Who Approves Binding Vows? | Jujutsu Kaisen 

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I need 2 things: 1- ppl other than sukuna using them 2- an actual vow being broken to see the punishment

It's obviously Gege. Who we all know is actually Manganimist himself

My headcannon is that sorcerer's follow an unwritten rule to always sacrafice/ask for an amount of something to prevent the vow from being disapproved. Most of the binding vows we've seen have been like "I will give up x for an unspecified amount of x" and vice versa. Sukuna's domain gave up the barrier for an extended range, but I doubt Sukuna asked any specific range, the universe just gave him an equivalent value to the barrier. Same for Miwa, her final strike against Kenjaku was giving up jujutsu forever or something and she received a boost to her attack, but, just like Sukuna, I doubt she was thinking of a specific number in her head. Hakari giving up his arm for protection seems like it's a exception to the rule, but technically "arm" isn't just one thing that you can't divide further. Even in the manga panel he's not missing the entire arm all the way to the shoulder. He probably just sacrificed the arm for protection and then the universe decided how much of his arm it would be worth. I imagine if someone tried to sacrifice, for example, an eyelash for infinite CE, the universe would automatically adjust the amount of CE to be worth an eyelash instead of giving them the infinite CE or just not activating. Not sure what would happen if the vow gets rejected and both sides are non-scalable tho.

Tsumiki Mom: I can't wait to get home to see my kids Kenjaku: That's a nice body you got there

Please dude just say "todo can probably do that to get back in the game" people are crying for it

I always thought that binding vows in jjk worked just like Nen vows in hxh. Basically you just put a limit on yourself or abilities by sacrificing or preforming certain actions to receive a boost in power. The only difference is that there's far less risk in using self vows in jjk than hxh.

Lobotomy Kaisen Theory for Yujis Domain Domain Expansion: Slaughter Demon. Blood Manipulation and Shrine are both parts of the literal definition of slaughtering. After an animal is incapacitated you exsanguinate it (while it’s still living) and then butcher it before cooking then eventually consuming it. What if Yuji sure-hit targets his wounded? If he hits you after casting his domain, makeing contact with your soul, it leaves you immobilized and unavoidably cuts your closest artery to the impact (cleave). Draining you of your blood instantaneously (Blood M) and butchering your drain remains (dismantle). This ability would also divide your soul. Turning its victims into cursed objects. Cursed objects Yuji can choose to devour or burn. Think about it, Sukuna ain’t the only one who ate his brother(s). Buddy also ate the fingers. A theme since chapter 1 is that Yuji is a dominant vessel that can eat cursed objects and gain their powers. The ability perfectly aligns with his character. He would have to punch-kick and touch the soul to activate the sure-hit. That activation requirement would make the technique far more potent than a typical sure-hit. Blood M + cleave/dismantle is literally slaughter. This incorporates all of his abilities and plays on his roots as a vessal and being developed in the womb alongside a cursed object. It also could be a work-around for separating Megumi and Sukuna by turning them into cursed objects. Separating the parts of Megumi and presumably the 20 fingers of Sukuna. Maybe even using Cursed Technique Reversal to put Megumi back together. Being able to incinerate the cursed objects also addresses the cursed objects durability that prevented Gojo and the higher ups from destroying the fingers. The “Demon” part of the name comes from Choso referring to Yuji as “A Demon God” and also “Slaughter Demon” is the name of the cursed tool that Gojo took from Maki and gave to Yuji. The one that was destroyed by a finger bearer moments before his body used RCT and Domain Expansion for the first time via Sukuna taking over and saving him. 😮‍💨 I may have been yapping but I feel pretty good about this theory

In conclusion Kevin Hart does NOT need legs

i think it is whatever the user GENIUINELY thinks its fair, you cant say "i give up my pinky for infinite cursed energy", because, deep down, your very soul, knows that this is unfair, you cant mind control someone to do a vow like that because you're controlling their mind, not their soul, and not even Mahito could overcome this, since he only changes the shape of the soul

