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The Yoga of Love.

“He who can understand / the glory of my manifestations / is forever united with me / by his unwavering love.” (BG 10.7)

Gita in a Nutshell #12

(Complete contents at
Gita in a Nutshell: Big Ideas and Best Quotations.
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As you recall from “Different Yoga Strokes for Different Yoga Folks“, the ancient Yoga sage(s) who wrote the Gita recognized that different people would need different types of Yoga to match their personality types:

Yoga of Understanding / Yoga of Meditation / Yoga of Love / Yoga of Action

In the original Gita Talk discussion series, I brought in a wonderful guest writer, Amy Champ, to cover the Yoga of Love and Devotion or Bhakti Yoga.  I highly recommend it to you:

Gita Talk #14: A Warm and Wonderful Article by Special Guest Amy Champ

Here are the specific passages in the Gita about the Yoga of Love and Devotion:

(For those new to Gita in a Nutshell, the voice speaking here is the infinitely wondrous universe itself, what some refer to as the “Unfathomable Life Force of the Universe” and others choose to call “God”. In the Gita these are one and the same. See GN #2.)

This Supreme Person, Arjuana,
who contains all beings and extends
to the limit of all that is,
can be reached by wholehearted devotion. (BG 8.22)

~

But the truly wise, Arjuana,
who dive deep into themselves,
fearless, one-pointed, know me
as the inexhaustible source.

Always chanting my praise,
steadfast in their devotion,
they make their lives an unending
hymn to my endless love. (BG 9.13-14)

~

In this way you will be freed
from all the results of your actions,
good or harmful; unfettered,
untroubled, you will come to me. (BG 9.29)

~

He who can understand
the glory of my manifestations
is forever united with me
by his unwavering love.

I am the source of all things,
and all things emerge from me;
knowing this, wise men worship
by entering my state of being. ( BG 10.7-8)

~

To those who are steadfast, who love me
with true devotion, I give
the yoga of understanding,
which will bring them to where I am. ( BG 10.10)

~

Only by single-minded
devotion can I be known
as I truly am, Arjuna-
can I be seen and entered.

He who acts for my sake,
loving me free of attachment,
with benevolence toward all beings,
will come to me in the end. ( BG 11.54-55)

~

Those who love and revere me
with unwavering faith, always
centering their minds to me-
they are the most perfect in yoga. ( BG 12.2)

~

He who, devoted to me,
is beyond joy and hatred, grief
and desire, good and bad fortune-
that man is the one I love best.

The same to both friend and foe,
the same in disgrace or honor,
suffering or joy, untroubled,
indifferent to praise and blame

quiet, filled with devotion,
content with whatever happens,
at home wherever he is-
that man is the one I love best.

Those who realize the essence
of duty, who trust me completely
and surrender their lives to me-
I love them with very great love. ( BG 12.17-20)

Previous:
 #11: The Yoga of Meditation.

Next:
#13 The Yoga of Action (Karma Yoga).

(Complete contents at
Gita in a Nutshell: Big Ideas and Best Quotations
To receive notice of each weekly blog,
please join our Facebook group.)

17 replies on “The Yoga of Love.”

I think that this is Probably my favorite group of stanzas. It gives clear direction on how to devote yourself, and the passages are comforting. It's like light bulbs were going off in my head after every verse, and more importantly when grouped together in this fashion, as opposed to reading the Gita front to back I understand better what the yoga of love, or devotion means, what it is, and what it means to me. These stanzas grouped together make everything much clearer, and while I was reading it I also was able to understand why it is that many people recite the Gita on daily basis. This was completely eye o penning for me! Thanks Bob!

You're welcome, Jennifer. I originally did this for myself, then I realized it might help others, too. So I'm very happy to see that it does.

Thanks to Jennifer for transcribing all the verses above, allowing us to get Gita in a Nutshell back in business.

Bob

I, too, just love how beautifully these stanzas go together… I am most certainly printing this out so i can really integrate it. Such an offering to "endless love" and devotion is so inspirational- so thank you!

So glad we are resuming our Gita Talk! I look forward to participating actively this time as life was so hectic when we first got started. 🙂

I, too, love this grouping of slokas emphasizing the yoga of devotion. I'm following along with my preferred Gita translation, A Walkthrough for Westerners (that you actually recommended to me, Bob!).

Looking forward to further discussions ahead!

Michelle

Hi, Michelle. Welcome back. Yes, I like that version, too, except for his "horrible fearsome God" interpretation of Chapter 11, which is one of my favorites.

Thanks for being here.

Bob

I am reading this version of the Bhagavad Gita and it’s for the first time. This portion you’ve shared above, is so simple, yet so complex. Many of the words are so reassuring for the soul!

Glad this is back. Thank you, Bob. Georg Feuerstein has a new Gita translation coming out this Fall, I believe. Looking forward to reading another one of his fine translations. Just finished his Yoga Sutras. Best version I've ever read. Keep up the good work, Bob.

Hi, William. Good to see you here again.

I got my hands on a copy of Georg's new Gita last year by signing up for his Gita distance learning course. which I recommend highly. The study guide is as good as the translation.

And I just completed an interview of Brenda and George for Elephant which will be coming out soon. Stay tuned.

Bob W. Yoga Editor
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What great news! Looking forward. Just came across this quote from Balsekar, which seemed perfect for this discussion:

"Love, not as an expression of separateness based on emotion, but as compassion, is that which holds the world together in Unicity. In Unicity we do not love others we ARE them."

So many of us today are on a quest to "find ourselves". These passages give us the simple direct instructions on how to do that: through complete surrender of the self to God or the "Unfathomable Lifeforce of the Universe". When we can give ourselves completely to this love of God or ULOTU we can finally realize that this divine light is not separate from us. It is us, we are it. God, Infinite Light, me, you, them – it is all the same.

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