Bhagavatam-daily 24 – 11.07.14 – Yoga is not mechnical, but personal

Thank you Shreemad Bhagwatam 11 7 14 yogesh yoga vinyasa yogatman yogasambhava nishreyasayame proktas yagah sanyasa lakshanaha Sri uddhava so Krishna in the previous verse has finished in brief describing to uddhava how he can continue to live in the world after he Krishna has departed and after Kali he has started taking control of the world so now uddhava is going to ask further questions and he starts by using four ways in which he connects the lord with yoga yogesha isha means controller so you are the controller of yoga that means now what do we mean by controller of karma yoga gyan yoga bhakti yoga it means that actually these are processes and through these processes we grow through these processes we get the results of realization and these results are not automatic or mechanical they are yoga is not a mechanical process it is a personal process it is a reciprocal process although in the initial stages especially asanas and pranayam may be practiced mechanically even devotional activities like chanting can also be done mechanically but the essential purpose and the means by which one gets results from the yogic processes that it is personal and reciprocal so through the practice of yoga we please the lord of yoga and it is the lord of yoga who gives the results so yogesha it is he is the controller of yoga in the sense that it is he who bestows the results of yoga yoga vinyasa now vinyasa means bestower so this is actually refers especially to how he bestows yoga even on those who are not qualified this refers to his special mercy especially to his devotees where by his grace the path of devotion is so all encompassing that anyone and everyone can practice devotion so in the bhagavad gita krishna says that so he says that if there is a shelter of me then women those who are low born women vaishyas, shudras all these four categories can actually attain him so essentially krishna is telling us that bhakti opens the doors for everyone it accepts even those who are not considered qualified by other paths so yoga vinyasa, krishna can bestow yoga even on those who are not qualified as yogesha it is he who gives the fruits of yoga, yogic perfection to whichever yoga seekers there might be but even for the starting of yoga and subsequent progress on yoga also of course it is who he bestows yoga to people even the unqualified yogatman yogatman atma means soul he is the soul of yoga now what do we mean by this clearly this is a not a literal use yoga is not like a person soul and a body but the soul also refers to one’s essence so yogatman refers to he is the essence of yoga, he is the goal who is to be achieved by yoga even ashtang yoga described that ultimately one has to do surrender to the ishwara, now of course yoga sutras does not describe who is the ishwara to whom one should surrender but still the point is accepted that one has to surrender to ishwara so yogatman that person who is to be ultimately realized with the process of yoga that is he krishna even in the bhagavad gita krishna talks about ashtang yoga in the 6th chapter there also repeatedly actually even in the process of ashtang yoga krishna is described as the ultimate object of meditation in 6.14 15 and again 6.30 31 and of course most famously in 6.47 yoginavati sarvesham madgate na antaratmano shraddhavan bhajite yo ma same yukta tamo mataha so krishna says that among all yogis the one who is most intimately united with me so others are also connected with me but most intimately united with me who are those they are the devotees they constantly meditate on him so yogatman it is when the yogis reach him that they attain the soul of yoga that they attain the ultimate goal of yoga so yogasambhava that he is the person who actually gives the source of yoga so sambhava beginning or creation of source so that means the various processes of yoga have come from him it is he who has extended down to us his grace in the form of the process of yoga which are means ultimately to reach him so various yogis in various paths may not know that krishna is yogatman or that krishna is yogasambhava that he is a soul, he is a goal of yoga he is a soul of yoga and then he is the ultimate person so he is a source of yoga also yogasambhava but even if they do not know that if they just continue practicing yoga and if they stay open to other paths then gradually they will realize that it is krishna who is the source of everything so everything includes even the yogic processes yogic powers and other such rewards that come so they are not automatic they are devotional cannot escape just by changing identity or doing anything like that actually the way out of this material existence is by gaining the grace of the lord so only when we understand that actually it is krishna who is the store of everything then we will call out for his mercy we will call out for his help as uddhavayi is doing in this section nishreyasayami when you spoke this you have spoken to me so nishreyasaya you are my greatest and naturally you desire my well being and for my well being you have spoken the process of not prayers but nishreyasaya the process of long term gain you have spoken to me and this process is tyagam so it is involving tyagam it is characterized by renunciation so in the last two lines uddhava summarizes what the lord has taught him and he also conveys his understanding of what the lord has taught him and then he glorifies the lord in the first two lines so by remembering how ultimately the lord Krishna is the whole and soul of yoga we can relish our fortune we can realize, appreciate and relish our fortune as bhakti yogis who can connect most intimately with Krishna in perfection and we can connect most easily with Krishna in practice most easily because bhakti is susukham, most easily because bhakti does not require any pre-qualification anybody from even the lower varnas, unqualified can practice bhakti is easier because bhakti is, bhakti gives a higher taste not only are its activities easy to practice but they also give higher taste and that way one can keep moving forward and ultimately by this process of yoga sometimes we may have a little glamorized vision of yoga as dramatically renouncing the world going into the forest and sitting in a yogic posture now it sounds externally very impressive it sounds as if one is doing something really special and just going to a temple and chanting or hearing class speaking about Krishna, this all seems to be ordinary but actually you should see ordinary and extraordinary not in terms of external appearance but in terms of inner affect, inner consequence in terms of internal consequence bhakti is what actually comprises the express way and it propels us at a super fast speed along that express way to Krishna