Bhagwad Gita - Post 138

Chapter XII - The Yoga of devotion

Brief introduction

Arjuna asks: “Are You the Supreme Person? Sometimes You refer to Yourself as Parama-purusha—Supreme Person. 

Sometimes You say that You are indestructible, transcendent, and impossible even to conceive. In what way are we to worship You, O Lord? There are people who adore You as the Supreme Mahapurusha, Purushottama. 

With immense devotion they sing of You, they dance in ecstasy by taking Your name, they adore You day in and day out, and glorify You in all ways. 

There are others who are unified in their being with Your indestructible Super Being. Between these two great souls, whom do You regard as the best of yogins?”

Krishna replies, “I consider those people very near to Me and really united with Me whose mind is fixed on Me, who worship Me ever considering Me as their highest beloved, who have faith in Me only, and center their faith in nothing else. 

I certainly consider them as united with Me because their mind is wholly centered in Me in their utter devotion. But there are others who are united with Me in a different way.” 

The distinction drawn here is between those devotees who worship the Supreme Being as the Parama Purushottama and those who are devoted to the Universal Inclusiveness, outside which even they do not exist. 

We may call these two ways of approach as bhakti and jnana, if we like; but the jnana referred to here is actually a kind of bhakti in the highest sense. It is called para bhakti, which is the same as jnana.

The Lord goes on to describe the qualities that a true devotee possesses. He neither attaches himself to anything nor does he have any aversion to things. 

He has a balanced mind under all circumstances. He is not agitated by the happenings of the world, nor does he himself cause any agitation in others. 

He is perfectly desire less and rejoices in the Lord within. He sees equality everywhere, being untouched by sorrow, fear, honor as also dishonor. He is perfectly content as he has surrendered his entire being to the Lord.

The path of devotion communicated during the conversation between Sri Arjuna and Lord Krishna is highlighted by providing answer to the following key questions:

1.    Should One Worship a Personal or an Impersonal God?

2.  What are the four Paths to God Realization explained in this chapter?

3.  Why Karma-Yoga is recommended to be the Best Starting Point for God Realization?

4.  What are the Key Attributes of a true devotee?

5.   Finally, why One Should Sincerely Strive to develop Divine Qualities?

Love.