I think it would be the same system that made curses stronger when gojo was born. The universe seeks balance and using binding vows is just adjusting that balance

i think binding vows are inspired from Hindhu Mythologies, ancient gods would grant wishes or create contracts with Humans or demons or kings, and these wishes when misused, even Gods cant break the contract, and had to circumvent rules and employ workarounds to defeat the human, demons who wished for something. i think its more like a property, A phenomena ,like fate .

judgeman judges if its fair or not, that is my truth

your channel has been my favorite lately, your videos are straight to the point and easy to understand for everyone and there are several videos upload during the day, so if you have some time you can sit down and watch it, it's definitely worth subscribing

They are making a binding vow with themselves so I feel like each person subconsciously determines what the cost is as in if asked the question "What would you give up for a million dollars", an answer instinctually comes to mind, and they probably cant sway away from it.

"i vow to hate yuji 0.00000000000452866% less, and in return, i will obtain complete immortality for 5 hours every time i say 'help!', with no cooldown"

Gege obviously, especially when his golden child (Sukuna) requests it, it's automatically approved. Each time Sukuna is almost defeated (like when after blasted by Gojo's purple, or after hit by Yuji's 7 blackflashes): "GEGE!!, my binding vow, now!!" (Sukuna's face in that panel where he fights Gojo and is panicking then shouts "Mahoraga!!") 😂

They also do say that being selfish makes you a better sorcerer, so basically the more self-centered you are, the more worth you put on yourself, so losing an arm like the example manganimist gave would be a lot more costly in your mind than it would maybe be for someone else, because you just think more highly of yourself than other people.

Binding Vows are a lot like Legal contracts mixed with Alchemy from FMA. If Binding Vows were validated by something, I always thought it was the Core of Cursed Energy, the one Gojo saw when he got his awakening.

I like to think nothing happens when someone breaks a pact just everyone thinks something horrible will happen so they don't break them. I mean we never seen anyone suffer from not following along with a pact

I think the binding vow is controlled by the person as an ability. They set up the parameters and the cursed energy goes from there to enforce the constraints automatically and once started cannot be undone.

I fucking love this channel

I feel like Binding Vows , especially how theyre illustrated when explained, is an exchange made between souls or a limjt placed on your own soul. The way Kenjaku made clear the risks of breaking it gives me that impression.

The thing about the vows to me is that it doesn't seem like it has to be like fundamentally equal but rather it just has to feel equal to the person making the vow. Sorta the 3rd option. My reasoning is because something like Sukana's binding vow around Malevolent shrine just literally doesn't make sense. See the narrator explains that "in exchange for providing a path of escape (by removing the barrier) the range is increased to 200 meters." This *sounds* balanced on paper and probably seems fair to Sukuna himself given his disposition but in practice it's basically a straight up buff in both ways. "Providing a path of escape" sounds like a debuff but effectively it only makes it stronger. By making this vow he gains the vastly increased range but ALSO gains the ability to affect people like Maki that would otherwise be untargetable AND gains the ability to straight up avoid a barrier clash like he does when he breaks Gojo's infinite void from the outside due to not having to overlap the barrier conditions. Further the "downside" of having a path of escape is rendered irrelevant by the range increase. Sure technically people can now walk out of the range of the effect but since he increased the range so dramatically this is effectively a non problem for Sukuna. Now granted this is the only time we see a vow of this nature explained (One could argue Miwa's is only balanced by the fact that sword play is so important to her but I'll let that rest) so it's pretty shaky logic but ultimately I think you simply have to be able to "construe" a sense of balance in one's own mind for it to function. That's my head cannon until further notice.

God bless anime friendly content 🙏 After the jjk season drops this year, my ass is gonna start reading the manga bc I can't take this anymore! I've been soft spoiled on so much just by existing on the Internet but since I don't know the full details my mind is doing backflips coming up with theories for shit I see... You don't understand the constant pain of my existence, it's self-inflicted, but I love seeing the story being told through animation 😭

That explanation with Tsumiki was pretty helpful! Hadn’t had a full grasp on it until now (I just guessed they were adoptive siblings or something).

