One should therefore understand that buddhi-yoga means to work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in the full bliss and knowledge of devotional service. One who works for the satisfaction of the Lord only, however difficult such work may be, is working under the principles of buddhi-yoga and finds himself always in transcendental bliss. By such transcendental engagement, one achieves all transcendental understanding automatically, by the grace of the Lord, and thus his liberation is complete in itself, without his making extraneous endeavors to acquire knowledge. There is much difference between work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and work for fruitive results, especially in the matter of sense gratification for achieving results in terms of family or material happiness. Buddhi-yoga is therefore the transcendental quality of the work that we perform.
(BHAGAVAD-GITA-------2:39-------PURPORT).

One who has actually come to understand one's constitutional position as an eternal servitor of the Lord gives up all engagements save working in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As already explained, buddhi-yoga means transcendental loving service to the Lord. Such devotional service is the right course of action for the living entity. Only misers desire to enjoy the fruit of their own work just to be further entangled in material bondage. Except for work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all activities are abominable because they continually bind the worker to the cycle of birth and death. One should therefore never desire to be the cause of work. Everything should be done in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. Misers do not know how to utilize the assets of riches which they acquire by good fortune or by hard labor. One should spend all energies working in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and that will make one's life successful. Like misers, unfortunate persons do not employ their human energy in the service of the Lord.
(BHAGAVAD-GITA-------2:49-------PURPORT).

The liberated living entities belong to that place where there are no material miseries. The Bhāgavatam (10.14.58) says:

samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ
mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ
bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ
padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām
"For one who has accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Mukunda, or the giver of mukti, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf's footprint. paraṁ padam, or the place where there are no material miseries, or Vaikuṇṭha, is his goal, not the place where there is danger in every step of life."

Owing to ignorance, one does not know that this material world is a miserable place where there are dangers at every step. Out of ignorance only, less intelligent persons try to adjust to the situation by fruitive activities, thinking that the resultant actions will make them happy. They do not know that no kind of material body anywhere within the universe can give life without miseries. The miseries of life, namely birth, death, old age and diseases, are present everywhere within the material world. But one who understands his real constitutional position as the eternal servitor of the Lord, and thus knows the position of the Personality of Godhead, engages himself in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Consequently he becomes qualified to enter into the Vaikuṇṭha planets, where there is neither material, miserable life nor the influence of time and death. To know one's constitutional position means to know also the sublime position of the Lord. One who wrongly thinks that the living entity's position and the Lord's position are on the same level is to be understood to be in darkness and therefore unable to engage himself in the devotional service of the Lord. He becomes a lord himself and thus paves the way for the repetition of birth and death. But one who, understanding that his position is to serve, transfers himself to the service of the Lord, at once becomes eligible for Vaikuṇṭhaloka. Service for the cause of the Lord is called karma-yoga or buddhi-yoga, or in plain words, devotional service to the Lord.

(BHAGAVAD-GITA-------2:51-------PURPORT).

In the Second Chapter, verse 39, the Lord explained two kinds of procedures—namely sāṅkhya-yoga and karma-yoga, or buddhi-yoga. In this verse, the Lord explains the same more clearly. Sāṅkhya-yoga, or the analytical study of the nature of spirit and matter, is the subject matter for persons who are inclined to speculate and understand things by experimental knowledge and philosophy. The other class of men work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, as it is explained in the 61st verse of the Second Chapter. The Lord has explained, also in the 39th verse, that by working by the principles of buddhi-yoga, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can be relieved from the bonds of action; and, furthermore, there is no flaw in the process. The same principle is more clearly explained in the 61st verse—that this buddhi-yoga is to depend entirely on the Supreme (or more specifically, on Kṛṣṇa), and in this way all the senses can be brought under control very easily. Therefore, both the yogas are interdependent, as religion and philosophy. Religion without philosophy is sentiment, or sometimes fanaticism, while philosophy without religion is mental speculation.
(BHAGAVAD-GITA-------3:3-------PURPORT).

