While the Sandarbhas emphasize the Bhāgavatam in their analysis, every now and then, Śrī Jīva Goswami cites the Bhagavad-Gītā to establish the same point as the Bhāgavatam. He brings out startling insights that would not be obvious at first sight. These insights are specifically possible because Śrī Jīva’s theology is built around the Bhāgavatam. The Gauḍīya sampradāya is unique in interpreting the Gītā in light of the Bhāgavatam, and Śrī Jīva Goswami was one of the early pioneers of this method. Later on, Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī wrote a beautiful commentary on the Gītā, following a similar approach. An example of his approach is here.
As a reminder, the cornerstone of the Bhāgavata’s theology is the following verse:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate|
All those who have realized Absolute reality refer to that Reality as non dual consciousness. This reality is named as Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān.
This Absolute reality is perceived differently, as Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān, by different individuals. Why do they perceive them differently? It is because their saṁskāras, shaped by their respective teachers and lineages, determine distinct methods of sāmmukhya or turning toward the Supreme.
In Anuchheda 176 of the Bhakti Sandarbha, in remarkably penetrating commentary, Śrī Jīva Goswami, brings out both these points – that the one reality is perceived in three ways, and the method of worship that enables its perception, based on an analysis of the Bhagavad-Gītā’s eighth chapter. Below I examine his unique commentary.
As a reminder, the eighth chapter of the Gītā starts with the following question from Arjuna:
arjuna uvāca—
kiṁ tad brahma kim adhyātmaṁ kiṁ karma puruṣottama | adhibhūtaṁ ca kiṁ proktam adhidaivaṁ kim ucyate ||
adhiyajñaḥ kathaṁ ko ’tra dehe ’smin madhusūdana | prayāṇa-kāle ca katham˙ jñeyo ’si niyatātmabhiḥ ||Arjuna inquired: What is the Absolute (Brahman), what is integral selfhood (adhyātma), and what is consequential action (karma), O best of men? What does phenomenality (adhibhūta) refer to, and what is meant by cosmic governance (adhidaiva)? Madhusūdana, who is the immanent impeller of action (adhiyajña) and how does he dwell in this body? And how are You to be known at the time of death by those of restrained mind?
In these two verses, Arjuna has inquired about the meaning of the following terms:
brahma, karma, adhyātma, adhibhūta, adhidaiva, adhiyajña
The rest of the chapter can be thought of as a reply to Arjuna’s question. Śrī Kṛṣṇa starts his reply in verse 8.3 as follows:
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ svabhāvo ’dhyātmam ucyate
bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo visargaḥ karma-sañjñitaḥ
Instead of providing translations for this verse, I will provide the commentary from Śrī Jīva. He writes:
tatra akṣaraṁ brahma paramam [gītā 8.3] ity akṣara-śabdena pūrvoktaṁ brahma |
In the statement, “akṣaraṁ brahma paramam” (gītā 8.3), the word akṣara, “imperishable,” refers to the aforementioned Brahman.
He immediately cites a verse from the eighth chapter again, which refers to the method of worship —
tat-sāmmukhya-rūpaṁ jñānātmakam upāsanaṁ cottaroktaṁ, yathā—yad akṣaraṁ veda-vido vadanti [gītā 8.11] ity-ādi |
The method of worship (upāsanam), involving the cultivation of immediate awareness (jñānātmakam), is described a few verses later as the means of orienting attention toward Brahman (tat-sāmmukhyam):I shall tell you in brief about that supreme destination, which the knowers of the Vedas refer to as the Imperishable (akṣara), into which the mendicants who are bereft of all desire enter and aspiring for which students adopt the vow of celibate apprenticeship (gītā 8.11)
Next, he cites verse 8.4 as establishing Paramātmā:
tathā paramātmānam api —puruṣaś cādhidaivatam [gītā 8.4] iti, adhiyajño’ham evātra dehe dehabhṛtāṁ vara [gītā 8.4] iti ca |
The Paramātmā feature is described in these words:
… the cosmic being (puruṣa) [i.e., virāṭ] is known as the supreme deity of cosmic governance (adhidaivatam), and I Myself am the impeller and bestower of the results of all action in the form of the Immanent Self (adhiyajña) present in this body. (gītā 8.4)
He points out that the verse mentions two distinct features of Paramātmā, and by implication, two distinct modes of bhakti:
virāḍ vyaṣṭi-rūpādhiṣṭhāna-dvaya-bhedena bhinna-prāyam uktvā, bhakti-rīti-dvayī tayor eka-prāyā darśitā |
After speaking of these two apparently distinct features of Paramātmā in accordance with the two fields over which they preside — the cosmos as a whole (virāṭ-rūpa) and the individual body (vyaṣṭi-rūpa) — two types of bhakti are correspondingly depicted. These two types of bhakti toward Paramātmā, however, are generally characterized as one.
