Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 9, Verse 25: Krishna to Arjuna — Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Those whose vow (vrata) is fixed on the devas (dev-vrata) reach the devas; those devoted to the pitṛs (pitṛ-vrata) through śrāddha rites reach the pitṛs; those who worship the bhūtas — Vināyaka, the mātṛgaṇas, the four sisters and such — reach those same bhūtas. But those who sacrifice to Me (mad-yājins), the Vaiṣṇavas, reach Me alone. The key point Śaṅkara presses: the āyāsa (effort) is equal in all cases, yet through ajñāna (ignorance) they fail to worship Me and therefore receive only alpa-phala (meagre fruit). The implicit indictment is ontological: finite destinations follow finite worshippers; the jñānī alone dissolves destination itself in the non-dual Brahman.

  divergence: Śaṅkara's bhāṣya directly: samāne api āyāse mām eva na bhajante ajñānāt — 'even though the effort is equal, through ignorance they do not worship Me' — and therefore te alpa-phala-bhājaḥ bhavanti.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Rāmānuja reads vrata as saṅkalpa (intentional resolve): those who form the saṅkalpa 'we sacrifice to Indra and the devas' by dārśa-paurṇamāsa rites reach those devas. Those resolving toward the pitṛs reach the pitṛs; those resolving toward yakṣas, rākṣasas, piśācas and similar bhūtas reach those bhūtas. But those who, by those very same yajñas, form the resolve 'we sacrifice to the Paramātman Bhagavān Vāsudeva who is the inner body (śarīra) of all devas, pitṛs, and bhūtas' — those mad-yājins reach Me. The qualitative difference is terminal: the deva-worshippers, having enjoyed finite bhoga alongside their finite deities, perish with them at dissolution; the mad-yājins reach the anādi-nidhana (beginningless-endless) Bhagavān of infinite kalyāṇa-guṇas and do not return.

  divergence: Rāmānuja's bhāṣya distinguishes finite enjoyment (parimita-bhoga) ending at the deity's destruction versus reaching the anavadhikātiśayānanda Bhagavān who has no end.

• Madhvadvaita

  Madhva's bhāṣya on this verse is extremely terse — the entire entry reads: 'phalaṁ vivicyāha — yāntīti' ('He distinguishes the fruits — thus [He says] they go'). The Dvaita reading therefore must be inferred from established Dvaita doctrine: each jīva is eternally distinct (bheda) from Hari; the destination a worshipper reaches reflects the hierarchical ontological rank of the deity worshipped, not a misapplication of equal effort. Deva-worshippers reach deva-loka because deva-loka is the appropriate fruit of deva-yajña; only Hari is nitya (eternal) and only Hari's worshippers attain nitya-mukti. The phrase 'mām api' carries Madhva's characteristic emphasis: Hari alone is svātantra (fully independent); all other goals are paratantra (dependent) and hence impermanent.

  divergence: Madhva bhāṣya is a single-line pointer (phalaṁ vivicyāha); full Dvaita position inferred from established school doctrine on bheda and Hari-sāmrājya.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Vallabha follows Rāmānuja's reading of vrata as saṅkalpa but inflects it through guṇa-psychology: deva-worshippers carry a sāttvika bhāva; pitṛ-worshippers are rājasa in character; bhūta-worshippers (yakṣas, rākṣasas, piśācas) are tāmasa. The mad-yājins, by contrast, hold viśuddha-sattva and nirguṇa bhāva and worship the Paramātman Śrī Vāsudeva as inner-dweller (adhiṣṭhāna) of all those levels simultaneously. They attain mat-sāyujya — union with Kṛṣṇa — not through effort but through the quality and orientation of their inner resolve (saṅkalpa). Vallabha locates the entire distinction in the inner state rather than the external ritual form, consistent with Puṣṭi-mārga's emphasis on bhāva over karma.

  divergence: Vallabha's bhāṣya: 'viśuddha-sattva-bhāvā nirguṇa-bhāvāś ca māṁ yajante te mat-sāyujyaṁ gacchantīty arthaḥ' — clarity of inner sattva determines the destination.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Śrīdhara is the clearest expositor of the plain sense: deva-vrata means those whose niyama (fixed discipline) is toward Indra and the devas — they are 'anta-vant' (finite-destined) and reach those devas, and therefore return (punar āvartante). Pitṛ-vrata means those engaged in śrāddha and related rites — they reach the pitṛs. Bhūta-ijyā means those who worship Vināyaka, the mātṛkās, and similar beings — they reach those bhūtas. Those whose śīla (habitual practice) is yajana of Me — the mad-yājins — they reach Me, the akṣaya (imperishable) Paramānanda-rūpa Nārāyaṇa. The contrast is pithy: all other destinations are finite and involve return; reaching Nārāyaṇa is the only akṣaya (inexhaustible) destination.

  divergence: Śrīdhara: 'mām akṣayaṁ paramānanda-rūpaṁ nārāyaṇaṁ yānti' — reaching Me the imperishable, of the form of supreme bliss, Nārāyaṇa.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusūdana provides the most architecturally rich reading. He maps the three non-Bhagavat worshippers onto the three guṇas: sāttvika worshippers are deva-vratas who perform bali, upahāra, pradakṣiṇa and praḥvībhāva to the Vasus, Rudras and Ādityas; rājasa are pitṛ-vratas who propitiate the Agniṣvāttā pitṛs through śrāddha; tāmasa are bhūta-ijyās who worship Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, Vināyaka and mātṛgaṇas. He invokes the śruti 'taṁ yathā yathā upāsate tad eva bhavati' — as one worships, so one becomes. The mad-yājins, seeing Bhagavān as the antaryāmin of all devatās, attain Bhagavān alone and reach the ananta-phala. The entire conclusion is delivered with what Madhusūdana calls a lament: ajñānīs, even at equal effort (samāne apy ajñānāt), bypass the ananta-phala-da (giver of infinite fruit) Bhagavān out of ignorance — 'aho durddaiva-vaibhavam ajñānam' ('what a marvel of misfortune is this ignorance').

  divergence: Madhusūdana's closing lament: 'aho durddaiva-vaibhavam ajñānam' encapsulates the pathos of Advaita-bhakti — the equal path available to all, squandered through guṇa-bondage.