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
ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīno hyasvatantra iva dvija
sādhubhir grasta-hṛidayo bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyaḥ
(9.4.63)[v27]
“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.
muktānām api siddhānāṁ nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥ
su-durlabhaḥ praśhāntātmā koṭiṣhv api mahā-mune
(Bhāgavatam 6.14.5)[v28]
“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 18.55, where Shree Krishna explains that the
bhakti yogi
alone understands the true personality of God.