Yoga and Yogis

In yesterday's post, we ended with a prayer said by Uttara, quoted from Srimad-Bhagavatam. Here's the verse with comment by Srila Prabhupada.

uttarovaca

pahi pahi maha-yogin

deva-deva jagat-pate

nanyam tvad abhayam pasye

yatra mrtyuh parasparam

SYNONYMS

uttara uvaca -- Uttara said; pahi pahi -- protect, protect; maha-yogin -- the greatest mystic; deva-deva -- the worshipable of the worshiped; jagat-pate -- O Lord of the universe; na -- not; anyam -- anyone else; tvat -- than You; abhayam -- fearlessness; pasye -- do I see; yatra -- where there is; mrtyuh -- death; parasparam -- in the world of duality.

TRANSLATION

Uttara said: O Lord of lords, Lord of the universe! You are the greatest of mystics. Please protect me, for there is no one else who can save me from the clutches of death in this world of duality.

PURPORT

This material world is the world of duality, in contrast with the oneness of the absolute realm. The world of duality is composed of matter and spirit, whereas the absolute world is complete spirit without any tinge of the material qualities. In the dual world everyone is falsely trying to become the master of the world, whereas in the absolute world the Lord is the absolute Lord, and all others are His absolute servitors. In the world of duality everyone is envious of all others, and death is inevitable due to the dual existence of matter and spirit. The Lord is the only shelter of fearlessness for the surrendered soul. One cannot save himself from the cruel hands of death in the material world without having surrendered himself at the lotus feet of the Lord.

A reader asks the following:

I have a question that your article begs me to ask:

How can Krishna be the Mahayogi when he himself is the object of yoga (yoke,to link etc.)?
Krishna is Yogesvara because he is the master of all mystic powers.
Siva is known as Yogisvara because he the master and leader of all yogis who have mystic powers.
So, how can Krishna be a Mahayogi when Lord Siva is known as Mahayogi or the greatest of all yogis?
Is Krishna a yogi? What is Krishna linking to in his yoga practice?
Is Krishna a yogi or the supreme absolute truth - the object of all yoga?

KB in Florida

Dear KB: Thank you for reading. 

In answer to your question, first I'd like to make a comment about my own name. When I took sannyasa, Shridhar Maharaja gave me the name Bhakti Vidhan Mahayogi. I asked him what this meant and he said it means "One whose rule (vidhan) is that bhakti is the highest yoga."

According to my guru, "bhakti is the highest yoga."  So my commentary is coming from that point of view. Also, you have correctly noticed that I slipped a verse from the Bhagavatam into my "retelling" of Mahabharata. I took this liberty because the author of Mahabharata, Vyasa, expands his version in the Bhagavat, so I followed this in my retelling.. 

Traditionally, Shiva is called "Mahayogi" because he is a great master of yogic power, and Krishna is known as "Yogeshwara," or the controller of Yoga. Krishna is the master of Yogamaya, therefore Yogeshwara. The author of Mahabharata, Vyasa, calls Krishna "Yogeshwara" in the last verse of the Bhagavad-Gita.

yatra yogesvarah krsno
yatra partho dhanur-dharah
tatra srir vijayo bhutir
dhruva nitir matir mama

SYNONYMS

yatra--where; yoga-isvarah--the master of mysticism; krsnah--Lord Krsna; yatra--where; parthah--the son of Prtha; dhanuh-dharah--the carrier of the bow and arrow; tatra--there; srih--opulence;vijayah--victory; bhutih--exceptional power; dhruva--certain; nitih--morality; matih mama--is my opinion.

TRANSLATION

Wherever there is Krsna, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality. That is my opinion.

The author of Mahabharata, Vyasa, calls Krishna "Yogeshwara" in the last verse of the Bhagavad-Gita.But Vyasa has called Krishna "Mahayogi" in his version of the prayers of Uttara. So, to some extent,the words Yogeshwara, "Great Yogi" and Mahayogi "Controller of Yoga" may be said to have the same meaning: the Master of Yoga.


Now let's consider the context. 

Ashvatthama has just used his mystic power to invoke a powerful weapon against Uttara. Ashvatthama's mystic power comes from his worship of Shiva. Some traditions consider him to be an avatar of Shiva.

 Uttara wants protection. So does she go to Shiva for protection? This would be the logical position, since Shiva is Ashvatthama's master. But No. She approaches Krishna as the master of all mystics and all mystic power. She considers Krishna to be the master even of Shiva. Krishna is superior to Shiva. (Vaishnavanam yatha shambu) Shiva is a devotee of Krishna. Since Krishna is the master of Shiva, he is a greater yogi. The point being made here by Vyasa, or by the Bhagavata, in any case, is that Krishna can protect you. Even against the mystic power granted by Shiva. As Prabhupada used to say, mare krishna rakheke, rakhe krishna mareke. "If Krishna wants to protect you, no one can kill you; and if Krishna wants to kill you, no one can protect you." The evidence for this saying is seen throughout the Mahabharata story: Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Jarasandha, and Ashvatthama are all invincible, but when Krishna wanted to kill them, no one could protect them, not even Shiva.

According to the Bhagavat, there is no competition between Shiva and Krishna. Shiva is a bhakta, a devotee of Krishna, and a practictioner of bhakti-yoga. He awards mystic powers to conditioned jiva souls determined to control material nature, and offers help for those who desire liberation from the material world through meditation, yoga, and austerities.

