Verse 6.47

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 6.47:

योगिनाम् अपि सर्वेषां मद्-गतेनान्तरात्मना ।
श्रद्धावान् भजते यो मां स मे युक्ततमो मतः ॥ ४७ ॥

yoginām api sarveṣāṃ mad-gatenāntarātmanā |
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṃ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ || 47 ||

yoginām–of the yogīs; api–however; sarveṣām–amongst all; mad-gatena–by attaching himself to Me; antar-ātmanā–through his mind; śraddhāvān–one endowed with faith; bhajate–worships; yaḥ–who; mām–Me; saḥ–he; me–My; yuktatamaḥ–the best yogī; mataḥ–opinion.

However, he who constantly performs bhajana of Me with full faith, his mind incessantly attached to Me, is in My opinion the topmost of all yogīs.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

“Is there no one who is superior to the yogī?” Śrī Bhagavān responds to this with, “Do not say that,” and speaks this verse beginning with yoginām. The word yoginām is in the sixth case [in Sanskrit grammar], but actually it is to be understood in the fifth case. In the previous verse the words tapasvibhyo jñānibhyo ’dhikaḥ are in the fifth case. Similarly, it should also be understood here to mean yogibhyaḥ, the bhakta is even superior to the yogī. “My devotee is not superior to only one type of yogī, but to all types, whether they are situated in yogārūḍha, the highest platform of yoga, in samprajñāta-samādhi (in which one is conscious of the difference between knowledge, the object of knowledge and the knower) or in asamprajñāta-samādhi (in which no such difference is perceived).”

The import of the word yoga is that it is the means to karma, jñāna, tapa, bhakti and so on. “Among such yogīs, those who worship Me with devotion are My devotees and are the best of all types of practitioners.”

One who selflessly offers the fruit of one’s work to Bhagavān (a karmī), one who performs severe austerities (a tapasvī) and one who is engaged in the cultivation of knowledge (a jñānī) are also accepted as yogīs, but one who practises the eightfold yoga process (an aṣṭāṅga-yogī) is superior to them. “However one who engages in devotion to the Supreme Lord (a bhakti-yogī), who is engaged in hearing and chanting about Me, is topmost.”

As Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states (6.14.5):

muktānām api siddhānāṃ nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥ
sudurlabhaḥ praśāntātmā koṭiṣv api mahā-mune

O great sage, among millions of liberated and perfect souls, a peaceful person who is devoted to Śrī Nārāyaṇa is most rare.

In the next eight chapters, bhakti-yoga, the yoga of devotion to the Supreme Lord, will be delineated. This verse, which is a sūtra, or aphorism, of those chapters, is like an ornament adorning the necks of the devotees. The First Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, the crest jewel of all scriptures, gives an outline of the text. The First, Second, Third and Fourth Chapters explain niṣkāma-karma. The Fifth Chapter describes jñāna and the Sixth Chapter describes yoga. Primarily, however, these six chapters describe karma (prescribed duty).

Thus ends the bhāvānuvāda of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s
Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā (the commentary that gives pleasure
to the devotees and is accepted by all saintly persons)
on the Sixth Chapter of Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

At the end of this chapter Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa has categorically stated that a bhakti-yogī is superior to all other yogīs. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura gives a special explanation of this verse, as follows:

Śrī Kṛṣṇa says “Amongst all types of yogīs, one who practises bhakti-yoga is superior;one who performs worship of Me with faith is the best of yogīs. Amongst righteous, regulated human beings, the niṣkāma-karmī, the jñānī, the aṣṭāṅga-yogī and the practitioner of bhakti-yoga are all yogīs, whereas the sakāma-karmī is not. In fact, yoga is one, not two. Yoga is a progressive path on which there are various steps. Taking shelter of this path, the jīva situates himself on the path of transcendental realization.

“Worshipping Bhagavān by selflessly offering Him the results of one’s prescribed duty (niṣkāma-karma-yoga) is the first step. When the cultivation of knowledge (jñāna) and detachment (vairāgya) are added, it becomes jñāna-yoga, which is the second step. When meditation on the Supreme Lord (Īśvara) is added to jñāna-yoga, it becomes aṣṭāṅga-yoga, the third step. And when affection for Bhagavān is added to aṣṭāṅga-yoga, it becomes bhakti-yoga, the fourth step. All these steps combined constitute the one staircase called yoga. In order to clearly explain this yoga, all other types of yoga, which are only partial, have been delineated.

“One who desires eternal auspiciousness takes exclusive shelter of yoga. He progresses gradually on this ladder, first becoming steady on the step he is on, then rising to the next step. When one stops at a particular step, having established himself in that type of yoga only, he is known by the name of that particular yoga. Thus one person is known as a karma-yogī, one as a jñāna-yogī, one as an aṣṭāṅga-yogī and another as a bhakti-yogī.

“Therefore, O Pārtha, one whose supreme objective is to perform bhakti to Me only is topmost among all yogīs. You should become that type of yogī, namely, a bhakti-yogī.”

Thus ends the Sārārtha-varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja,
on the Sixth Chapter of Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā.