Bhagavad Gita · Karma Sannyasa YogaChapter 5, Shloka 17 (5.17)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
तद् बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत् परायणाः
गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः
॥ 5.17 ॥
tad buddhayastadātmānastanniṣṭhāstat parāyaṇāḥ
gacchantyapunarāvṛttiṃ jñānanirdhūtakalmaṣāḥ
Translation
"Those whose intellect is in That, whose self is That, who are steadfast in That, whose supreme refuge is That — whose faults have been washed away by knowledge — they reach the state from which there is no return."
Interpretation
A ladder of four "tat-" words. The verse repeats "tat" four times — intellect, self, steadfastness, refuge — as if meditation were gradually deepening.
Shankaracharya — "tat" = the supreme Brahman. Tasmin brahmaṇi gatā buddhiḥ yeṣāṃ te tad-buddhayaḥ — those whose intellect has gone into that Brahman; tad eva paraṃ brahma ātmā yeṣāṃ te tad-ātmānaḥ — those whose self is that very supreme Brahman; sarvāṇi karmāṇi saṃnyasya tasmin brahmaṇy eva avasthānaṃ yeṣāṃ te tan-niṣṭhāḥ — those who, having renounced all actions, abide in that Brahman alone; kevalātma-ratayaḥ — delighting in the self alone. Apunarāvṛttim apunar-deha-saṃbandham — no further connection with a body. And they are yatayaḥ — renunciates.
Acharya Ramanuja — "tat" = the nature of the self described in 5.16. Tad-buddhayaḥ tathāvidhātma-darśanādhyavasāyāḥ — resolved upon such vision of the self; tad-ātmānaḥ tad-viṣaya-manasaḥ — the mind on that alone; tan-niṣṭhāḥ tad-abhyāsa-niratāḥ — devoted to its practice. And apunarāvṛtti — yad-avasthād ātmanaḥ punarāvṛttiḥ na vidyate sa ātmā apunarāvṛttiḥ svena rūpeṇa avasthitaḥ — the self established in its own nature is itself the "no-return"; that is what they reach.
The difference: Shankara — abiding in Brahman, together with renunciation of action; Ramanuja — practice of the self's nature, and "no-return" is simply the name of the self established in a certain state.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.