Thus the yogic process a surrendered servant of the Supreme Lord practices is altogether different form Patañjali's eightfold yoga system, beginning with sense control, yogic postures, and breath control. These practices are, in a sense, meant to increase physical prowess for better sense enjoyment. The devotee, on the other hand, follows the best yoga system of God-realization, which is enunciated in the Bhagavad-gītā. His activities are not selfishly motivated, aimed at realizing his own cherished dreams, but are directed toward fulfilling the will of God on earth. This yoga is known as buddhi-yoga, wherein lies the entire world's good fortune.
In the Bhagavad-gītā (6.46-47) Lord Kṛṣṇa states,

tapasvibhyo 'dhiko yogī
jñānibhyo 'pi mato 'dhikaḥ
karmibhyaś cādhiko yogī
tasmād yogī bhavārjuna
yoginām api sarveṣāṁ
mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā
śraddhā-vān bhajate yo māṁ
sa me yukta-tamo mataḥ
A yogī is greater than the ascetic, greater than the empiricist, and greater than the fruitive worker. Therefore, O Arjuna, in all circumstances be a yogī. And of all yogīs, the one who with great faith always abides in Me, thinks of Me within Himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me-he is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion.

The devotee is placed in the highest position because his sole intention is to establish the will of the Supreme Lord in the world. Once everything in the world is conducted according to the Lord's desire, then all activities will become spiritual and the Lord's presence will be felt everywhere and in everything. For the devotee, therefore, the purpose of yoga is not to attain such mean and miserly goals as liberation or sense enjoyment, but to reestablish his loving relationship of devotional service to the Lord and to spread this truth throughout the world. He knows that without being on the platform of Brahman, one cannot render the Lord pure devotional service, the highest stage of transcendence. Yet he also knows that Brahman realization is a concomitant of the highest stage of devotional surrender. Therefore, if through devotional service he can help create an atmosphere of spirituality that will pervade the earth and make everything blissful, then why should he strive for the meager, selfish joys of liberation?

(RENUNCIATION THROUGH WISDOM).

Lord Brahmā said: "The Supreme Personality of Godhead, being beyond birth and death, is eternal. He has no material qualities. Yet He is the ocean of unlimited auspicious qualities. He is subtler than the most subtle, He is invisible, and His form is inconceivable. He is worshipable for all the demigods. Innumerable universes exist within His form, and therefore He is never separated from these universes by time, space or circumstances. He is the chief and the pradhāna. Although He is the beginning, the middle and the end of the material creation, the idea of pantheism conceived by Māyāvādī philosophers has no validity. The Supreme Personality of Godhead controls the entire material manifestation through His subordinate agent, the external energy. Because of His inconceivable transcendental position, He is always the master of the material energy. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His various forms, is always present even within this material world, but the material qualities cannot touch Him. One can understand His position only by His instructions, as given in Bhagavad-gītā." As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (10.10), dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam. Buddhi-yoga means bhakti-yoga. Only through the process of bhakti-yoga can one understand the Supreme Lord.
(SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM------8:6-------SUMMARY).

Lord Krṣṇa, seeing the distressful condition of the living entities and forseeing their bleak future, spoke the scripture known as Bhagavad-gītā, which contains unequivocal instructions for mankind. These instructions are like the cooling showers of peace on the blazing forest fire of material existence. Ordinary human activities are quite different from the activities recommended in the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā; understanding this difference is essential for us. In our times we find many fruitive workers who claim to be karma-yogīs but in fact are seen to enjoy the fruits of their labor. What is needed is not this false karma-yoga but genuine buddhi-yoga, which Lord Kṛṣṇa several times explains in the Bhagavad-gītā. Buddhi-yoga means "devotion to the Supreme Lord." The Lord says in the Gītā (10.10), "To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me."
(RENUNCIATION THROUGH WISDOM).

