BG 9.28 — Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 9.28Chapter 9 · Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Tāta · anuṣṭubh

शुभाशुभफलैरेवं मोक्ष्यसे कर्मबन्धनैः ।

संन्यासयोगयुक्तात्मा विमुक्तो मामुपैष्यसि ॥

śubhāśubha-phalair evaṃ mokṣyase karma-bandhanaiḥ

saṃnyāsa-yoga-yuktātmā vimukto mām upaiṣyasi

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Surrender every act to Me through *saṃnyāsa-yoga*, and karma's bonds will release you from both their pleasant and their painful fruits, and you will come to Me.

ekras · bhāṣya

Thus, by mat-arpana, you will be released from the karma-bandhanas of shubha-ashubha-phala. With samnyasa-yoga-yukta-atma, vimuktah, you will reach Me. The verse names what offering does to the binding power of action. The bandhana is the karma-phala; the chain is broken when the phala is no longer claimed.

Shankara reads the verse with characteristic precision. Karma-bandhana operates through phala-attachment — both shubha and ashubha; the verse names both because both bind. Mat-arpana-buddhi is the samnyasa-yoga that releases without external retreat. Vimuktah — released — names the condition that follows; mam upaishyasi names the destination.

Madhusudana reads the samnyasa-yoga-yukta-atma as integrating the two paths the Gita has been working: samnyasa as inner relinquishment, yoga as the practice of dedication. The two converge in mat-arpana, which is both samnyasa and yoga at once. Karma continues; binding does not.

Ramanuja reads the verse as the natural close of the offering-arc. The sadhaka who has internalized 9.27's mat-arpana is freed from the alternation of pleasant and painful fruits — both kinds of phala were forms of the same bondage. Samnyasa-yoga-yukta-atma describes the inner condition: the mind's complete disposition toward Krishna, replacing the alternating disposition toward fruit.

Madhva keeps the dependence-frame: vimukti is from the karma-bandhana of shubha-ashubha-phala precisely because the phala-claim was the residue of false autonomy. Once mat-arpana removes the autonomy-claim, the binding ceases; the jiva, eternally distinct, reaches Hari without intermediate destination.

Vallabha reads the verse through prasada. Mat-arpana is not the jiva's achievement but Krishna's grace flowing through the dedicating act; vimukti is the recognition that the binding was never substantial in the pushti-frame.

Shridhara reads the verse as the integration: samnyasa-yoga-yukta-atma is the bhakta who has reached the position of knowing what to do and how to release.

Context

where

Chapter 9 · Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Tāta

preceded by — BG 9.27

Whatever you do, eat, offer in fire, give away, or endure as austerity, Arjuna, offer it all to Me.

What's going on

Surrender every act to Me through saṃnyāsa-yoga, and karma's bonds will release you from both their pleasant and their painful fruits, and you will come to Me.

Sūtras through this verse (61)

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

9.10Nature acts under My gaze.───→here9.28───→10.8Source of all. Most-cited.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

9.24The receiver of all rites is named one verse.───→here9.28───→16.5Mā śucaḥ already once before — same shape.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homebetween

9.22I carry getting and keeping for them.───→here9.28───→9.34Mind on Me, bowed to Me — you reach Me.

show all 61

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

9.22Yogakshema as offering returned───→here9.28───→11.55Five offering-clauses

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

9.22The undivided ones the Lord himself sustains.───→here9.28───→11.55The whole Gītā distilled to five offering-clauses.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesbetween

9.22Constant thought of Me is self-contemplation itself.───→here9.28───→11.55The five-clause crystal is bhakti named whole.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

9.1I praise Kāśirāja, king among gurus.───→here9.28───→10.1Royal knowledge, royal secret, Kāśirāja.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanbetween

9.22I myself am the Lord, the Self of all.───→here9.28───→10.8From Me everything flows; wise ones know this and worship.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

9.22The undivided devotee is already complete.───→here9.28───→12.20The middle six closes on the fearless ripened one.

MadhusūdanaclassicalJ

Two kinds of nature — divine and demonicbetween

9.14Constantly singing, striving with steady vow.───→here9.28───→15.20The chapter closes gesturing toward sixteen.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

7.30Hold the Lord through every layer of life.───→here9.28───→9.34Bind your mind to Me, the only safe tie.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

6.43Practice resumes; it never restarts.───→here9.28───→9.32Even the low-born reach the highest goal.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

9.22For the undivided I personally provide.───→here9.28───→9.30Even a great wrongdoer, fixed on Me, is good.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

6.32Sees others' pain and joy as his own.───→here9.28───→9.29I am equal to all; lovers live in Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

9.4The world rests in Me, not Me in the world.───→here9.28───→10.20I am the Self in every heart.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsbetween

9.12Vain hopes, vain acts, their own punishment.───→here9.28───→16.1Divine traits named: fearless, pure, steady.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here9.28───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

9.27Karma-as-frame. 'Yat karoshi yad ashnasi yaj juhoshi dadasi yat, yat tapasyasi K───→here9.28───→13.7Itihasa stories and the witness virtues. 'Amanitvam adambhitvam ahimsa kshantir

