मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते ।
स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान्ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते ॥ १४.२६ ॥

māṁ ca yo’vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate |
sa guṇān-samatītyaitān-brahma-bhūyāya kalpate || 14.26 ||

The ego becomes expansive, refined and wholesome. In one sense it gets effaced. In another sense it engulfs the whole Universe, to be itself universal indeed! Imagine how effective is such an elevated inner framework, in actual interaction:

Whoever takes to worshipping the Supreme with unflinching devotion will also be able to transcend the guṇas. He is fit for becoming Brahman in the end.

The last 6 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita dialogue, dwelling upon the essentials of Spiritual Wisdom and hence described as the ‘wisdom section’, are equally intertwined with devotional pronouncements. In the first 6 chapters also, delineated as ‘karma yoga’, Krishna did instill elements of devotion and knowledge, the sthita-prajña and sthita-dhī descriptions being the beginning of it. Picturing turbulent senses ready to pull the mind away any time, as does the hurricane a ship, he asked Arjuna “to regulate all the senses, integrate them and sit with inner absorption, thinking wholesomely of the Supreme (yukta āsīta matparaḥ)”. As the dialogue advanced, Krishna brought in more of devotional elements. These became quite pronounced in the central six chapters – the ‘devotional section’.

The same devotional undercurrent finds its prominence here too. Spiritual wisdom is always a corollary and climax of devotion and vice versa. There is no question of distancing devotion from spiritual wisdom. Both are mutual complements.

Despite its focus on God, devotion in any form is an expression and effort of the devotee alone. It is meant to nourish, enrich and fulfill the devotee himself, not God at all. This understanding of the basic nature of devotion is essential in spiritual sādhanā.

Devotion is a sādhanā. Karma yoga also is. Jnāna yoga is even more so. The seeker’s personality – in its sensory, oral, mental, emotional and intelligential levels – is employed to interact with the world. The source and terminus of interactions is the same inner personality, which warrants improvement, enrichment and fulfillment. This truth should never be lost sight of.

Bhagavad Gita thus carries a full devotional thread throughout. In the last chapter, Krishna prefaces the devotional pronouncements with “I am disclosing to you the greatest of all secrets” (18.63,64). There is no spirituality without its full relevance to devotion. Nor is there any yoga without its strong devotional links.