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Bhakti, devotion to Lord is King....
There are
different yoga systems to attain self realization, namely Gyan yoga or Sankhya
yoga, Ashtanga Yoga or hatha yoga, Karma yoga or bhakti yoga or buddhi yoga as
explained by Srila Prabhupada in Bhagwad Gita purports. As per BG 3.3 Srila
Prabhupada explains that, Sankhya yoga or the analytical study of nature of
spirit and matter is the process for the people who want to speculate and want
to know the things as per experimental knowledge and philosophy renouncing all
other works. Srila Prabhupada explains in Verse 2.39 that Sankhya refers to
that philosophy which describes the real nature of the soul. And yoga involves
controlling the senses which is automatically achieved in Bhakti yoga as when
one uses his senses for serving supreme Lord then automatically his taste for
lower enjoyments namely sense gratification fades away. Param Drshtwa
nivartate. So one need not to renounce everything. Thus we see here that
Sankhya and Bhakti are one and the same and they are meant to achieve the
highest goal however Bhakti is superior to Gyan as same goal can be achieved by
not mere dry philosophical speculation which is very tedious and troublesome
but by directly engaging our propensity to act in service of Lord(BG 5.6). Yoga
means addition or attachment to Krishna. Gyan here refers to the knowledge of
self and knowledge of supreme self and the relationship between the two.
Knowledge of relationship means knowledge that we are part and parcel of
Krishna who is supreme Himself and we are His eternal servant, that is our
constitutional position (BG 4.34, 35). This knowledge has to be obtained from a
self realized person in Krishna Consciousness by submissive inquiry while
serving him. The same principle is of
Bhakti Yoga. A bhakti yogi from very beginning is taught to serve his spiritual
master who will engage him in service of Lord and thus automatically receives
the knowledge of self and supreme self. So even if one has not studied all the
Vedas and Vedanta Sutras, just by being in process of Bhakti Yoga, he is sure
to attain highest realization. Moreover as kaliyuga man is having very short
memory, very less intelligence with a busy lifestyle and a very short span of
life, it is practically not possible for one to undergo studies of all vedic
literatures. What to say of churning up the essence from that study. Bhakti
yoga is the easiest process as it directly engages in service of the Lord and
so it is transcendental.
Process of
ashtanga yoga is other way which Krishna describes In Bhagwad Gita. In verse
number 4.29 Krishna describes the process of Ashtanga yoga which starts from
Hatha yoga by practicing different sitting postures. These are all meant to
control the senses and advancement in spiritual realization. There are 8
different stages of Ashtanga yoga namely Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayam,
Pratyahara, Dharna, Dhyana and Samadhi. Srila Prabhupada explains that how by
practicing Pranayam , a yogi is able to increase his life span so that to
attain perfection in one life itself however a bhakti yogi is always engages
his senses directly in the service of Lord and thus automatically becomes
controller of senses and so he doesn’t need to increase his life span. Another
place Krishna explained in verse 6.3 all such activities of initial stages of
Ashtanga yoga process lead to achieving perfect mental equilibrium to control
the senses. When one is accomplished in the practice of meditation, he ceases
all disturbing mental activities. But as SP explains a KC person is always
thinking about Krishna so he is considered to cease all material activities.
Again in verse 6.4 it is explained that one must be engaged in sense
gratification because one cannot live without engagement if one is not engaging
in transcendental service of Lord. So bhakti yoga has a upper hand over
ashtanga yoga here. Astanga yoga ultimately culminates in controlling the mind
which means one is directly controlled by dictations of Paramatma but a bhakti
yogi surrender to dictation of Lord automatically follows (BG 6.6,7). A astanga
yogi is supposed to attain Paramatma realization which is automatically
attained by a bhakti yogi who directly achieves Bhagwan realization which is
inclusive of Brahman and Paramatma realization. BG(6.10). As explained in next
verses process of Ashtanga yoga is not possible to be practiced in this yuga as
conditions favourable for such process are rarely achieved. Modern men live in
cities and are engaged in earning material benefit so the process as mentioned
in Brahnnaradiya purana process for self realization in this age is nothing but
chanting the holy name of the Lord.
harer näma harer
näma
harer nämaiva
kevalam
kalau nästy eva
nästy eva
nästy eva gatir
anyathä
In view of the
above, it is understood that how bhakti is inclusive of all other processes and
most conducive to be practiced in this era. Since it is based on direct service
to Supreme Lord, it can be practiced even if one has not practiced other
systems.
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