I always thought of it like FMA's truth and equivalent exchange

Since a heavenly restriction works in the same way as a binding vow, and you state that you can't really get as much out of a binding vow without being strong... does that mean that maki and toji would have been born with immense power/potential because their heavenly restrictions make them so strong. Or do heavenly restrictions get an amplification because they are "random" and lack consent by the affected party?

Slowly but surely we’re getting there

Qs - Do you think charecters like gojo and sukuna who can use RCT on will can also reverse their physical age whenever they want ? So basically they are immortal ☠️ ?

Interesting to think that all the BV's made imply the opposite trade is possible, i.e. you can heal your arm by making yourself more vulnerable or you gain weapon skills by trading the ability to attack a certain enemy - maybe you could weaken your curse technique to make it harder for your opponent to figure it out

I think it's based on how you see the exchange, just as your perception and world views are affected by your technique, your true perception of a fair exchange permits the vow

Your videos have been fantastic! You have the perfect balance of reasonable assumptions and acknowledging when there's not enough info to tell. I feel like so many anime/manga theorists make too bold of assumptions. For my question, I'm wondering more about Sukuna's history. I haven't read any of the supporting materials so hopefully there's more info that you've seen and I haven't. For instance, in a flashback we see Sukuna, Uraume, and the one woman where Sukuna seemed to be chilling with Uraume. Was he just living a normal life back then? I figure he could take out almost all of Japan, if not more, if he wanted to. Do we know how long he lived in the Heian era? Also, we've seen a few times where Sukuna says how many times he tried to slice someone, but they got sliced into more or less. I don't have a question related to that, I just think it's an interesting aspect of Sukuna's CT. Maybe it's similar to how we've now seen Yuji have very precise cuts.

Gege could say its either binding vow with cursed energy itself or CT. Like Sukuna made a binding vow not to omit the usage of his slashes without hand signs. Then the usage of his ce to allow him use a shrine for only 99 seconds with a different hand sign. If its broken, maybe it comes at a cost of ce deduction or something

I do agree that it is based on whatever the user thinks is a fair trade. It could be like giving up your left hand in exchange for some kind of boost. To a right handed person, this would not be too bad but to a left handed person this would mean giving up the hand you do everything with.

Also how do incantations and handsigns work? Because it seems to be different depending on the individual and their technique so there's no like guidebook to learn from. So how does one know which words and signs to use to strengthen or make their technique possible? For example Sukuna just seemed to incantate a bunch of randomly assembled, fancy sounding words to inforce a newly developed technique, the world splitting dismantle. How did he know what to say, same with Gojo's incantations against Sukuna.

Question: Since Construction is the base technique and deconstruction is the reverse for obvious reasons. Would reconstruction be the imaginary. It would make sense as construction and deconstruction are a form of reconstruction. Construction reconstructs things out cursed energy and deconstruction turns things into it. Reconstruction would make sense. Also how would it work. Would it need a touch like idle transfiguration but not just on things with souls or could it be be in a certain radius.

I saw a theory on Gojos return: Basically shoko sacrifices herself for Gojo ( maybe sacrifices her whole rct to bring him back but that is only my two grain of salts) and that’s the way Gojo is coming back. It would give him new motivation and a new perspective on life to continue fighting which I don’t see that much otherwise So what is your take on that?

I think it's psychological, hysterical strength. The sorcerer's belief that he needs to make an exchange is the essence of the binding vow.

