Bhagavad Gita · Raja Vidya Raja Guhya YogaChapter 9, Shloka 15 (9.15)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
ज्ञानयज्ञेन चाप्यन्ये यजन्तो मामुपासते
एकत्वेन पृथक्त्वेन बहुधा विश्वतोमुखम्
॥ 9.15 ॥
jñānayajñena cāpyanye yajanto māmupāsate
ekatvena pṛthaktvena bahudhā viśvatomukham
Translation
"And others, worshipping me through the yajna of knowledge, worship me — some as one, some as distinct, some in many forms, as the one whose form is the universe."
Interpretation
Three forms of worship (Shankara).
- ekatvena ekam eva paraṃ brahma iti paramārtha-darśanena — through the ultimate vision "there is only the one supreme Brahman";
- pṛthaktvena āditya-candrādi-bhedena sa eva bhagavān viṣṇuḥ avasthitaḥ — as distinct: "the same Vishnu is present in different forms, as the sun, the moon and so on";
- bahudhā avasthitaḥ sa eva bhagavān sarvatomukhaḥ viśva-rūpaḥ — as the one of many forms, the universal form facing everywhere.
And a question: yadi bahubhiḥ prakāraiḥ upāsate, kathaṃ tvām eva upāsate? — if they worship in many ways, how is it you alone they worship? — the answer is 9.16–9.19.
Acharya Ramanuja — one universal body. Bahudhā pṛthaktvena jagad-ākāreṇa viśvatomukhaṃ viśva-prakāram avasthitaṃ mām ekatvena upāsate — they worship me as one, though I exist separately in many ways in the form of the world; bhagavān vāsudeva eva … sūkṣma-cid-acid-vastu-śarīraḥ san … "sthūla-cid-acid-vastu-śarīraḥ syām" iti saṃkalpya … vicitra-jagac-charīraḥ avatiṣṭhate — Vasudeva, whose body is the subtle conscious and non-conscious, willed "may the gross world be my body", and exists in the form of the wondrous world-body.
The difference: Shankara — three separate forms of worship (non-dual, as distinct, as the universal form); Ramanuja — a single worship: the many forms in the world are the body of the one Lord.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.