This process of transcendental help by the Lord is described in Bhagavad-gītā (10.10) as follows:

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
The buddhi-yoga process of self-realization with intelligence transcendental to the mind (devotional service) can alone elevate one from the conditioned state of material entanglement in the cosmic construction. The conditioned state of the living entity is like that of a person who is within the depths of a huge mechanical arrangement. The mental speculators can reach the point of buddhi-yoga after many, many lifetimes of speculation, but the intelligent person who begins from the platform of intelligence above the mind makes rapid progress in self-realization. Because the buddhi-yoga process entails no fear of deterioration or retrogression at any time, it is the guaranteed path to self-realization, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (2.40). The mental speculators cannot understand that the two birds (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad) sitting in one tree are the soul and the Supersoul. The individual soul eats the fruit of the tree, while the other bird does not eat the fruit but only observes the activities of the eating bird. Without attachment, the witnessing bird helps the fruit-eating bird perform fruitful activities. One who cannot understand this difference between the soul and the Supersoul, or God and the living entities, is certainly still in the entanglement of the cosmic machinery and thus must still await the time when he will be free from bondage.

(SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM------3:6:9--------PURPORT).

Therefore, in Bhagavad-gītā, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, has elaborately discussed karma-yoga, work with transcendental results, to douse the fire of materialism and brighten the future of humankind. There is a great difference between work for material gain and work with transcendental results. In many places throughout Bhagavad-gītā, the Personality of Godhead mentions the word buddhi-yoga, or intelligence with transcendental results. And by this word buddhi-yoga we can also understand transcendental, devotional activities. For the Personality of Godhead says that He always favors His devotees by endowing them with the intelligence to perform devotional activities, so that at the end His devotees may attain to Him. In other places, also, it is said that God is attainable only through devotional activities. We can get rid of the results of our work only by the intelligent process of work with transcendental results.

(MESSAGE OF GODHEAD).

In material existence so-called intelligence is actually ignorance. When intelligence is cleared up, it is called buddhi-yoga. In other words, when intelligence is dovetailed with the desires of Kṛṣṇa, it is called buddhi-yoga or bhakti-yoga. Therefore in Bhagavad-gītā (10.10) Kṛṣṇa says:

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
"To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me."

Real intelligence means linking with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When this is done, the Supreme Personality of Godhead from within gives one the real intelligence by which one can return home, back to Godhead. Intelligence in the material world is described in this verse as pramadā because in material existence the living entity falsely claims things to be his. He thinks, "I am the monarch of all I survey." This is ignorance. Actually, nothing belongs to him. Even the body and the senses do not belong to him, for they are given to him by the grace of the Lord to satisfy his different propensities through the material energy. Nothing actually belongs to the living entity, but he becomes mad after everything, claiming, "This is mine. This is mine. This is mine." Janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti (S.B.5:5:8). This is called illusion. Nothing belongs to the living entity, but he claims that everything belongs to him. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends that this false intelligence be purified (ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC.3:20:5). When the mirror of intelligence is polished, the real activities of the living entity begin. This means that when a person comes to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his real intelligence acts. At that time he knows that everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa and nothing belongs to him. As long as one thinks that everything belongs to him, he is in material consciousness, and when he knows perfectly that everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa, he is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

(SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM------4:29:5--------PURPORT).

Real yoga is buddhi-yoga, the yoga of devotional service, which brings about direct perception of the Supreme Lord. When the devotee meets the Lord face to face, liberation takes the form of a woman and is at his beck and call, eager to serve him, and she is accompanied by personified material opulence, sense pleasure, and religiosity, all of whom wait upon the devotee like servants. The pure devotees of the Lord are all embodiments of perfection in yoga; thus the four Vedic goals are truly at their beck and call. And beyond these four goals is the supreme destination: superconsciousness, or God consciousness. This is the fifth and paramount Vedic goal. One who has reached the state of unalloyed Kṛṣṇa consciousness is an extremely rare personality—one in a million devotees, according Lord Caitanya.

