Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 9, Verse 24: Krishna to Arjuna — Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  I alone am the experiencer (bhoktā) and sovereign (prabhu) of all sacrifices — Vedic (śrauta) and domestic (smārta) alike — because I am their inner deity (devatātmā). Yet worshippers of other deities do not know Me thus in truth (tattvena), for they mistake the manifest form of the deity for its ultimate ground. Performing their rites without this recognition (avidhipūrvakam), they inevitably fall (cyavanti) from the fruit of sacrifice, returning once more to the cycle of birth.

  divergence: Śaṅkara: 'sarva-yajñānāṃ devatātmatvena bhoktā ca prabhuḥ eva ca … na tu mām abhijānanti tattvena yathāvat … avidhipūrvakam iṣṭvā yāgaphalāt cyavanti'

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  I, Bhagavān, am the sole dispenser of fruit (phala-pradātā) in every sacrifice, precisely because every deity is a body (śarīra) within My being. How great the wonder (mahad idaṃ vaicitryam): the same act of worship, differentiated only by inner intention (saṃkalpa-mātra-bheda), yields for some a pitiful, perishable reward, while for those who see Me as the inner Self (antaryāmin) of all deities it yields limitless, incomparable bliss (anadhikātiśayānanda) and no return. The difference of fruit is entirely a difference of vision.

  divergence: Rāmānuja: 'prabhuḥ eva ca tatra tatra phala-pradātā ca aham eva … saṃkalpamātrabheda … anavad hikātiśayānanda-parama-puruṣa-prāpti-rūpa-phalabhāginaḥ apunarāvartinaḥ'

• Madhvadvaita

  The reason for fall is precisely this: I am the sole bhoktā and prabhu of all sacrifices, because the jīva (individual soul), eternally distinct from Me, cannot be the ultimate enjoyer of any rite — that lordship (prabhutva) is Hari's alone. Those who worship other deities as independent lords act without proper method (vidhipūrvaka), and such rites, however sincere, cannot bear the fruit of liberation because the causal relation runs only through Me.

  divergence: Madhva: 'kāraṇam āha vidhipūrvakative — ahaṃ hīti' — the cause (kāraṇa) of fall is stated here in 'ahaṃ hi'; proper method (vidhipūrvaka) requires knowing Hari as sole sovereign.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  I dwell as the very Self (ātmā) within those Indra and other deities who are but limbs of My being (mad-aṅga-bhūta); therefore I am the only bhoktā and prabhu and fruit-giver (phala-dātā) of all sacrifices, including the sacrifice itself and all its instruments (yajñādi-rūpa, tat-sādhana-rūpa). Those bound by action alone (karma-jaḍa) do not know Me as this root-reality (tattvena, mūlatvena), and so they fall again from heaven and other states — the difference of inner disposition (bhāva-bheda) is the sole cause of difference in fruit.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'mad-aṅga-bhūteṣu me śarīratayāvasthiteṣu teṣv indrādideveṣv ātmatayāvasthito 'ham eva … karma-jaḍāḥ … bhāva-bheda eva phala-bhede hetur uktaḥ'

• Śrīdharabhakti

  In the form of each respective deity (tat-tad-devatā-rūpeṇa) I alone am the bhoktā, the prabhu, and the fruit-giver (phala-dātā) of all sacrifices. Those who do not know Me as this inner sovereign do not return to Me but return instead to birth (punar āvartante). Yet those who worship the various deities while seeing Me, the inner witness (antaryāmin), present within all of them — they do not return.

  divergence: Śrīdhara: 'tat-tad-devatā-rūpeṇāham eva bhoktā prabhuś ca svāmī phala-dātāpi … ye tu sarva-devatāsu mām evāntaryāmiṇaṃ paśyanto yajanti te tu nāvartante'

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  I, Bhagavān Vāsudeva, am bhoktā in the form of each deity and prabhu as the inner witness (antaryāmin) of every sacrifice; there is no other worthy of worship (ārādhya) apart from Me. Those who worship other deities without knowing this fall (cyavanti) at the exhaustion of their merit, traveling by the path of smoke (dhūmādi-mārga) to those worlds and returning to take birth again. Those who see Me, the inner Self (sarvāntaryāmin), within all deities and offer their acts to Me travel by the path of light (arcirādi-mārga) to the world of Brahman, where right vision (samyag-darśana) arises and they are liberated.

  divergence: Madhusūdana: 'bhagavān vāsudeva eva … tat-tad-devatā-rūpeṇa bhoktā … antaryāmitvenādhi-yajñatvāt prabhuś ca … dhūmādi-mārgeṇa … arcirādi-mārgeṇa … samyag-darśanās tad-bhogānte mucyante'