Gege watchinh this video and taking as many notes as he can lmao

Since we know that Ui Ui can swap people and their soul, after learning RCT and because Yuji can sense the contour of his soul, could he swap with Todo and heal his hand using his RCT? This is under the assumption that Yuji can heal soul damage given that we’ve seen Sukuna do this and we know that Yuji has the same skill set, that being the ability to use RCT and the ability to sense the contour of one’s soul. The only issue I see with this theory is the when as this would have to be after Yuji swapped with an RCT user and after he’d gotten skilled enough to use it. We saw when Yuji was first revealed to have RCT he still struggled with the concept and may be skilled enough to pull off the feat that is healing soul. In any case, love your videos and thank you putting out the content that you do. You helped me get through my last semester of college and I couldn’t be more grateful. Keep up the awesome content👍🏽

The third option is the safest one and it could explain why can Sukuna use it with so little of a drawback compared to the others and it could also be paired to the second one because at the end of the day, the binding vow is in the causality/ probability " spectrum ".

off topic but how do black flashes like, stack or whatever? if you BF twice, will the power buff be additive (120%+120%) or multiplicative (120%×120%)

This guys dope!

i always thought it was an “collective unconscious” type of thing

I would say its probably more like universe law, i think cursed energy works with mathematical rules, gojo himself when used rct for the first time said he multiplied negative energy by itself and got positive energy

My understanding was that there's more of an internal, subconscious acknowledgement of value that a sorcerer gives whatever they want to gain. Based on that value that they see in what they'll gain, their subconscious knowledge of things equivalent helps them pick what it is that they are willing to give up out of those options. So it can't be cheated because you can't just pretend to value something you know is insane as being equivalent to one less minute on a swing set. But this idea also makes me curious about things like if Takaba were to make a binding vow about his ct. Would his lack of exact knowledge of how it works mean that he can have some really disjointed costs for things? Like imagine if he doubles its effectiveness and the cost is that his next 5 poops are all destined to be diarrhoea or something. Or, is there a deeply hidden part of him that entirely understands his ct that would stop something like that from happening?

Lol Sukuna bro got a vow for everything bro got a binding vow that binds his vows 😂

I like more the third option about one's interpretation of the binding vow for the same reason why there are different power levels, that's not "fair" that some people have greater powers that others... Basically taking advantage of a binding vow is a matter of potential of a person expressing her innate power. The same goes for domain expansions and cursed techniques since the same domain interpreted by diffent users can express diffent powers and therefore efficiency depending on the situation

please yap about what do you think about Sukuna being "the fallen"

I think its a person by person basis. As binding vows made among more than one person are determined by the people, I think itd be determined by their own logic and thoughts

I view it as a conservation of strength so when you don’t do something that law kicks in transferring your strength into different things and in places like miwa taking it from all you’ll ever have

It seems to be working like in Hunter x Hunter. Btw I love your channel, very interesting takes and calm voice (which is rare now a day, everybody been yelling their lung out lmao)

The one who approves binding vows is the person setting the vow. If I make a binding vow with myself then my idea of the the outcome is the vow. EX: If i feel like eating a lot is such a hassle that I should be granted immense power if I do then that is the vow, darker than black had a more defined version of binding vows and star powers. Or giving up/picking up a habit or addiction for a greater power, addiction is no joke so for the torment of going straight there is a great reward, The addictions passes and the great power persists until the addiction is started again. If you're wondering how thing happen all depends on the jujustu proficiency and how they can think outside the box to make their CT work for them. This is what I theorize having seen the black flame for the first time, transmutation of curse techniques and self imposed limitations to achieve greater powers. You are right, a binding vow is only as good as someone's knowledge of how to bring the situation into being using their toolkit of CT.

I think the 3rd option you said would be correct.

there has to be an entity that will take away what people put up for a binding vow.

How long do binding vows last? For example if sukuna dies and he "would" turn back into fingers and then revived again for example. Would all the binding vows be removed? Aka he can use everything normal again?