Such an elevated state of consciousness is the last word in yoga. None of the other yoga processes, such as haṭha-yoga or rāja-yoga, can bring one to this platform. Buddhi-yoga lies far above these yoga practices, which are mostly physical disciplines. Buddhi-yoga, however, is a spiritual discipline for self-realization. This realization is a full perception of the nondual Absolute Truth, whereby one sees everything resting in the Supreme Lord and the Supreme Lord in everything. As Lord Kṛṣṇa explains in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.7):

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyāt
kiñcid asti dhanañjaya
mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ
sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva
O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread. This means that every living entity, from demons to demigods to human beings to lower creatures, is fully dependent on the Supreme Lord. One who perceives the Absolute Truth in this way can wholeheartedly surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The vision of a pure devotee is described by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.19-20):

yo mām evam asammūḍho
jānāti puruṣottamam
sa sarva-vid bhajati māṁ
sarva-bhāvena bhārata
iti guhyatamaṁ śāstram
idam uktaṁ mayānagha
etad buddhvā buddhimān syāt
kṛta-kṛtyaś ca bhārata
Whoever knows Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without doubting, is the knower of everything. He therefore engages himself in full devotional service to Me, O son of Bharata. This is the most confidential part of the Vedic scriptures, O sinless one, and it is disclosed now by Me. Whoever understands this will become wise, and his endeavors will know perfection. Once a person surrenders fully to the Lord's lotus feet, he sees the Lord's from everywhere, not this world of moving and nonmoving matter. Such surrender has six limbs:

ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ
prātikūlyasya varjanam
rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso
goptṛtve varaṇaṁ tathā
ātma-nikṣepa-kārpaṇye
ṣaḍ-vidhā śaraṇāgatiḥ
The six divisions of surrender are the acceptance of those things favorable to devotional service, the rejection of unfavorable things, the conviction that Kṛṣṇa will give protection, the acceptance of the Lord as one's guardian or master, full surrender, and humility. The relationship between the Supreme Lord and His surrendered devotee is very intimate. Everything about the devotee is known to the Lord. The devotee has no separate interest that would involve him in speculative knowledge, fruitive activities, sense pleasures, lamentation, meditation, and so on. He simply engages full-time in serving the Supreme Lord. His consciousness becomes purified of all contamination, and the fire of conditioned life is put out. Duality and illusion is eradicated from his heart, his devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa becomes single-minded, and He throws himself at the Lord's lotus feet, feeling like a sold-out animal. At this stage the Supreme Lord Himself imparts all spiritual knowledge, or buddhi-yoga, to the devotee so that he can attain Him:

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānām
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
teṣām evānukampārtham
aham ajñāna-jaṁ tamaḥ
nāśayāmy ātma-bhāva-stho
jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā
To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me. To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance. (Bhagavad-gītā 10.10-11) When the devotee adopts such a mood of surrender and complete dependence, everything easily happens by the Lord's desire. Even if the process of surrender somehow remains incomplete, the devotee achieves the ends attainable through other yogic practices. As the Lord says, "A little advancement on this path protects one from the most dangerous type of fear." In other words, the Supreme Lord personally intervenes and arranges for His surrendered devotee's success in spiritual life. Is there any doubt that once the Lord's divine energy is active, all our artificial endeavors are most insignificant and futile? The Lord's inconceivable potency that descends to bless us with spiritual perfection shows the magnitude and glory of His potencies. Certainly there are other methods for spiritual advancement, such as rāja-yoga, by which one can become equipoised, or difficult prāṇāyāma exercises, severe austerities, and renunciation, and these practices are very powerful. But when the Lord's divine potency acts, they all seem extremely ineffectual compared to the process of surrender, which invokes that potency. All these other methods, though very potent, are human endeavors. So how can they compare with the Supreme Lord's divine potency? With this divine potency the Lord blesses particular persons in particular circumstances. The first limb of surrender is to accept that which helps us invoke the Lord's mercy. This means to completely depend on the Lord's will. Such surrender is free from any conditions. It is untinged by the desire for sense pleasure, liberation, or mystic perfections. The devotee, unlike others, is never in anxiety. His only concern is to execute the will of the Lord. In this connection, Śrīla Vyāsadeva says, If a surrendered soul tries to arrange for food and shelter but does not succeed, or if, once having these things, he loses them, then despite such reverses he remains unperturbed and simply remembers the Supreme Lord, Hari. It is true that when one prays sincerely at the Lord's lotus feet, the Lord generally fulfills one's wishes. But those who have completely surrendered to the Lord, throwing themselves at the His lotus feet, do not pray to the Him for anything material. Yet the Lord automatically provides for all their needs.

(RENUNCIATION THROUGH WISDOM).

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