The Best Yogi

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śrī bhagavan uvāca

pārtha naiveha nāmutra vināśas tasya vidyate

na hi kalyāṇakṛt kaścid durgatiṃ tāta gacchati 

Here, Kṛṣṇa's teaching bears repetition:

"Sincerity is our only true capital. One who is sincere will never be defeated. Sincerity is invincible."

  Arjuna is concerned about rules. He wants to follow dharma. He knows about the rules for society.  He is worried that if he breaks those rules, he may end in hell. Kṛṣṇa has told him, "Don't worry so much about the rules and rituals of the Vedas. Dedicate yourself to God. The rules will follow."

Arjuna is puzzled about the distinction between karma-yoga, and jñāna-yoga.  He likes the idea of giving it all up and going away. Perhaps he could just be a yogi  and sit in meditation. So he asks Kṛṣṇa to explain the yoga  system. In the end, Arjuna concludes this is just too complicated. What if someone gives up his dharma  and takes to this mystic yoga and later finds he can't follow all the rules? There must be a special hell for such fallen yogis.

Here, again, Kṛṣṇa tells him not to worry. It is not the perfection of yoga that counts, but the sincere attempt to advance towards the infinite, towards God, in our daily lives. We get credit for that and no one can take it from us. Since the yoga system has God realization as its ultimate goal it is an auspicious practice and no one who is trying his best need fear degradation.

Kṛṣṇa continues, "Even the unsuccessful yogi ascends to the higher realms, whereupon he later takes a pious birth in the home of a good family, or in the home of transcendentalists who are wise. If he must take birth again, he is well-born. In this way he revives the divine consciousness of his former life and makes progress to ultimate success. There is no loss or diminution on the path. By the influence of his former yoga practice he is drawn to yogic principles and a higher life. Such a soul transcends the rituals and rules of the Vedas and becomes inspired by dedication.  

Kṛṣṇa reminds Arjuna that sincerity is invincible. Sincerity is appreciation for the truth, but must be borne out through our actions. It is not merely an abstract concept; our sincere appreciation for truth should be  demonstrated in terms of adherence to our principles, chastity and a determined pursuit of the ideal.

Whether one practices yoga for a short time only and achieves a higher birth, or whether one engages in a deeper practice and makes progress birth after birth, the sincere yogi advances. Sometimes it is necessary to take one step backwards before leaping two steps forward.

Kṛṣṇa concludes:

"When with renewed effort, the yogi returns to the path and enges himself sincerely, he makes quick progress. Purified from worldly attachment, he attains the goal after many lifetime and reaches the higher domain.  In My opinion, such a  yogi  is better than an ascetic, better than a mere spiritual philosopher, and better than a karma yogi. So, Arjuna, be a yogi."

But remember, Arjuna, the greatest of yogis is one who abides in me with faith and worships me alone. The greatest of yogis dedicates himself to me in loving service. The greatest of yogis finds transcendental perfection through surrender to Me."

At the end of the Sixth Chapter, Kṛṣṇa has revealed to Arjuna more specifically that the culmination of all kinds of  yoga practice is found in bhakti-yoga.  

In the Sanskrit text, Kṛṣṇa says "bhajate yo mam."  In the first six chapters, the Lord has explained the beginning process of dedication as "work without attachment" or niṣkāma-karma-yoga.  This practical action should be informed by transcendental knowledge, or jñāna.  In a sense, these two practices when combined reach the eight-fold path of yoga.  The eight-fold path of yoga mentioned in the sixth chapter, then, is the culmination of the practices mentioned before. But all these different yogas are aimed at developing love of God, or bhakti. Bhakti  is the personal path of surrender to Kṛṣṇa  who is identified in the Bhagavad-Gita as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Kṛṣṇa has explained the ontology of being in the second chapter. He has described the nature of epistemology or transcendental knowledge and its source in the fourth chapter.  He has explained the importance of ethics and ethical behavior in the third and fifth chapters. And He has carefully described the system for practicing yoga here in the sixth chapter.  

Now, in the middle six chapters of the Bhagavad-Gita He will turn his attention to the very nature of devotion and divine love. In these chapters,  He will explain the process of direct surrender to the Supreme Lord, Bhagavan.  In this verse at the end of the Sixth Chapter, he introduces this idea by proclaiming the superiority of this devotee to all other kinds of yogis:

Based on the commentaries of Baladeva Vidyabhushana and Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura, My guru maharaja, His Divine Grace Bhakti Rakshaka Shridhar Dev Goswami Maharaja and his beloved disciple Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaja, President Acharya of Shri Chaitanya Saraswat Math published the following translation in "The Hidden Treasure of the Sweet Absolute":

 "The best of all yogis  is the devotee who has full faith in the authoritative pure devotional scriptures and who adores Me, Kṛṣṇa, with all his heart, hearing and singing My divine glores, rendering all services unto Me. This is My opinion."

श्रीभगवान् उवाच

पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस् तस्य विद्यते

न हि कल्याणकृत् कश्चिद् दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति ६.४०

प्राप्य पुण्यकृतां लोकान् उषित्वा शाश्वतीः समाः

शुचीनां श्रीमतां गेहे योगभ्रष्टोभिजायते ६.४१

अथवा योगिनाम् एव कुले भवति धीमताम्

एतद् धि दुर्लभतरं लोके जन्म यद् ईदृशम् ६.४२

तत्र तं बुद्धिसंयोगं लभते पौर्वदेहिकम्

यतते च ततो भूयः संसिद्धौ कुरुनन्दन ६.४३

पूर्वाभ्यासेन तेनैव ह्रियते ह्य् अवशोपि सः

जिज्ञासुर् अपि योगस्य शब्दब्रह्मातिवर्तते ६.४४

प्रयत्नाद् यतमानस् तु योगी संशुद्धकिल्बिषः

अनेकजन्मसंसिद्धस् ततो याति परां गतिम् ६.४५

तपस्विभ्योधिको योगी ज्ञानिभ्योपि मतोधिकः

कर्मिभ्यश् चाधिको योगी तस्माद् योगी भवार्जुन ६.४६

योगिनाम् अपि सर्वेषां मद्गतेनान्तरात्मना

श्रद्धावान् भजते यो मां स मे युक्ततमो मतः

६.४७

śrībhagavān uvāca

pārtha naiveha nāmutra vināśas tasya vidyate
na hi kalyāṇakṛt kaścid durgatiṃ tāta gacchati 6.40

prāpya puṇyakṛtāṃ lokān uṣitvā śāśvatīḥ samāḥ
śucīnāṃ śrīmatāṃ gehe yogabhraṣṭobhijāyate 6.41

athavā yoginām eva kule bhavati dhīmatām
etad dhi durlabhataraṃ loke janma yad īdṛśam 6.42

tatra taṃ buddhisaṃyogaṃ labhate paurvadehikam
yatate ca tato bhūyaḥ saṃsiddhau kurunandana 6.43

pūrvābhyāsena tenaiva hriyate hy avaśopi saḥ
jijñāsur api yogasya śabdabrahmātivartate 6.44

prayatnād yatamānas tu yogī saṃśuddhakilbiṣaḥ
anekajanmasaṃsiddhas tato yāti parāṃ gatim 6.45

tapasvibhyodhiko yogī jñānibhyopi matodhikaḥ
karmibhyaś cādhiko yogī tasmād yogī bhavārjuna 6.46

yoginām api sarveṣāṃ madgatenāntarātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṃ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
6.47