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1008
GITA-RAHASYA OR KARMA-YOGA
becomes the most beloved of the Blessed Lord, as when sugar is added to milk. It does not mean that Devotion is better than the Desireless Karma-Yoga; because, later on in Chapter XII, the Blessed Lord has Himself clearly stated that Renunciation of the Fruit of Action is better than Meditation ( dhyāna ), (Gi. 12 22). It is one thing to say that the mixture of Devotion and of Desireless Action is valuable, and it is quite another thing to say that the Desireless Karma-Yoga is useless, and that Devotion is superior to it. The doctrine laid down by the Gītā is of the first kind; and that laid down by the Bhāgavata-purāna is of the second kind. It has been stated in the first, and again in the last chapter of the Bhāgavata, after declaring that all kinds of kriyāyoga (ritual) are destructive of Spiritual Knowledge (see Bhāg. 1. 5. 34), that,
naişkarmyam apy acyuta bhāvavarztam na sobhate jñānamalain niranjanam !
(Bhāg. 1. 5. 12 and 12. 12. 52 ), that is, “even naiskarmya, i. e., 'Desireless Action (Bhāg. 11. 3. 46), does not seem good, is useless, without devotion to the Blessed Lord”. This will show that as the entire bias of the writer of the Bhāgavata is on Devotion, he even goes beyond the Bhagavadgitā, when occasion arises. This Purāna came to be written in the belief that due stress was not laid on Devotion in the Mahābhārata, and necessarily, in the Gitā. Therefore, it is not a matter of surprise, if one finds in it statements similar to those above. But, what we have to see is the summary or the import of the Gitā, and not what the Bhāgavata says. The occasion for writing, as also the time of writing, was different in each case; and, therefore, it is not possible to fully harmonise them with each other. This chapter has described the devices from the Pātañjala-Yoga, which are part of the devices necessary for cultivating the Equability of Reason required in Karma-Yoga. Knowledge, and Devotion, are other such devices; and their description starts from the next chapter. ]
