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Ch 9 · Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga
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Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 9, Verse 21: Krishna to Arjuna — Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 9.21Chapter 9 · Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · triṣṭubh
ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति ।
एवं त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते ॥
te← tad(305 verses)nominative masculine plural nounthat (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun taṃ← tad(305 verses)accusative masculine singular nounthat (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun bhuktvā← bhuj(3 verses)convto enjoy, eat, experience (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaitaस्वर्गलोकं विशालं विस्तीर्णं क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति आविशन्तिviśiṣṭādvaitaतदनुभवहेतुभूते पुण्ये क्षीणे पुनरपि मर्त्यलोकं विशन्तिbhaktiभोगप्रापके पुण्ये क्षीणे सति,मर्त्यलोकं विशन्तिadvaita-bhakti, तद्भोगजनके पुण्ये क्षीणे सति तद्देहनाशात्पुनर्देहग्रहणाय मर्त्यंलोकं विशन्ति svarga← svarga(4 verses)compound (compound member)heaven, the celestial world-lokaṃ← loka(49 verses)accusative masculine singular nounworld, realm; people viśālaṃ← viśāla(2 verses)accusative masculine singular nounvast, wide, extensive
kṣīṇe← √kṣi(2 verses)locative neuter singular participle nounto perish, decay (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaitaपुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति आविशन्तिviśiṣṭādvaitaपुनरपि मर्त्यलोकं विशन्तिśuddhādvaitaपुण्ये इतिbhaktiसति,मर्त्यलोकं विशन्तिadvaita-bhaktiसति तद्देहनाशात्पुनर्देहग्रहणाय मर्त्यंलोकं विशन्ति puṇye← puṇya(8 verses)locative neuter singular nounmerit, virtue, the auspiciousattested in commentariesadvaitaमर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति आविशन्तिviśiṣṭādvaitaक्षीणे पुनरपि मर्त्यलोकं विशन्तिśuddhādvaitaइति। न तु क्षीणे लोके तद्यथेह कर्मजितो [चितो] लोकः क्षीयत एवमेव अमुत्र पुण्यजितो [चितो] लोकः क्षीयते [छां.उ.8।1।6] इतिbhaktiक्षीणे सति,मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति martya← martya(2 verses)compound (compound member)mortal (from √mṛ)-lokaṃ← loka(49 verses)accusative masculine singular nounworld, realm; people viśanti← √viś(8 verses)present indicative 3rd person plural verbto enter (verbal root); also: settler, person (Vaiśya class)attested in commentariesadvaitaआविशन्तिviśiṣṭādvaita। एवं त्रय्यन्तसिद्धज्ञानविधुराः काम्यस्वर्गादिकामाः केवलं त्रयीधर्मम् अनुप्रपन्नाः गतागतं लभन्ते। अल्पास्थिरस्वर्गादीन्bhakti। पुनरप्येवमेव वेदत्रय्या विहितं धर्ममनुसृताः कामकामा भोगान्कामयमाना गतागतं यातायातं लभन्ते।advaita-bhakti। पुनर्गर्भवासादियातना अनुभवन्तीत्यर्थः। पुनःपुनरेवमुक्तप्रकारेण। हि प्रसिद्ध्यर्थः। त्रैधर्म्यं हौत्राध्वर्यवौद्गात्रधर
evaṃ trayī← trayīcompound (compound member)the triple (Veda); threefold knowledge-dharmam← dharma(27 verses)accusative masculine singular nounduty, law, righteousness; the principle of right action; one's own nature (sva-dharma) anuprapannā← anu-√prapadnominative masculine plural participle noun(anu- + prapad: to take refuge in)
gat← √gam(20 verses)compound participle (compound member)to go (verbal root)āgataṃ← √āgam(4 verses)accusative masculine singular participle nounto come, arrive (ā- + √gam) kāma← kāma(41 verses)compound (compound member)desire, lust, sensual pleasure-kāmā← kāma(41 verses)nominative masculine plural noundesire, lust, sensual pleasure labhante← √labh(14 verses)present indicative 3rd person plural verbto obtain, get (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaitaगतागतमेव, न तु स्वातन्त्र्यं क्वचित् लभन्ते इत्यर्थःviśiṣṭādvaita। अल्पास्थिरस्वर्गादीन् अनुभूय पुनः पुनः निवर्तन्ते इत्यर्थः।महात्मानः तु निरतिशयप्रियरूपं मच्चिन्तनं कृत्वा माम् अनवधिकadvaita-bhakti। कर्म कृत्वा स्वर्गं यान्ति तत आगत्य पुनः कर्म कुर्वन्तीत्येवं गर्भवासादियातनाप्रवाहस्तेषामनिशमनुवर्तत इत्यभिप्रायः।
spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip
meaning

Having enjoyed that vast heaven, they return to the mortal world once their merit runs dry. Those who follow the three-Veda ritual path, driven by desire, win only the endless back-and-forth.