I always thought binding vow always went through but if you didn’t give up enough then you wouldn’t the full benefit or you just wouldn’t get anything at all

Yo, love the vids. Do we know if there are multiple distinct souls inside Yuji from the death paintings he has consumed, in the same way Sukuna was a distinct soul? As far as I can tell the death paintings do have souls. Yuki’s soul research book states that unless a technique is used to merge souls then multiple souls residing inside of one vessel will never fully merge. Wouldn’t this mean they would be viable targets for Ui Ui’s soul swap or have the ability to swap out control of Yuji’s body. It could also mean Yuji wouldn’t have to be personally proficient with their CT’s (assuming they have different CT’s) as he could swap out control of his body with the soul of the death painting who’s CT was needed in a given situation and they could use it themselves. I am assuming the death paintings would be willing to help him in a way Sukuna was not. I know the death paintings just giving him a power up was on the table, I think Gege said something to that effect in a fan book, and that might’ve been confirmed and I’m just misremembering, but I do hope the brothers are still alive inside of him. Especially as it could mean Choso could live on even if something horrible happens to him by turning himself into a cursed object like Sukuna did with Megumi and having Yuji eat it, Choso was a cursed object for hundreds of years maybe he can do it if worst comes to worst 🙏

This video just made me think of a cool character gege missed out on creating i think we should have saw a few more examples of HR they should have been some in the culling games who like absorb cursed energy but not be able to dish it out only reinforce himself i think that would be a cool HR

Love this

I just have the image of Sukuna just appearing in Gege's room asking for a binding vow

Normal JJK question- Manganimist- "the nuance" 🤓☝️

The power system is based on imagination, emotion & willpower. When you place a binding vow on yourself you changes the “shape” of your ability

I just thought abt it if sukuna was smart he could have said I won’t use RCT for a month (the month during jjk timeskip) in exchange if I lose my RCT during of after the gojo fight I’ll just get it back now tell me that wouldn’t work because I think it would

In the last chapter Ui Ui said that souls are an object inside a box (the body). And Sukuna's Shrine is like a box in which he keeps his secret cursed technique. Could his cursed technique be related to souls? If the cursed technique is "destruction" of the soul, of the essence of someone's being, that would make sense with his cutting powers, as it's a representation of destroying someone's soul, cut through it and kill it. It would also make sense why he's called "the profanator", why he immerged Megumi's body in that bath made of evil substances. To destroy his spirit and motivation. This also would explain how Yuji is able to touch someone's soul and differentiate between megumi and sukuna's soul inside megumi's body. His father's technique (sukuna' reincarnated twin) was probably (like sukuna) something related to souls, with the difference that he "touches" or "connectes" with it, while sukuna profanates it, as they are opposites. It would make sense why sukuna has two cursed techinques: one cuts, and the other burns. Both techniques intend to "lacerate" something, to cut deep into the opponent,. To cut through his skin into his body. Both the cut and the burning may have the purpose to annihilate completly the opponent. But i don't know how the "swallowing" and "eating" mouths in the images of his shrine relate to this concept. Maybe swallow whole the other person? Another form of annihilation? What do y'all think? i'm going crazy trying to figure out his cursed technique. Any ideas?

Nah you new what you were doing with that shaq and Kevin heart example that's so dirty 💀💀💀

To quote kenjaku “ a binding vow made with oneself is different than one made with someone else. If you break a binding vow with someone else then they can set the appropriate punishment, if you break a binding vow with yourself then the most you can lose is what you gained from the binding vow”

i rather think its something they can do with CE, make an alteration to something like a CT. And the interesting part is what happens when they try to use it once more. like what they have in hunter hunter, Kurapika made a restriction to make a chain with nen and she could only use it against the phantom troupe otherwise he is gonna die

It's the user of the vow. How much you value what's being given up determines how much power or ability you're granted. The Miwa and Nanami analogy is pretty spot on in that the power given can't be outside of the user's grasp.

Talking about Todo coming back... With the reveal of Ui-Ui's soul-swap ability, I've been wondering about the possibility of swapping Todo's and Yuji's soul, and if Yuji soul in Todo's body could use RCT or blood manipulation or something to "fix" and regenerate Todo's hand... Does anyone ( @ManganimistYT especially) think this is within the realm of possibility?

