6.10 Meditation
45. The accumulated practice of many past lives becomes the helpful breeze for spiritual progress. In this breeze, the yogis, continuing from past lives, hoist their sail in the form of sincere endeavor in the present life. Shree Krishna uses the words prayatnād yatamānastu, which means "striving harder than before." The word tu indicates their present endeavor is deeper than in previous lifetimes when they were unsuccessful in completing the journey.
They are thus able to take advantage of the momentum carried forward from the past and allow the favorable wind to sweep them to the goal. To onlookers, it may seem that they covered the entire distance in the present life, but Shree Krishna says: aneka janma sansiddhaḥ "Perfection in Yog is the result of the accumulated practice of many lives."
46. A tapasvī (ascetic) is one who accepts voluntary mortification and lives an extremely austere lifestyle, refraining from sensual pleasures and the accumulation of material wealth, as an aid in the pursuit of salvation. A jñānī is a person of learning who actively engages in the cultivation of knowledge. A karmī is one who performs the Vedic rituals for attaining material opulence and the celestial abodes. Shree Krishna declares the yogi to be superior to them all. The reason for this is simple. The goal of the karmī, jñānī, and tapasvī is worldly attainment; they are still at the bodily platform of existence. The yogi is striving not for the world, but for God. As a result, the yogi's accomplishment is at the spiritual platform and is superior to them all.
47. Even amongst yogis, there are karm yogis, bhakti yogis, jñāna yogis, aṣhṭāṅg yogis, etc. This verse puts to rest the debate about which form of Yog is the highest. Shree Krishna declares the bhakti yogi to be the highest, superior to even the best aṣhṭāṅg yogi and haṭha yogi. That is because bhakti , or devotion, is the highest power of God. It is such a power that binds God and makes him a slave of his devotee. Thus, he states in the Bhāgavatam:
"Although I am supremely independent, yet I become enslaved by my devotees. They conquer my heart. What to speak of my devotees, even the devotees of my devotees are very dear to me." The bhakti yogi possesses the power of divine love, and is thus most dear to God and considered by him to be the highest of all.
In this verse, Shree Krishna has used the word bhajate. It comes from the root word bhaj, which means "to serve." It is a far more significant word for devotion than "worship," which means "to adore." Here, Shree Krishna is talking about those who, not merely adore him, but also serve him with loving devotion. They are thus established in the natural position of the soul as the servant of God, while the other kinds of yogis are still incomplete in their realization. They have connected themselves with God, but they have not yet situated themselves in the understanding that they are his eternal servants.
"Amongst many millions of perfected and liberated saints, the peaceful person who is devoted to the Supreme Lord, Narayan, is very rare."
Another way of understanding this verse is that bhakti yog provides the closest and most complete realization of God. This is explained in verse, where Shree Krishna explains that the bhakti yogi alone understands the true personality of God.