Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 13, Verse 34: Krishna to Arjuna — Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Those who, in the manner shown, know the antara (distinguishing difference) between kṣetra (field) and kṣetrajña (knower of the field) as explained, by the eye of knowledge, that is, the self-revealing knowledge born of the instruction and grace of śāstra (scripture) and ācārya (teacher), and who know the release from bhūta-prakṛti, the prakṛti of beings which is avidyā (ignorance), called the unmanifest, meaning its going into non-existence, go to the supreme, to the reality of the paramātman, brahman. They do not take up a body again.

  divergence: Śaṅkara (source 13.35) reads bhūta-prakṛti as avidyā itself and mokṣa as its abhāva-gamana (going to non-existence): release is the disappearance of a cause, not escape to a place. The 'eye' is knowledge generated by teaching. The supplied text ends with his chapter colophon, which is not rendered.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Those who, by the eye called knowledge whose object is discrimination, know in the way described the distinction between field and knower, and who know bhūta-prakṛti-mokṣa, where mokṣa is 'that by which one is released', namely the means of release taught earlier, amānitva (absence of pride) and the rest, attain the supreme, that is, the ātman (self) freed from bondage. Having understood the distinction of the two by that knowledge, and having grasped the means of release from prakṛti that has taken the form of beings, those who practise it become free from bondage and attain the self standing in its own form, whose mark is unlimited knowledge.

  divergence: Rāmānuja (source 13.35) parses mokṣa as an instrument noun ('mokṣyate anena', that by which release happens) and points it to the virtues of 13.7-11; the knowing must issue in practice ('ye ācaranti'). 'Param' is the liberated individual self in its own nature, not brahman as Absolute, consistent with his 13.30.

• Madhvadvaita

  Those who know, by the eye of knowledge, the difference between field and knower, and the means of release from the bhūta (elements) and from prakṛti (matter), namely amānitva (absence of pride) and the rest, go to the supreme.

  divergence: Madhva (source 13.35) gives one line only: bhūta-prakṛti-mokṣa = the means of release from beings and from prakṛti, i.e. amānitva etc. (his 13.8). He splits the compound as release from bhūta and from prakṛti, and shares Rāmānuja's instrumental reading of mokṣa. He does not gloss antara, jñāna-cakṣus or param; those parts are rendered from the mūla.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  He sums up what was said: those who, by the sight of tattva-jñāna (knowledge of reality), know in the way described the antara, that is, the difference and discrimination between field and knower, and who know the upāya (means), amānitva (absence of pride) and the rest, from which comes release from bhūta-prakṛti, attain the supreme, the tattva-jñāna that brings one to the Puruṣottama (Supreme Person).

  divergence: Vallabha (source 13.35) makes 'param' not the final goal but the tattva-jñāna that leads to Puruṣottama: knowing the field-knower difference takes one to the knowledge that brings one to the Lord, not to the Lord directly. This matches his two-tier scheme at 13.30 (akṣara-unity by knowledge, Puruṣottama by his will).

• Śrīdharabhakti

  He sums up the meaning of the chapter: those who, by the eye whose mark is discriminating knowledge, know in the way described the difference between field and knower, and who also know release from the prakṛti of beings described here, that is, the means of release, meditation and the rest, go to the supreme abode.

  divergence: Śrīdhara (source 13.35) also reads mokṣa as the means, but names the means as dhyāna (meditation) and the like, where Rāmānuja, Madhva and Vallabha name amānitva. 'Param' is glossed 'param padam' (the supreme abode), a destination rather than a state or a knowledge.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Now he concludes the chapter with its fruit: those who, by the eye of knowledge, the knowledge of the Self born of the teaching of śāstra (scripture) and ācārya (teacher), know the distinction between field and knower, inertness against consciousness, changing against changeless, and who know the release from bhūta-prakṛti, that is, the going into non-existence, through the knowledge of the supreme Self, of avidyā (ignorance) called māyā, go to the supreme, kaivalya (aloneness), the true nature of the reality that is the Self, and do not take a body again. Thus it is established that for one steadfast in the disciplines beginning with amānitva (absence of pride) and possessed of discriminating knowledge of field and knower, the highest human goal is reached through the cessation of every evil.

  divergence: Madhusūdana (source 13.35) follows Śaṅkara on mokṣa as the abolition of avidyā, naming it māyā, and calls the goal kaivalya; but unlike Śaṅkara he brings amānitva back in as the sādhana (discipline) of the one who knows, a bridge to the instrumental reading of the Vaiṣṇava schools. No devotional element in this comment.