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologybetween

9.4'Maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina.' All this universe is pervaded by───→here9.28───→9.29'Samo'ham sarva-bhuteshu na me dveshyo'sti na priyah.' I am equal in all beings;

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

9.22Pinky finger. Shraddha, faith. Gaurav lands shraddha with the Sushma Swaraj six-───→here9.28───→11.32Wrist, kalai. Kala, time. 'Kalo'smi loka-kshaya-krit pravriddhah.' Gaurav arrive

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

9.27Dharma-as-offering pillar. 'Yat karoshi yad ashnasi yaj juhoshi dadasi yat.' Gau───→here9.28───→13.27Atman / Brahman pillar. 'Samam sarveshu bhuteshu tishthantam parameshvaram.' The

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

9.27'Yat karoshi yad ashnasi yaj juhoshi dadasi yat.' Bhakti-inside-karma. Whatever ───→here9.28───→12.12'Shreyo hi jnanam abhyasaj jnanad dhyanam vishishyate, dhyanat karma-phala-tyaga

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

9.1The royal secret of the second ṣaṭka.───→here9.28───→10.1His glory becomes the chapter's evidence.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

9.27Whatever you do, do it as offering.───→here9.28───→11.55Five clauses, one shelter: mat-karma-kṛt.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

9.22For the one-pointed, I personally provide.───→here9.28───→9.34A stream of recollection without break.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyabetween

7.14Surrender alone crosses the māyā.───→here9.28───→9.32Even the lowest birth reaches Me through this.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata similebetween

7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.───→here9.28───→9.34Set toward Me, the seeker's whole posture.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsbetween

9.22For the undivided, I carry it Myself.───→here9.28───→9.32Even the 'low-born' reach the highest goal.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

9.24Receiver of every rite is the indweller alone.───→here9.28───→10.20I am the Self seated in every heart.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionbetween

9.22Yoga-kṣemam: the Lord's work, not the seeker's caste.───→here9.28───→9.30The great wrongdoer fixed on Me is good.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorbetween

7.18The jñānin is dearest; not interchangeable.───→here9.28───→9.34Refuge is not bondage by another name.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

9.1Chapter 7's residue of wonder forces 9's disclosure.───→here9.28───→11.54The saguṇa-bhakta privileged ahead of 12.1.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyabetween

9.24I alone receive every rite, every offering.───→here9.28───→17.4The mode of worship reveals the worshipper.

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awaybetween

7.21Whichever form I steady that faith.───→here9.28───→9.30Even fallen conduct, love makes pure.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessbetween

9.22The undivided are my one foundation.───→here9.28───→11.54Undivided love alone unlocks the world-form.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugebetween

4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.───→here9.28───→9.29Even to all — yet near to those who turn.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

9.1The Lord is reached by pure devotion.───→here9.28───→12.1Form or formless: which is the better road?

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminapproach

───→here9.28───→10.7Knowing the cases steadies the yoga.

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralexit

8.6'Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam.' Whatever state of being one remembers at the last ───→here9.28───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingexit

8.7Without a clean mind, steady remembrance fails.───→here9.28───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitexit

8.14Remembrance comes only from constant daily practice.───→here9.28───→

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlystation

───→here9.28───→

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markbetween

9.22Grace alone — never calculation of merit.───→here9.28───→9.30Even a wrongdoer fixed on Me is righteous.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

9.1Single-verse prelude names the secret of secrets.───→here9.28───→13.2Architectural claim: the Lord's own bhāṣya.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractbetween

7.1The play-Person of every form opens chapter 7.───→here9.28───→9.32The unsheltered run to their cowherd-Lord.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

9.22The Bhāgavata block grounds grace-only doctrine.───→here9.28───→9.29I am equal to all, yet lovers live in Me.

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

9.22Yogakshema───→here9.28───→18.66Take refuge

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathbetween · v2

9.22Yogakshema───→here9.28───→9.29Equal to all

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

9.22Yogakshema for the undivided───→here9.28───→9.29Equal to all

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

9.9Like one detached, not actually───→here9.28───→13.30Seer of non-action by Hari's light

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departurebetween

9.4He pervades, yet is not in any of it.───→here9.28───→11.46Cosmic and gracious one self-luminous.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalH

Bhakti as non-dual recognitionbetween

9.22Consciousness tending its own self-knowing modes.───→here9.28───→11.49Ananya bhakti is non-dual recognition.

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

9.16The sacrifice itself is named as Viṣṇu.───→here9.28───→15.1The world-tree's root is Viṣṇu above.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksbetween

9.9He sits like one detached, not actually detached.───→here9.28───→13.30The seer of non-action sees by Hari's light.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

9.22For the undivided, I personally provide.───→here9.28───→9.30Even a great sinner becomes good by resolve.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalC

Vision is the structural centerapproach

───→here9.28───→10.1Listen one more time — clearer before the pivot.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalI

Anugraha: grace as the active powerapproach

───→here9.28───→11.8The eye is given; seeing is grace.

