Talk:Self-Sufficiency - Bhakti Yog brings with it the Fruit of all Other Yogas
By Vishal Agarwal
The fruit of all other spiritual disciplines is obtained directly through the practice of Bhakti Yog alone. No external hand is needed to practice it. Krishna declares that one who resorts to Bhakti Yog also attains the results of other paths like Buddhi Yog (the spiritualized mental state of Karmyogi) and the knowledge of Atma like Jnana Yogi-
To those who are constantly devoted to Me and worship Me with love, I give the Yog of Intellect (Buddhiyog) by which they come unto Me. Gita 10.10
Out of compassion for them, I, who dwell within their ātmā, destroy the darkness born of ignorance, with the shining lamp of knowledge. Gita 10.11
Other scriptures too state the same:
Whatever is acquired through karm, austerities, Jnäna, dispassion, meditation or charity or through any other means of spiritual progress, My devotee easily attains to it all through devotion to Me, indeed even heaven, Mokaha or My abode should he care to have it.Uddhava Gita 15.32-33
The mind of man under the sway of passions and greed will not attain to real and lasting peace through the restraint of the senses and other spiritual practices as it will through the service of the Lord. Bhagavata Purāņa 1.6.36
Bhakti is superior even to Karmyog, Jnanayog and Dhyanayog, because it is the fruit of all these paths. Narada Bhakti Sūtra 25-26 But those saintly persons who are of a steady mind and are devoted exclusively to Me. never desire Kaivalya (absolute independence from the material world) even if I were to offer it to them. Uddhava Gita 15.34
Therefore, in the Bhagavad Gita, Bhakti Yog is introduced and explained after the other three Yoga-s have been dealt with. Even while summarizing the entire teaching of the concluding chapter of the Gita, Krishna declares how one must resort to Bhakti after perfecting other Yoga-s to merge with the Divine-
'Having become Brahman, he whose soul is serene, he neither grieves nor does he desire. Regarding all beings as alike, he attains supreme devotion to Me. Gita 18.54'
By devotion to Me he comes to know My true nature and what and who I am. Then having known My true nature, he enters That immediately. Gita 18.55