Previously in the Anuccheda, Śrī Jīva Goswami has pointed out that bhakti is broadly of two types: toward Paramātmā and toward Bhagavān. Bhakti toward Paramātmā itself is of two types, which is mentioned in the same chapter. He cites the two verses that mention these two separate types of bhakti:
tatra abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena [gītā 8.8] ity-ādinaikā
Among them, bhakti directed toward Paramātmā in the form of the virāṭ-puruṣa is referred to in this statement:
abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gāminā paramaṁ puruṣaṁ divyaṁ yāti pārthānucintayan
O Arjuna, being constantly immersed in contemplation on the divine Supreme Cosmic Being (paramaṁ puruṣam) by absorption in the practice of meditation with an unwavering mind, one attains Him alone.
The second type of Paramātmā worship is mentioned in 8.9:
kaviṁ purāṇam anuśāsitāram [gītā 8.9] ity-ādinānyā
Bhakti directed toward Paramātmā in the form of the Immanent Self (vyaṣṭi-puruṣa) is referred to in this verse:
kaviṁ purāṇam anuśāsitāram aṇor aṇīyāṁsam anusmared yaḥ
sarvasya dhātāram acintya-rūpam āditya-varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt
prayāṇa-kāle manasā’calena bhaktyā yukto yoga balena caiva
bhruvor madhye prāṇam āveśya samyak sa taṁ paraṁ puruṣam upaiti divyam
At the time of death, one who, being endowed with devotion, and having carefully fixed the vital force (prāṇa) at the ājñā-cakra through the power of yoga, meditates constantly with an undeviating mind on the Puruṣa, who is omniscient, beginningless, the primordial preceptor, subtler than the atom, the universal sustainer, whose form transcends the limits of rationality, who is resplendent like the sun and beyond ignorance— such a person attains that divine Supreme Immanent Self. (gītā 8.9–10)
Now he points out the verse which teaches the third type of bhakti, which is bhakti to Bhagavān:
tathā mac-chabdokta-śrī-kṛṣṇākhya-bhagavad-bhakti-prakāraś cāyam—
ananya-cetāḥ satataṁ yo māṁ smarati nityaśaḥ | tasyāhaṁ sulabhaḥ pārtha nitya-yuktasya yoginaḥ || [gītā 8.14] iti |
Bhakti directed to Bhagavān, who is known as Śrī Kṛṣṇa and is referred to in the following verse by the pronoun mat, “Me,” is described in this manner:
O Arjuna, one who constantly remembers Me from moment to moment, his mind being fixed exclusively on Me — to such a yogī, who is ever united with Me, I am easily attainable. (gītā 8.14)
Summary
I summarize the above analysis in tabular form below. This shows how the Bhagavad Gita presents three aspects of the Supreme, each realized through a distinct mode of sādhana. In this way, the Gītā’s teaching aligns with Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.11, where the one Absolute Truth is realized as Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān.
| Perceived Absolute Truth | Described in Gītā verse | Term used in the Gītā verse | sādhāna described in Gītā verse |
| Brahman | 8.3 | akṣaram (Brahman) | 8.11, jñānātmakam upāsanaṁ |
| Paramātmā | samaṣṭi: 8.4, line 1 | adhidaiva (cosmic Puruṣa / samaṣṭi Paramātmā) | 8.8, bhaktyātmakam upāsanaṁ (samaṣṭi viṣaya) |
| Paramātmā | vyaṣṭi: 8.4, line 2 | adhiyajña (immanent Paramātmā / vyaṣṭi) | 8.9, bhaktyātmakam upāsanaṁ (vyaṣṭi viṣaya) |
| Bhagavān | 8.14 | mām (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) | 8.14, bhaktyātmakam upāsanaṁ (viṣaya=Śrī Kṛṣṇa) |
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