Another point worth mentioning is that Krishna himself practices bhakti in the form of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who assumes the heart and halo of Sri Radha to discover the nature of divine love, so in that sense also Krishna is a Mahayogi having mastered the highest yoga.

Furthermore, the word yoga has various meanings: yoking is one, as you have mentioned. (I'm not yoking about that). Means or method is another. If you think about how the word yoga is used in Bhagavad-gita, the meaning is closer to "method," or even "religion."  The word religion comes from the Latin verb ligo, comes religo, to tie or bind over again, to make more fast. If yoga means "yoke, or link together," and religion means to "re-tie" you can see how the word yoga could be used to mean something like religion. 

In Bhagavad-gita we find different kinds of yoga mentioned: karma-yoga, kriya-yoga, buddhi-yoga, jnana-yoga, hatha-yoga, and bhakti-yoga. People who follow these paths make a kind of religion out of them. At the end of Bhagavad-gita, Krishna is identified as Yogeshwara or the master of all these different paths, methods, religions, or approaches to the divine. 

So Krishna may be considered the object of yoga practice, but he is also its subject. He is not a yogi in the sense that he is a seeker on the path, but as a master of all the different mystic yogic powers, even those available to a mahayogi like Shiva. 

I hope this is helpful in considering your question.
Humbly, B.V. Mahayogi


Definitions of Yoga from Monier Monier William's Sanskrit-English Dictionary
http://andhrabharati.com/dictionary/sanskrit/index.php

योग : Monier William's Sanskrit-English Dictionary, 2 ^nd Ed. 1899    

• &c. » pp. 856, 858.

युज्[1]m.

• (√1. युज् ; ifc. f( आ).) the act of yoking, joining, attaching, harnessing, putting to (of horses) RV. MBh.
• a yoke, team, vehicle, conveyance ṠBr. Kauṡ. MBh.
• employment, use, application, performance RV. &c.
• equipping or arraying (of an army) MBh.
• fixing (of an arrow on the bow-string) ib.
• putting on (of armour) L.
• a remedy, cure Suṡr.
• a means, expedient, device, way, manner, method MBh. Kāv. &c.
• a supernatural means, charm, incantation, magical art ib.
• a trick, stratagem, fraud, deceit Mn. Kathās. (cf. योग-नन्द)
• undertaking, business, work RV. AV. TS.
• acquisition, gain, profit, wealth, property ib. Kauṡ. MBh.
• occasion, opportunity Kām. MārkP.
• any junction, union, combination, contact with (instr. with or without सह, or comp.). MBh. Kāv. &c. ( योगम् √ इ, to agree, consent, acquiesce in anythingR.)
• mixing of various materials, mixture MBh. R. VarBṛS.
• partaking of, possessing (instr. or comp.) Mn. R. Hariv.
• connection, relation ( योगात्, योगेन and योग-तस् ifc. in consequence of, on account of, by reason of, according to, through) KātyṠr. ṠvetUp. Mn. &c.
• putting together, arrangement, disposition, regular succession Kāṭh. S3rS.
• fitting together, fitness, propriety, suitability ( °गेन ind. and -तस् ind. suitably, fitly, duly, in the right manner) MBh. Kāv. &c.
• exertion, endeavour, zeal, diligence, industry, care, attention ( °योग-तस् ind. strenuously, assiduously ; पूर्णेन योगेन, with all one's powers, with overflowing zeal) Mn. MBh. &c.
• application or concentration of the thoughts, abstract contemplation, meditation, (esp.) self-concentration, abstract meditation and mental abstraction practised as a system (as taught by पतञ्जलि and called the योग philosophy ; it is the second of the two सांख्य systems, its chief aim being to teach the means by which the human spirit may attain complete union with ईश्वर or the Supreme Spirit ; in the practice of self-concentration it is closely connected with Buddhism) Up. MBh. Kāv. &c. (IW. 92)
• any simple act or rite conducive to योग or abstract meditation Sarvad.
• Yoga personified (as the son of धर्म and क्रिया) BhP.
• a follower of the योग system MBh. Ṡaṃk.
• (in सांख्य) the union of soul with matter (one of the 10 मूलिक-अर्थाs or radical facts) Tattvas.
• (with पाशुपतs) the union of the individual soul with the universal soul Kulârṇ.
• (with पाञ्चरात्रs) devotion, pious seeking after God Sarvad.
• (with जैनs) contact or mixing with the outer world ib.
• (in astron.) conjunction, lucky conjuncture Lāṭy. VarBṛS. MBh. &c.
• a constellation, asterism (these, with the moon, are called चान्द्र-योगाः and are 13 in number ; without the moon they are called ख-योगाः, or नाभस-योगाः)VarBṛS.
• the leading or principal star of a lunar asterism W.
• N. of a variable division of time (during which the joint motion in longitude of the sun and moon amounts to 13 degrees 20 minutes ; there are 27 suchयोगs beginning with विष्कम्भ and ending with वैधृति) ib.
• (in arithm.) addition, sum, total Sūryas. MBh.
• (in gram.) the connection of words together, syntactical dependence of a word, construction Nir. Suṡr. (ifc. = dependent on, ruled by Pāṇ. 2-2, 8 Vārtt. 1)
• a combined or concentrated grammatical rule or aphorism Pāṇ. Sch. Siddh. (cf. योग-विभाग)
• the connection of a word with its root, original or etymological meaning (as opp. to रूढि q.v.) Nir. Pratāp. KātyṠr. Sch.
• a violator of confidence, spy L