Bhagavad Gita · Jnana Vijnana YogaChapter 7, Shloka 16 (7.16)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां जनाः सुकृतिनोऽर्जुन
आर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ
॥ 7.16 ॥
caturvidhā bhajante māṃ janāḥ sukṛtino'rjuna
ārto jijñāsurarthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha
Translation
"O Arjuna, four kinds of virtuous people worship me — the distressed (in trouble), the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth (one who wants a need met or prosperity), and the wise, O best of the Bharatas."
Interpretation
Shankaracharya. Ārtaḥ ārti-parigṛhītaḥ taskara-vyāghra-rogādinā abhibhūtaḥ āpannaḥ — beset by thieves, tigers, illness and the like, in trouble; jijñāsuḥ bhagavat-tattvaṃ jñātum icchati; arthārthī dhana-kāmaḥ; jñānī viṣṇoḥ tattvavit.
Acharya Ramanuja — different definitions. Ārtaḥ pratiṣṭhā-hīno bhraṣṭaiśvaryaḥ punas tat-prāpti-kāmaḥ — one who has lost standing or prosperity and wants to regain it; arthārthī aprāptaiśvaryatayā aiśvarya-kāmaḥ — one who has not obtained prosperity and desires it; tayoḥ mukha-bheda-mātram … eka eva adhikāraḥ — between the two there is only a difference of form; the qualification is one. Jijñāsuḥ prakṛti-viyuktātma-svarūpāvāptīcchuḥ — one who wishes to attain the self's own nature freed from prakriti (a seeker of kaivalya, isolation of the self); jñānī … bhagavac-cheṣataika-rasātma-svarūpa-vit … bhagavantaṃ prepsuḥ — one who knows that the essence of the self is to belong to the Lord (to be his śeṣa), and who wants the Lord himself.
The difference: Shankara — the seeker of knowledge = one seeking the truth of the Lord; Ramanuja — the seeker of knowledge = one seeking the kaivalya of the self. Ramanuja treats the distressed and the seeker of wealth as one category.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.