Yoga As Work in Devotion...

We have heard the names of so many different yogas and yogis, but in Bhagavad-gita Krishna says that the actual yogi is he who has surrendered himself "fully unto Me." Krishna proclaims that there is no difference between renunciation (sannyasa) and yoga.

"What is called renunciation is the same as yoga, or linking oneself with the Supreme; for no one can become a yogi unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification." (Bg. 6.2)

In Bhagavad-gita there are three basic types of yoga delineated - karma-yoga, jnana-yoga and bhakti-yoga. The systems of yoga may be likened to a staircase. Someone may be on the first step, someone may be halfway up, or someone may be on the top step. When one is elevated to certain levels, he is known as a karma-yogi, jnana-yogi, etc.

In all cases, the service to the Supreme Lord is the same. It is a difference in elevation only. Thus Sri Krishna tells Arjuna that he must understand that renunciation (sannyasa) and yoga are the same, because without being freed from desire and sense gratification one can become neither a yogi nor a sannyasi.

There are some yogis who perform yoga for a profit, but that is not real yoga. Everything must be engaged in the service of the Lord. Whatever we do as an ordinary worker or as a sannyasi or as a yogi or as a philosopher must be done in Krishna consciousness. When we are absorbed in the thought of serving Krishna and when we act in that consciousness, we can become real sannyasis and real yogis.

For those who are taking the first step up the staircase of the yoga system, there is work. One should not think that simply because he is beginning yoga he should stop working.

In Bhagavad-gita Krishna asks Arjuna to become a yogi, but He never tells him to cease from fighting. Quite the contrary. Of course, one may ask how a person may be a yogi and at the same time a warrior. Our conception of yoga practice is that of sitting very straight, with legs crossed and eyes half-closed, staring at the tip of our nose and concentrating in this way in a lonely place. So how is it that Krishna is asking Arjuna to become a yogi and at the same time participate in a ghastly civil war?

That is the mystery of Bhagavad-gita: one can remain a fighting man and at the same time be the highest yogi, the highest sannyasi. How is this possible? In Krishna consciousness. One simply has to fight for Krishna, work for Krishna, eat for Krishna, sleep for Krishna and dedicate all activities to Krishna. In this way one becomes the highest yogi and the highest sannyasi. That is the secret.