The Commentary
Rāmānuja's Bhagavad Gītā Bhāṣyam is one of the three principal works of Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta (along with the Śrī Bhāṣyam on the Brahmasūtras and the Vedārthasaṃgraha). It provides a line-by-line Viśiṣṭādvaita reading of all 18 chapters and 700 verses of the Bhagavad Gītā.
Key Interpretive Moves
Rāmānuja's commentary differs from Śaṅkara's at crucial points:
- The Ātman — not identical with Brahman but a real, individual consciousness that persists even in liberation
- Brahman — the personal God, Nārāyaṇa-Kṛṣṇa, not an impersonal absolute
- The Three Yogas — karma, jñāna, and bhakti are not three equally valid alternative paths but an ascending progression, with bhakti as the summit
- The Charama-śloka (18.66) — interpreted as an invitation to prapatti (complete surrender), not merely as a final encouragement to perform one's duty
- The Divine Form (Chapter 11 — Viśvarūpa) — the Lord's cosmic form is real and not merely symbolic; and more beautiful to the devotee is the catur-bāhu (four-armed) form that Arjuna finally sees
Significance for Prapatti
Rāmānuja's reading of the charama-śloka (Gītā 18.66) as the statement of prapatti — sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṃ śaraṇaṃ vraja — is the foundation of the Sri Vaishnava prapatti doctrine in the Sanskrit scriptural tradition.