What if the do a binding bow to higher the percent of a black flash or to use black flash on command by giving up there cursed technique or 4 limbs

Perhaps the gravity of the sacrifice determines the rate of the output

I thought it functions like equivalent exchange from FMAB, but the value is in tuned with one's soul and body since the curse technique is etched into your body at birth. Since the technique is based on your individual world like the conversation between Kenjaku and Mahito. Also, you have to take into consideration the punishment; you lose all benefits or gains that you acquired, that's why Kenny was even scared to break it.

Maybe it's just me, but if you intend to as a person with cursed energy to make a binding vow you will sacrifice whatever may be equivalent to that for your case, such as hakari holding little to no possible value to cursed energy mixing in with his sense of self as a person to make him use his domain for inf CE, whilst rika and yuta needing to work together for a similar result. As for the person choosing what is worth what it may be a permanent *sense* of what to give up for what you want, like instinct, all of the this under the assumption of you *meaning* to do the contract completely. Such as nanami sacrificing the details about his technique to get a boost in the strength of his energy, this being POWERFUL information and not something worth "a lot". While sacrificing the amount he has before 6PM to get a MASSIVE amount comparatively to before 6PM, although it is the same strength.

If were going by esoteric ideas then both a kaematic system and gods unconcious judgement can work. I also like the idea of character impacting equivelant exchange. Someone with a more entitled hungry attitude can gain more with less, but there is an element of retribution hidden somewhere either previously in ther life or in some other way

If that make sense... Cheers!

Long shorts?

Could be something just like the last season released in Made In Abyss where you have the concept of value, the value for the trades is the value that the owner believes the thing to have So here can be simply that, each side of the binding have their innate and pure believe of the value, what they are trading of equal value for both sides, you simply cannot cheat, if you do the trade isn't going to happen

(I've only seen anime and the movie and don't remember the names as well so forgive this explanation lol) I don't remember the name of him but wasn't there something about old sorcerers being too strong to die normally? Like their ability is immortality. The one I'm thinking of was why they were trying to sacrifice the girl in the movie to him, either way he became like a big storage area ? Where they kept the remaining sukuna fingers they had at the time. Saying all this, what I'm trying to get at is what if some ancient sorcerer way back is also why binding vows are a rule on cursed energy now. Possibly to do with heavenly pact too ? Since heavenly pact suggests there is a 'heaven' and implies a 'god' it would be a spin on it instead of it was just an old sorcerer causing it.

What do yall think someone could get out of sacrificing their whole CT?

Patiently waiting on the deities of JJK to be revealed

Shots fired

Maybe it's because of my science background, but off rip I just assumed that personal binding vows operated on some unspecified natural force or combination of forces, like balancing a chemical equation. There still remains the issue of quantifying things like future potential or future actions like with Miwa. At least for future actions, if you accept a deterministic universe, then that's not necessarily an issue, depending on the undefined mechanisms underpinning the vow and how they operate

Just thought of a theory based on the plot we have been given now: it seems unlikely that Gege would highlight the point about the soul swapping technique, and someone surely has switched with Gojo. I believe it was Yuta. it’s hinted that Gojo and Yuta are distantly related, and because of the soul swap technique, my guess is that Yuta potentially swapped with Gojo in order to learn how to copy the six eyes… as for the dead bodies being transferred to Shoko There is a possibility that Shoko is transferring Gojos six eyes to him - which would in turn make Yuta extraordinarily powerful… even more so than Gojo was. Afterwards they would defeat Sukuna and the merger would be the real final boss - as Yuji is still grasping this new power, by the time that final battle emerges, I believe Yuji will have even better control of his power to emerge even more powerful than Sukuna - therefore allowing him the power to eventually defeat Megumi. (Perhaps alongside Yuta with his newfound power & abilities thanks to the potentially transferred six eyes)

Crazy / unlikely theory but what if there was a sorcerer who changed the way the verse works (kindof like tengen) who's whole technique is the concept of binding vows and his technique is still lingering and his consciousness is what's still approving them

So the "revealings one's hand" works by telling someone your ability, but what if the opponent already knows your ability? Do you still gain the buff?

there's no need for this video to be 9 minutes long. it's a simple question with a simple answer

My idea of binding vows and how deems it fair is cursed energy and your technique.

