The Bhāṣya attributed to Śaṅkara has the one Haṃsa burn the fetters of Avidyā. ‘In the water’ can refer to the body arising after the fifth offering or to the purified, transparent mind. Only knowledge of this hidden fire leads beyond death; there is no other path.

Śaṅkarānanda understands the Haṃsa as the one Self, knowledge of which destroys imagined differences. Like fire hidden in water, the Lord is present as cause without being exhausted in effects. Knowledge of the Self alone ends death and Saṃsāra.

Nārāyaṇa interprets the Haṃsa as destroyer of ignorance and the water as the lake of the becoming world, in which all powers rest. The Lord resembles the fire hidden within it. Whoever knows him gains mastery over Saṃsāra and passes beyond death.

Vijñānabhagavat has the one Haṃsa overcome waking, dream, deep sleep, and their underlying Avidyā. At the same time, the image of fire becomes pedagogical: through hearing, reflection, and contemplation, teacher and pupil kindle the fire of knowledge as if by friction. This alone leads to the innermost Self and beyond death.

The Bhāṣya attributed to Śaṅkara again gives kālakāra, the creator of time. The Lord creates and knows the world and is its self-grounded foundation. As Lord over Pradhāna, Kṣetrajña, and the guṇas, he causes Saṃsāra, liberation, continuance, and bondage.

Śaṅkarānanda reads kālakāla, the destroyer even of all-destroying time. The all-knowing Lord directs Pradhāna, Jīva, and the guṇas. The commentary defines Saṃsāra, Mokṣa, continuance, and bondage as the four states dependent upon his sovereignty.

Nārāyaṇa explains kālakāla as director of time. The Lord is creator and knower of the world, bearer of all knowledge, and ruler of Prakṛti, Jīva, and the guṇas. The four possibilities of Saṃsāra, liberation, continuance, and bondage depend upon him.

Vijñānabhagavat understands kālakāla as the one into whom even all-devouring time finally dissolves. The Lord is creator, knower, and self-grounded source of the world, and director of Pradhāna, Kṣetrajña, and the guṇas. Unknown, he binds through Saṃsāra; known, he becomes the ground of liberation.

The Bhāṣya attributed to Śaṅkara describes the Lord as the Self and light of the world, and as immortal. He is established in his own greatness and does not possess sovereignty through another. As all-knowing, all-pervading protector, he alone is capable of governing the whole.

Śaṅkarānanda understands the Lord as a ruler established in his own greatness. His sovereignty depends neither on a higher being nor on an external cause. The knower and protector of the world is therefore Īśvara existing through himself, not a commissioned part of a greater order.

Nārāyaṇa unusually interprets tanmaya as the Saṃsāra structured by the five sheaths of the vital forces. At the same time, he calls the Lord īśasaṃstha, designated by the name Īśa, knowing and ruling. The brief gloss thus joins the form of the world and sovereignty.

Vijñānabhagavat emphasises the self-grounding of the Lord. His greatness and sovereignty arise neither from karma, worship, nor an external bestowal, but belong to him originally. As knower and protector of the world, he rules from his own nature.