Talk:Superiority of Bhakti Yoga is Declared in the Scriptures

By Vishal Agarwal

According to some texts, the superiority of the path of Bhakti over those of Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga is self-evident because it is said so in the scriptures.

Krishna said: The Yogi is superior to the ascetics, he is thought to be superior to the learned. And the yogi is also superior to those who perform ritual karmas. Therefore, be a yogi, Arjuna. Gita 6.46 Moreover, of all these yogis, he whose inner ätmä abides in Me, and who worships Me, full of faith, him I consider to be the most devoted to Me in Yoga. Gita 6.47 Devotion is indeed the most superior because of the declaration (in the Gita) that the Devotee is superior to the performers of Yajnas, the followers of Jnānayoga as also those who practice austerities. Shandilya Bhakti Sūtra 22

The following story, among many others, is cited on the superiority of a Bhakta over the Yogi-

Story: Jnāneshvara and Yogi Chāngadeva

Yogi Chāngadeva had lived a long life of 1400 years due to his practice of intense yogic exercises. But, his mind was still full of ego and pride. One day, he heard that a sixteen-year-old saint named Jnāneshvara was in his area, along with his 2 other saintly brothers and a saintly younger sister named Muktabai

He wanted to meet them, intending to make them his disciples. But he wondered, "How shall I invite them? I do not want to address them as 'Respected Jnāneshvara because that would mean that I am inferior to him. Nor do I want to address him as "Chiranjeevi (long-lived) because I am almost 100 times older than him." Thinking thus, he sent a blank piece of paper as an invitation through one of his students

When Jnāneshvara saw the blank piece of paper, he smiled. His sister Muktabai understood that Chāngadeva's pride prevented him from writing an appropriate invitation method. She could not help commenting on Chāngadeva's disciple. "Your Guru may have lived 1400 years. But I am sorry to say that his life is as blank as this piece of paper."

Sant Jnāneshvara then wrote the message of Hindu spirituality (Vedānta) in 65 Marathi verses on that piece of paper. He titled these verses, "Chāngadeva Prashasti" ('In Praise of Chāngadeva) which are considered a holy book even today by the Hindus.

When their message reached Chāngadeva, he was livid with anger as well as pride. Moreover, he was not able to understand these verses at all. He decided to teach the four teenagers a lesson. He summoned a tiger to become his mount and took a snake as a whip in his hand. Onlookers marveled at Chāngadeva's command over the animals, as he rode the tiger toward the place where the four saintly siblings were staying.

When Jnāneshvara got the advance message that Chāngadeva was riding a tiger towards them, using a snake as a whip, he was disappointed with Chāngadeva's pride. At that time, the four of them were sitting on a wall. Sant Jnāneshvara commanded the wall to fly towards Chāngadeva.

When Chāngadeva saw the four of them flying towards him, seated on a wall, he was amazed. He got off his tiger and bowed before the Sant saying, "You are surely greater than I am. I can command other living creatures to do my bidding. But even non-living things obey your commands." He became a disciple of Sant Jnāneshvara, who asked him to become a student of Muktabai instead.

The wall that flew at Jnāneshvara's request still exists and is worshipped by the Hindus of the Warkari tradition. There are also several temples in that area dedicated to Chāngadeva, who is worshipped because of his association with Sant Jnāneshvara.

Story - Yogi Gorakhnāth is Humbled by Bhakta Allama Mahāprabhu

Numerous miracles are said about Gorakhnath. Once, he made a toy of clay for a child and then made it alive. Another time, he converted a part of a hill into gold and then converted it back to its original form. Once, at the Kumbha Mela on the Godavari River, he produced large quantities of food miraculously, feeding hundreds of thousands of visiting pilgrims. On another occasion, he incinerated his own body into ashes, and then the ashes transformed back into his body. He could travel by air. In several stories, it is narrated how Gorakhnath sometimes fell into the traps of Dhyanayoga and had to be rescued. Here is one such story-

"Goraksha, the leader of the Siddhas, had a magical body, invulnerable as a diamond. Allama mocked his body, his vanity. Legend says that he gave Allama a sword and invited him to try cutting his body in two. Allama swung the sword at him, but the sword clanged on the solid diamond body of Goraksha; not a hair was severed. Goraksha laughed in pride. Allamaprabhu laughed at this show-off and returned the sword, saying, "Try it on me now. Goraksha came at Allama with his sword with all his strength. The sword swished through Allama's body as if it were mere space. Such were Allama's powers of self-emptying, his 'achievement of Nothingness'. Goraksha was stunned he felt acutely the contrast between his powers and Allama's true realization, between his diamond body in which the carnal body had become confirmed, and Allama's body which was no body but all spirit. This revelation was the beginning of his enlightenment. Allama said to him:

With your alchemies, You achieve metals, but no essence. With all your manifold yogas, You achieve A body, but no spirit. With your speeches and arguments, You build chains of words But cannot define the spirit. If you say You and I are one. You were me But I was not you."