Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 4, Verse 3: Krishna to Arjuna — Jñāna-Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  That same ancient yoga (yoga) — which is identical with liberating knowledge (jñāna) — I have declared to you today, because you are my devotee and friend. Śaṅkara is exact: the word 'rahasyam' marks this as the supreme secret, meaning jñāna itself, not merely a discipline of action. Friendship and devotion are the qualifying conditions (adhikāra) by which this disclosure is possible, not sentimental reasons.

  divergence: Śaṅkara's commentary glosses 'yogaḥ' directly as 'jñānam ity arthaḥ' — yoga here equals knowledge; the bhāṣya ties 'rahasyam' to the supremacy of that knowledge.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  That same flawless (askhalita-svarūpa), ancient yoga, together with its full apparatus (saparikara), I have now declared in its entirety to you who have taken refuge in me through friendship and supreme devotion (atimātra-bhakti). Rāmānuja emphasises that this knowledge is Vedānta-spoken (vedāntodita) and therefore beyond the capacity of any other to know or teach — its secrecy is not concealment but inaccessibility to those without qualified surrender.

  divergence: Rāmānuja's commentary specifies 'askhalitasvarūpaḥ' (unimpaired in essence) and 'saparikaram savistaram' (with full context), marking that the yoga is transmitted whole, not piecemeal.

• Madhvadvaita

  This yoga — whose glory is the greatness of the supreme Intellect (buddheḥ parasya māhātmyam), which distinguishes the grades of action, and whose fruits are imperishable — is being declared again because it is the eternal dharma previously practised. For Madhva, the disclosure to Arjuna enacts the eternal dependent relationship: Hari alone gives, the jīva receives; the verse confirms the asymmetry.

  divergence: Madhva's combined commentary on 4.1–4.3 frames the chapter's subject as 'buddheḥ parasya māhātmyam karma-bhedo jñāna-māhātmyam' — the chapter is about the greatness of the supreme and knowledge, not about any symmetry between teacher and student.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  This same imperishable yoga (avyaya-yoga) — whose lineage runs from Viṣṇu through the Sun, through Manu, to the Ikṣvāku kings — I now declare to you, continuing the tradition (sampradāya) for the redemption of all worlds, not merely for your battlefield encouragement. Vallabha insists: the verse's force is sampradāya-pūrvakam — everything here is received through gracious transmission (prasāda), not earned by individual merit.

  divergence: Vallabha's verse 'avyayaphalatväd avyayam imaṁ yogaṁ vivasvate proktavān' distinguishes the yoga as imperishable in its fruit, and connects the current disclosure to the primordial act of creation-redemption.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  That same yoga — after the tradition had been broken (vicchinne sampradāye) — I have again declared to you, because you are my devotee and companion; to none other do I speak it. The secrecy is not arbitrary: this knowledge is supremely confidential (uttamaṁ rahasyam) precisely because its transmission requires the double qualification of devotion and intimacy.

  divergence: Śrīdhara Svāmī specifies 'vicchinne sampradāye sati punaś ca mayā te uktaḥ' — the re-telling is motivated by the rupture in the chain of transmission; bhakti-and-friendship are the stated condition for disclosure.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  This ancient yoga — unbroken through the guru-lineage from time without beginning (anādi-guru-paramparāgata), which alone yields the supreme human end (puruṣārtha), but whose tradition had been severed — I have now spoken to you with the greatest affection, not to any other. Madhusūdana is precise: 'bhaktaḥ' means one devoted in the state of surrender, 'sakhā' means an equal companion of constant warm support; these two together constitute the uttama-adhikāra for the highest secret.

  divergence: Madhusūdana Sarasvatī glosses 'bhaktaḥ' as 'śaraṇāgatatvam saty atyanta-prītimān' and 'sakhā' as 'samāna-vayāḥ snigdha-sahāya', making the double qualification philosophically precise rather than merely affectionate.