4. The Path of Devotion (bhakti-yoga)

The Gita is pre-eminently a treatise on devotion to Lord Krishna. When it comes to describe devotion, the virtues of knowledge and action seem to recede into the background.

Loving devotion (bhakti) to God emerges as the best road to liberation:

“Of all the yogins, he who is full of faith worship Me, with his inner self abiding in Me, him I hold to be the most perfectly disciplined^[1].

Thus God prefers a devotee to a yogin. In other words a bhakta is the best yogin. He who combines devotion with yoga is superior to all seekers. Devotion to God is the surest way to reach God.

Krishna says,

“By devotion one comes to know Me, what My measure is and what I am in very truth; then, knowing Me, in very truth, he straightway enters into Me” (xviii, 55).

The devotional path is open to all, men as well as women, high born as well as low born. As

Krishna says:

“Those who take refuge in Me, be they of lowly origin, women, merchants and even servants; even they may attain the highest destination” (ix, 32).

Looking into the structure of the Gita, it becomes evident that bhakti serves as a major, or maybe even the major, elevating force, which ‘pulls’, so to speak, or raises one in his transformational journey towards self-transcendence. Although there are other motivations for elevation along the transformational ladder such as the desire to true knowledge, the desire to become free from implications of karma and the desire for a yogic perfection, still, bhakti is perhaps the central source of inspiration for one to leave this world together.

The idea of bhakti first appears explicitly towards the end of the Chapter iii, where Krishna urges Arjuna to fight in the mood of surrender unto him:

“Surrendering all your activities unto me with mind fixed on the highest self, without desire and avoiding possessiveness, cast lethargy aside and fight” (iii, 30).

Arjuna’s reaction follows soon after, and at the beginning of chapter xii he asks about Krishna’s identity, (iv, 4) to which Krishna answers that he is the Lord of all beings descending to uphold dharma. Following that, Krishna encourages Arjuna in numerous places throughout the Gita, to take refuge in him in a devotional mood. In general, Krishna urges Arjuna to become his devotee in three basic ways or rather stages, which are compatible with the three tiers of the text. On the first tier, Krishna encourages Arjuna to adhere to his work and duty according to dharma, and offer his work and its result unto him.

An example for this of devotion is found at the end of chapter ix:

“Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you sacrifice, whatever you give away and whatever austerity you may practice, O Kaunteya, do it as offering to unto me” (ix, 27).

Underlying this statement is the understanding that Arjuna is thinking in terms of the word dharma; as such, he is encouraged to maintain his sense of human individuality, and to offer Krishna the fruits of his work.

A highest state of bhakti is that of yogic devotion exemplified by Krishna’s conclusion of chapter iv:

“Therefore, O Bharata, you should cut the doubt residing in your heart which springs from nothing but ignorance, with your own sword of knowledge, resort to yoga and rise up to battle’ (iv,42).

A verse which seems to carry a similar import, although with a slightly more personal emphasis, may be found in the chapter viii:

“Therefore, at all times remember me and fight; with your mind and intelligence absorbed in me, you will come to me without doubt” (viii, 7).

This verse also relates the external fighting to the internal one; the fighting here is considered to be a kind of a yoga practice, involving sense restraint, mental control and an inner meditation upon Krishna. As such, it well exemplifies the two main components of the world of yoga; on the one hand, attempting to cut the bonds which hold one in embodied existence, and on the other hand, an attempt to connect or yoke oneself to the higher, supreme and spiritual reality, here represented by Krishna himself.

A more structured and condensed description of a descending ‘ladder of devotion appears in chapter xii:

“Fix your mind on me alone, and absorb your consciousness in me; thus you shall surely abide in me. If you cannot fix your consciousness steadily upon me, then aspire to reach me through repeated yoga practice. O Dhananjaya. If you are incapable even of that, embrace the path of action, for which I am the highest goal, since by acting for me you shall attain perfection. But if you are even unable to follow this path of refuge in me through acts devoted to me, and then give up the fruits of all your actions, thus restraining yourself. Knowledge is superior to practice, meditation is superior to knowledge, and relinquishing the fruits of actions is higher than meditation, as tranquility soon follows such relinquishment” (xii, 8-12).

Here it is clearly stated that there is no need of strenuous effort to free oneself from sinful reactions. All one has to do is to surrender unto him and he will deliver us from all the reactions as he has promised to do. Thus, the Gita elevates our human nature and prepares us to live to the fullest extent in a moral manner, for it is the moral and spiritual upliftment only that can–take us towards self realization.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Gita,xx,2 Tr. by Edgerton.