Bhogyatā — Being the Object of Experience
In the Viśiṣṭādvaita framework of bhoktā (experiencer) and bhogyam (experienced), bhogyatā names the quality of being the object of experience. Achit (insentient matter) has bhogyatā by its very nature — it exists precisely to be used, enjoyed, and experienced by cit (souls) and ultimately by Bhagavān Himself.
The theological underpinning of bhogyatā lies in the śeṣa-śeṣī relationship. If everything is ultimately Bhagavān's śeṣa (existing for His purpose), then all achit has its bhogyatā rooted in serving Bhagavān's cosmic play (līlā) and the experiences of the jīvas that He ordains. A flower, a meal, a sound, a body — all are bhogyam insofar as they are objects that the conscious soul encounters and processes through its dharma-bhūta-jñānam.
There is, however, a sublimely important use of bhogyatā in the Āzhvār tradition: Bhagavān Himself — His divine form, beauty, fragrance, touch, music, and presence — is the ultimate bhogyam for the muktas in Paramapadham. The Āzhvārs' ecstatic outpourings (especially Nammāzhvār's Tiruviruttam and Tiruvāimoḷi) are the full expression of this: the soul crying out in longing to experience (āsvādana) the bhogyatā of Bhagavān's divine presence.
Vedānta Deśika distinguishes between the saṃsāric soul's distorted bhoga (experiencing matter as if it were for the soul alone) and the liberated soul's true bhoga (experiencing Bhagavān as the infinite bhogyam in Paramapadham). The prapanna life is the journey from mistaking achit's bhogyatā for one's ultimate satisfaction, toward recognizing Bhagavān's bhogyatā as the soul's only real fulfillment.
This dual sense of bhogyatā — matter as experienced in saṃsāra, Bhagavān as the infinitely superior object of experience in liberation — captures the full arc of the soul's journey in Viśiṣṭādvaita.