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourexit · v2

8.12Om at the close───→here9.28───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingbetween

9.13The great know Me as beginning of beings.───→here9.28───→10.42With one part I pervade this whole world, and stand.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personbetween

9.22For those who see only Me I myself bear all need.───→here9.28───→12.2The form-devotee is most perfectly joined.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitbetween

9.25Each worship reaches its own destination.───→here9.28───→11.55Five-clause sādhana names the apex.

Śabda · lemmas (14 unique · 14 occurrences)

मोक्ष्यसे √muc — to release, free (verbal root) · future indicative 2nd person singular verb
युक्त √yuj — to yoke, join, engage in (verbal root) · compound participle (compound member) · also at 1.14, 2.28, 2.39, 2.50, 2.51, 2.61 +37
उपैष्यसि √upe — to approach (upa- + √i 'go') · future indicative 2nd person singular verb
कर्म karman — action, deed, the law of action · compound
बन्धनैः bandhana — binding, bondage (from √bandh) · instrumental neuter plural noun

show all 14

शुभ śubha — auspicious, good · compound
अशुभ aśubha — inauspicious (a- + śubha 'auspicious') · compound
फलैः phala — fruit, result · instrumental neuter plural noun
एवम् evam — thus, in this way
संन्यास saṃnyāsa — renunciation, casting off (sam- + ni- + √as 'throw down') · compound · also at 1.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.6 +8
योग yoga — yoga; union, discipline, application · compound
आत्मा ātman — the Self, soul; one's own self · nominative masculine singular noun
विमुक्तः vi-√muc — to release (vi- + √muc) · nominative masculine singular participle noun
माम् mad — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · accusative singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If karma-bondage is dissolved by the act of offering rather than by renouncing action, what is the operational difference between a saṃnyāsī who quits acts and a householder who offers them — and does this verse collapse that distinction?
02Śaṅkara identifies saṃnyāsa-yoga as a compound where both halves describe the same gesture of surrender; Rāmānuja treats it as a sustained disposition of maccheṣatā — what is at stake in whether this is a single act or a continuous orientation?

show all 7

03Madhusūdana distinguishes jīvan-mukti (body still present, avidyā removed) from videha-kaivalya (body fallen, upādhis dissolved) — does the verse itself sanction this two-stage reading, or is that an Advaita superimposition on bhakti language?
04Vallabha specifies that the liberated devotee reaches Puruṣottama in a sevā-fit rūpa in vyāpi-vaikuṇṭha — what does it mean for liberation to have a specific body-form and a specific destination rather than formless release?
05The verse promises 'māṃ upaiṣyasi' (you will come to Me) after using both śubha (auspicious) and aśubha (inauspicious) karma as paired obstacles — does this symmetrical framing suggest that merit accumulation is as much an obstacle as demerit?
06Dvaita's bhāṣya is absent for this śloka; the doctrinal rendering must be inferred. What does that gap reveal about which verses the Dvaita tradition considered architecturally central to its argument?
07If the mechanism of liberation here is 'I cannot own the fruit of what I have given away', how does this relate to modern agency theory — and is the Gītā's frame closer to a liability-transfer or a gift that extinguishes the giver's standing?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before a difficult performance review, dedicate the act of honest assessment to the deeper awareness behind the role: not 'my appraisal' but a disclosure of what is. When the outcome displeases, the antaḥkaraṇa that would normally contract into defensiveness finds no ownership-hook — you acted, Īśvara received it, the fruit cannot re-attach.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

At the end of each working day, run a brief maccheṣatā-anusandhāna: review what you did and mentally place each task as ārādhanā (worship) of the Bhagavān who animates the entire enterprise. The next morning's capacity to act comes unencumbered by yesterday's accumulation of 'I deserved better' or 'I was wronged.'

show all 6

Dvaita

Approach a creative project with the prior conviction that you are permanently distinct from the source of creativity — you are not the originator, Hari is. This is not false modesty; it is structural precision. It makes you immune to both the inflation of success and the collapse of failure, because neither result is finally yours.

Śuddhādvaita

When tending a relationship that demands continual giving — a parent with a difficult child, a teacher with a struggling student — notice the difference between service-as-depletion and service-as-sevā. Vallabha's frame says the devotee reaches Puruṣottama in a sevā-fit form: the capacity to serve is itself the form liberation takes; sustained caregiving is not a detour from freedom but its shape.

Bhakti

In a high-stakes negotiation, make your best offer and then release your grip on the outcome by naming — even silently — to whom the result belongs. Śrīdhara's logic: once the act is genuinely transferred, tava tat-phala-sambandha becomes anapatti (impossible). The negotiation proceeds the same way; your nervous system does not.

Advaita-Bhakti

When a long-held identity — professional, relational, ideological — begins to dissolve under life's pressure, Madhusūdana's two-stage map applies: first the antaḥkaraṇa is purified (you see more clearly), then the upādhi (limiting role) falls away entirely. Do not rush the second stage by forcing renunciation; let the purification complete. The verse promises that completion.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 9, Verse 28: Krishna to Arjuna — Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga