conditions?

  divergence: Madhusūdana: 'अधियज्ञो यज्ञमधिगतो देवतात्मा परब्रह्म वा... किं तादात्म्यैन किं वात्यन्ताभेदेन... सर्वकरणग्रामवैयग्र्याच्चित्तसमाधानानुपपत्तेः कथं नियतात्मभिः ज्ञेयोऽसि।'