Question: In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna explains different kinds of yoga and at the end He says bhakti yoga is the greatest and you surrender unto Me. Why this is contradictory to what Lord Krsna has spoken in Bhagavad-gita where He talks about different yogas and He says leave everything and just surrender unto Me. So why He actually gave these processes and why at the end He is contradicting His own statement?

Jayapataka Swami: How is he contradicting? How do you say that?
Devotee: Because in the last chapter He says, leave everything and surrender unto Me.
Jayapataka Swami: How is that a contradiction?
Devotee: Because He explains the different yoga processes which means one can choose any of these yoga processes. Bhakti yoga is the topmost. Why He didn’t speak about bhakti yoga in the end?
Jayapataka Swami: So you see He is very liberal. He presented to Arjuna, He said, you can mediate on Me, fix your mind and do this posture and meditate on Me. Arjuna said, I am an active person, I cannot sit down in one place and fix my mind. If you want, you can do that. He said, I cannot do that. Give me a process I can do. So finally, after so much discussion, He said, if you want to know the best thing, I will tell you! Give up all the different dharmas, religions, just surrender to Me! And then by that, I will destroy all your bad karma and bring you to Me! So He gave different options. If you would like to sit and watch your nose, you can do that. Otherwise if you are like Arjuna, very active person, I want immediate results, what should I do? So Krsna said, well, in that case, surrender everything and surrender to Me! Now I will do everything!! So you want to be the doer? Then that is one way. But it may take many, many births. But if you want Krsna to be the Doer, He can do it right away!! It is not a contradiction; it is just that He is giving different options to Arjuna. Arjuna did not accept His options. He said that it is very difficult for me. For some people it may be a thing they would like to do, but it takes time. When Pariksit maharaj was cursed by a brahmana boy to die in seven days. So he gathered all the great yogis, all the great seers, the sages, he was the emperor of the whole world! He asked them, I have seven days to live, I want a guarantee that I can go back to Godhead? Who can give me a process? Seven days, oh! The hatha yogis, said in seven days maybe they could only teach you one asana. What to speak of meditation and all that. So they said, no, no, NOT ENOUGH TIME! YOU CANNOT DO IT! Different yogis they said, no, no, we cannot do it. Then Sukadeva Goswami came. Ha! Ha! He was the son of Vyasa Deva, he said, seven days? No problem! A lot of time! I can give you complete God realization in a few minutes! Just by practicing bhakti yoga! So for seven days and seven nights, nonstop, he taught the Srimad Bhagavatam. After the fifth day, fifth or sixth I don’t know, so then how would you feel – no food, no sleep, no drink for five or six days! But Pariksit maharaj, after hearing the tenth canto, in the middle, he was told what Krsna did. What was his reaction? TELL ME MORE! TELL ME WHAT MY WONDERFUL LORD DID! I WANT TO HEAR MORE!HA! Ha! He was so eager to hear more! He was not thinking about food, drink, sleep! HE WANTED TO HEAR MORE AND MORE AND MORE! Haribol! So read the Srimad Bhagavatam. Pariksit maharaj sacrificed his life for us to have the Srimad Bhagavatam!! Pariksit maharaj ki jai!
11-JANUARY-2020 BHAKTI YOGA CENTER, BIRMINGHAM, UK