Bhagavad Gita · Jnana Vijnana YogaChapter 7, Shloka 5 (7.5)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
अपरेयमितस्त्वन्यां प्रकृतिं विद्धि मे पराम्
जीवभूतां महाबाहो ययेदं धार्यते जगत्
॥ 7.5 ॥
apareyamitastvanyāṃ prakṛtiṃ viddhi me parām
jīvabhūtāṃ mahābāho yayedaṃ dhāryate jagat
Translation
"O mighty-armed one, this (eightfold nature) is my lower nature; know, distinct from it, my higher nature — which is the jiva, and by which this world is sustained."
Interpretation
Shankaracharya — the knower of the field. Aparā na parā nikṛṣṭā aśuddhā anarthakarī saṃsāra-bandhanātmikā — apara means lower, impure, harmful, of the nature of worldly bondage; parāṃ … viśuddhāṃ … mama ātma-bhūtāṃ … kṣetrajña-lakṣaṇāṃ prāṇa-dhāraṇa-nimitta-bhūtāṃ — para means pure, my very self, the knower of the field (kshetrajna), the cause of sustaining life; yayā … jagat antaḥ praviṣṭayā — which enters within the world and sustains it.
Acharya Ramanuja — the conscious nature. Itaḥ acetanāyāḥ cetana-bhogya-bhūtāyāḥ prakṛteḥ visajātīyākārāṃ jīva-bhūtām — of a different kind from the non-conscious nature that exists for the enjoyment of the conscious, in the form of the jiva; paraṃ tasyāḥ bhoktṛtvena pradhāna-bhūtāṃ — higher because it is the enjoyer; madīyāṃ prakṛtiṃ — my nature; yayā idam acetanaṃ kṛtsnaṃ jagad dhāryate — by which this whole non-conscious world is sustained.
The difference: Shankara — the higher nature is ātma-bhūtā (the very self of Ishvara); Ramanuja — the jiva is the Lord's "nature" (his body, dependent on him), distinct from him yet his.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.