Bhakti Yoga

Arjuna said: Those devotees who, ever steadfast, worship You in this manner, and those who worship the imperishable unmanifest - which of them are better versed in yoga?

The Supreme Lord said: Those who, fixing their minds on Me, worship Me with ever-steadfast devotion and endowed with supreme faith - them I consider the most perfect in yoga.

But those who worship the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the all-pervading, the inconceivable, the unchanging, the immovable, and the eternal -

Having restrained all the senses, being even-minded everywhere, and engaged in the welfare of all beings - they also attain Me alone.

Greater is the difficulty of those whose minds are set on the unmanifest, for the goal of the unmanifest is very hard to reach for embodied beings.

But those who worship Me, dedicating all actions to Me, regarding Me as the supreme goal, meditating on Me with undivided yoga -

For those whose minds are fixed on Me, O Partha, I become the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.

Fix your mind on Me alone, let your intellect dwell in Me.

If you are unable to fix your mind steadily on Me, then seek to reach Me by the yoga of repeated practice, O Dhananjaya.

If you are unable even to practice, then be intent on performing actions for My sake.

If you are unable to do even this, then, taking refuge in My yoga, renounce the fruits of all actions with a controlled self.

Knowledge is indeed better than mechanical practice; meditation is superior to knowledge; renunciation of the fruits of action is better than meditation - from such renunciation, peace immediately follows.

One who hates no being, who is friendly and compassionate to all, free from possessiveness and egoism, equal in pain and pleasure, and forgiving -

Always contented, steady in meditation, self-controlled, possessed of firm conviction, with mind and intellect dedicated to Me - such a devotee of Mine is dear to Me.

One by whom the world is not agitated and who is not agitated by the world, who is free from elation, anger, fear, and anxiety - such a one is dear to Me.

One who is free from wants, pure, skillful, impartial, free from distress, and who has renounced all selfish undertakings - such a devotee of Mine is dear to Me.

One who neither rejoices nor hates, neither grieves nor desires, who renounces both good and evil, and who is full of devotion - such a one is dear to Me.

One who is equal toward friend and foe, and also in honor and dishonor, who is equal in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, and who is free from attachment -

One who is equal in blame and praise, who is contemplative, content with whatever comes, without attachment to a fixed abode, steady-minded, and full of devotion - such a person is dear to Me.

But those who follow this immortal dharma as declared here, endowed with faith, regarding Me as the supreme goal - such devotees are exceedingly dear to Me.