My assumption was its what the sorcerer interprets for themselves, and if they have enough understanding of cursed energy to make binding vows, they have a general sense of scale and how much things are worth. They cant cheat themselves by saying "yeah thats fair" because subconsciously, they would know whether what they were asking for is fair or not, which is why binding vows made under duress or extreme negative emotion are the most powerful, because during those moments everything in their perception is skewed and the binding vows can become kinda outrageous, and characters that are more selfish tend to get the better deal on binding vows. Sukuna thinks the world belongs to him, so his binding vows get a lot of mileage since anything he gives up is worth both a lot to him since he owns it all, but also little because he has so much he can just keep giving without concern.

I think since cursed energy itself is thought to be born from negative emotions/ negative emotions are a powerful cursed energy generator so the question is how much does this deal screw me overrall

i think its like math. Ex: you want this curse technique to work instantly without incantation then thats the result that u gonna get but the trade is something thats already set but u can cuztomise it like a math problem and u have to choose one of them. basically like a math equation.

No its the pressure that it puts on you, the loss it causes. If its enough thats what validates it. Sometimes you cant occur enough pressure/loss with one without it being too big so you do a bunch of smaller ones to get the effect.

The fundamental truth with variant degress depending on the person has a root in the manga. After Sukuna's binding vow with Yuji he tests if his own conditions are in place as he intended (Yuji forgetting the vow). Having placed the vow alone was not enough for him to know it works. And even when activating it, he had to test if Yuji included himself in the fine print of "not hurting anyone", even though he was the one to propose that term. Clearly the vow would punish him on whatever Yuji interpreted, so even the other part's perception does matter. When facing Yorozu in 217, she clearly declared her winning condition a binding vow. Even though Sukuna had nothing to gain from it, it seems because he accepted the vow was in place. At the very least, there was no need for "equivalent exchange". You can gain something without offering anything in return, if the scales are small enough at least and still within the realms of possibility.

Binding vows are inspired by HxH's Nen contract, so I interpret it as being related to your understanding. For example, Abengane is considered a terrific Nen user probably because there's a whole belief system related to his exorcist abilities. Same thing with Hina, who valued her figure a lot. Kenjaku's line about different abilities reflecting different understandings of souls also leads me to think this.

I thought its like the one who is making the vow knows this is fair so the vow gets created its like the vow dives into ur thoughts and u cant lie to urself

short answer, both approve through saying yes, and if you make a solo binding vow you make the agreement with yourself

cursed energy is based on negative emotions. By placing restrictions on oneself, it creates struggle, which in turn generates more negative emotions, which is cursed energy. thats how i think it works at least.

Tengen and the vessel making the vow. Well gege also needs to approve it

I have been thinking about this for some days: what happens if Sukuna breaks the binding vow he made for the world cutting slash? It has been established that when you break a binding vow with yourself, the consequences are far less harsh than breaking a vow with someone else, as the vow just takes back whatever you gained. However, what would Sukuna even lose from breaking this vow? I very much doubt that Gojo would revive if Sukuna broke the vow, as the vow was never "Gojo dies in exchange for X", his death was just a consequence of Sukuna's vow, not the vow itself. But then what would even happen if Sukuna broke the vow? Maybe he wouldnt even be able to? Like, even if he wanted to he couldnt break it? Or maybe if he breaks the vow he just gets to use the world slash for one last time, and after breaking it he is punished by not being able to use it anymore. Im not sure.