In the Bhagavad Gita, exhorting Arjuna to be the ideal yogi (practising scientific techniques of yoga-meditation), Bhagavan Krishna says: “The yogi is greater than body-disciplining ascetics, greater even than the followers of the path of wisdom or of the path of action; be thou a yogi!” (VI:46)
In this spiritual discourse entitled “Be Thou a Yogi!” YSS sannyasi Swami Chaitanyananda Giri offers insights into Sri Krishna’s counsel as expounded by Paramahansa Yogananda, where the Lord Himself extols the royal path of yoga, Raja Yoga, as the highest of all spiritual paths, and the scientific yogi as greater than a follower of any other path. He explains that asceticism, the path of theoretical wisdom, and the path of action — are bypaths, teaching man to reach God indirectly by outer renunciation and physical discipline, with academic reasoning about Him, and through external good actions.
Swami Chaitanyananda draws on Yoganandaji’s wisdom to explain how the path of yoga is above all other paths of spiritual enlightenment, quoting the great Guru from God Talks With Arjuna (Yoganandaji’s commentary on the Bhagavad Gita): “The yogi attains communion with the Lord directly, by withdrawing his consciousness from the senses and nervous system, the spine, and the brain, and uniting it with his God-knowing soul.”
This talk in Hindi was live-streamed from the Sadhana Sangam at YSS Ranchi Ashram in December 2024.