Bhāṣyakāra purports

  • Śaṅkaraadvaita

    Those who have exhausted the vast expanse of svarga (heaven) reenter the mortal realm once their accumulated punya (merit) is spent — for punya, being finite, can only purchase finite returns. Śaṅkara is blunt: those who follow trayī-dharma (the ritual law of the three Vedas) alone, animated by kāma-kāmā (desire-impelled longing), win nothing but gatāgatam — the perpetual cycle of going and coming — and nowhere do they gain svātantrya (independence). The contrast is sharp: such persons never attain liberation precisely because their instrument is karma without jñāna (knowledge), means without the end.

    divergence: Śaṅkara's phrase 'na tu svātantryaṃ kvacit labhante' ('they gain freedom nowhere') is the interpretive crux; Advaita reading drawn directly from his bhāṣya prose.

  • Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

    Having enjoyed that vast svarga, whose cause is accumulated puṇya (merit), when the puṇya is exhausted they return again to the mortal world — for the happiness of svarga is alpa (small) and asthira (impermanent). Rāmānuja's diagnosis is precise: these souls are trayy-anta-siddha-jñāna-vidhurā — bereft of the knowledge that culminates in the Vedas — and so remain trapped by kāma (desire) in the cycle of gatāgata. The mahātmās, by contrast, take delight in cintana (loving contemplation) of Bhagavān and reach His anantānanda (limitless bliss), from which there is no return.

    divergence: Rāmānuja's 'alpa-asthira-svargādīn anubhūya punaḥ punaḥ nivartante' drawn from the supplied bhāṣya; contrast with mahātmā path is his own.

  • Madhvadvaita

    Despite the attractions of devapūjā (worship of the gods), Hari-bhajana (worship of Hari) is demonstrably superior — for those who practise only trayī-dharma (the three-Veda ritual code) remain in the orbit of dependent lesser goods. The jīva (individual soul), eternally distinct from and subordinate to Hari, achieves only the repeated motion of descent and reascent so long as his worship is directed elsewhere; no finite result can substitute for the eternal reality of Hari's grace. Madhva frames 9.20–21 together as proof that Kṛṣṇa's bhajana surpasses all alternative worship.

    divergence: Madhva's combined treatment of 9.20–21 ('mad-bhajanaṃ evānyadevatābhajanād varaṃ') is the primary anchor; sparse bhāṣya on this verse noted.

  • Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

    The three-Veda knowers — absorbed in the three-guṇa fabric of action — worship particular devatās (divinities) with corresponding yajñas (sacrifices) and reach the svarga appropriate to their guṇa-composition; but when puṇya exhausts itself they fall back, head downward (arvāk śirāḥ), carrying only their karmic residue. Vallabha draws on a detailed nibandha (canonical digest) to show that sāttvika, rājasika, and tāmasika action each lead to differentiated lokas (worlds) — yet all share the same conclusion: return. This guṇa-pravāha-mārga (stream of the guṇas) is one of three corrupted paths Vallabha names; escape lies only through Kṛṣṇa's prasāda (grace), not through guṇa-driven effort.

    divergence: Vallabha's extended nibandha quotation on three-guṇa fruits and 'sarvesāṃ punar āvṛttiḥ' is the anchor; guṇa-pravāha framing is his distinctive contribution.

  • Śrīdharabhakti

    Those who desire svarga enjoy that vast, longed-for heavenly world and its pleasures; but when the merit that secured them that experience is exhausted, they enter the mortal world again. Śrīdhara reads the verse with philological precision: they follow the dharma prescribed by the three Vedas, they are kāma-kāmā (desirous of enjoyments), and what they gain is only yātāyāta — the perpetual transit. The verse is a straightforward account of the limiting logic of kāmya-karma (desire-motivated ritual): its fruits match its quality, and quality that is finite yields only finite habitation.

    divergence: Śrīdhara's 'bhogaprāpake puṇye kṣīṇe sati' and 'yātāyātaṃ labhante' are the primary anchors from his bhāṣya.

  • Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

    The real harm of kāmya-karma (desire-motivated action) is the hidden suffering it perpetuates: after enjoying the vast svarga purchased by merit, when that merit is exhausted the body that housed the enjoyment is destroyed and the jīva must re-enter the mortal world — which means re-entering garbhavāsādi-yātanā, the torment of womb-dwelling and rebirth. Madhusūdana is explicit that anu-prapannāḥ (those who have followed this path) are traversing a beginningless saṃsāra, and the term anu (again) marks their renewed entrapment after each descent. Kāma-kāmā do not merely cycle — they suffer the full texture of re-embodiment each time, which is the true weight of gatāgatam.

    divergence: Madhusūdana's 'garbhavāsādiyātanā anubhavanti' and his explication of 'anu' in anuprapannāḥ as marking repeated prior entrapment are the interpretive cores.

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