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Krishna Consciousness -- The Topmost Yoga System
There are many different types of yoga. Yoga means the system, and yogi means the person who practises the system. The object of yoga, the ultimate goal, is to understand Krishna. Therefore Krishna consciousness means to practice the topmost type of yoga.
Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, speaks about the topmost system of yoga in the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita. There He has explained the hatha-yoga system. Please remember that we are preaching this Krsna consciousness movement on the authority of Bhagavad-gita. It is nothing manufactured. The bhakti-yoga system is authorized, and if you want to know about God, then you have to adopt this bhakti-yoga system because in the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita it is concluded that the topmost yogi is he who is always thinking of Krsna within himself.
Krsna, the supreme authority, recommended the eightfold yoga system. The first step of this yoga system is to select a very secluded and sacred place. Eightfold meditation cannot be performed in a fashionable city. It is not possible. In India, therefore, those who are very serious about practicing yoga go to Hardwar, a very secluded place in the Himalayas, where they remain alone and follow a very restrictive process for eating and sleeping. There is no question of mating. Those rules and regulations must be followed very strictly. Simply to make a show of gymnastics is not perfection of yoga. Yoga means control of the senses. If you indulge your senses unrestrictedly but make a show of yoga practice, you will never be successful. You have to select a sacred place; then you have to sit with half-closed eyes and concentrate on the tip of your nose. You cannot change your posture. There are many rules and regulations which cannot possibly be followed at the present.
Even 5,000 years ago, when circumstances in the world were different, this yoga system was not practicable. Even such a great personality as Arjuna, who belonged to the royal family and was a great warrior and an intimate friend of Krsna's, constantly living with Him, after hearing this process of yoga from Krsna in a face-to-face discussion, said, "My dear Krsna, it is not possible to follow." He flatly admitted, "For me these rules and regulations and practice for controlling the mind are not possible." We have to think, then: 5,000 years ago a personality like Arjuna expressed his inability to practice this eightfold yoga system, so how can we follow it now?
In this age people are very short-lived. In India the average duration of life is thirty-five years. In your country it may be more than that. But actually, whereas your grandfather lived for 100 years, you cannot. These things are changing. The duration of life will be reduced. There are predictions in the scriptures that in this age, man's duration of life, his mercy and his intelligence are being reduced. Men are not very powerful; their duration of life is very short. We are always disturbed, and we have practically no knowledge about spiritual science.
For example, in the hundreds and thousands of universities all over the world there is no department of knowledge where the science of the soul is taught. Actually, we are all spirit soul. From Bhagavad-gita we understand that we are transmigrating from one body to another, even in our present lives. All of us had at one time the body of a small baby. Where is that body? That body is gone. Presently I am an old man, but I remember that I was once a small baby. I still remember when I was about six months old; I was lying down on the lap of my elder sister, who was knitting, and I was playing. I can remember that, so it is possible for everyone to remember that he had a small body. After the baby's body I had a boy's body; then I had a youthful body, and now I am in this body. Where are those bodies? They are gone now.
Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, speaks about the topmost system of yoga in the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita. There He has explained the hatha-yoga system. Please remember that we are preaching this Krsna consciousness movement on the authority of Bhagavad-gita. It is nothing manufactured. The bhakti-yoga system is authorized, and if you want to know about God, then you have to adopt this bhakti-yoga system because in the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita it is concluded that the topmost yogi is he who is always thinking of Krsna within himself.
Krsna, the supreme authority, recommended the eightfold yoga system. The first step of this yoga system is to select a very secluded and sacred place. Eightfold meditation cannot be performed in a fashionable city. It is not possible. In India, therefore, those who are very serious about practicing yoga go to Hardwar, a very secluded place in the Himalayas, where they remain alone and follow a very restrictive process for eating and sleeping. There is no question of mating. Those rules and regulations must be followed very strictly. Simply to make a show of gymnastics is not perfection of yoga. Yoga means control of the senses. If you indulge your senses unrestrictedly but make a show of yoga practice, you will never be successful. You have to select a sacred place; then you have to sit with half-closed eyes and concentrate on the tip of your nose. You cannot change your posture. There are many rules and regulations which cannot possibly be followed at the present.
Even 5,000 years ago, when circumstances in the world were different, this yoga system was not practicable. Even such a great personality as Arjuna, who belonged to the royal family and was a great warrior and an intimate friend of Krsna's, constantly living with Him, after hearing this process of yoga from Krsna in a face-to-face discussion, said, "My dear Krsna, it is not possible to follow." He flatly admitted, "For me these rules and regulations and practice for controlling the mind are not possible." We have to think, then: 5,000 years ago a personality like Arjuna expressed his inability to practice this eightfold yoga system, so how can we follow it now?
In this age people are very short-lived. In India the average duration of life is thirty-five years. In your country it may be more than that. But actually, whereas your grandfather lived for 100 years, you cannot. These things are changing. The duration of life will be reduced. There are predictions in the scriptures that in this age, man's duration of life, his mercy and his intelligence are being reduced. Men are not very powerful; their duration of life is very short. We are always disturbed, and we have practically no knowledge about spiritual science.
For example, in the hundreds and thousands of universities all over the world there is no department of knowledge where the science of the soul is taught. Actually, we are all spirit soul. From Bhagavad-gita we understand that we are transmigrating from one body to another, even in our present lives. All of us had at one time the body of a small baby. Where is that body? That body is gone. Presently I am an old man, but I remember that I was once a small baby. I still remember when I was about six months old; I was lying down on the lap of my elder sister, who was knitting, and I was playing. I can remember that, so it is possible for everyone to remember that he had a small body. After the baby's body I had a boy's body; then I had a youthful body, and now I am in this body. Where are those bodies? They are gone now.
83 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1972
29 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
About the author
A.C. Bhaktivedanta
813 books718 followersHis Divine Grace Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (अभय चरणारविन्द भक्तिवेदान्त स्वामी प्रभुपाद)was born as Abhay Charan De on 1 September 1896 in Calcutta, India.
He first met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, in Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, a prominent devotional scholar and the founder of sixty-four branches of Gaudiya Mathas (Vedic institutes), liked this educated young man and convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge in the Western world. Srila Prabhupada became his student, and eleven years later (1933) at Allahabad, he became his formally initiated disciple.
At their first meeting, in 1922, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge through the English language. In the years that followed, Srila Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita and in 1944, without assistance, started an English fortnightly magazine.
In the last ten years of his life, in spite of his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe twelve times on lecture tours that have took him to six continents. In spite of such a vigorous schedule, Srila Prabhupada continued to write prolifically. His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture.
He first met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, in Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, a prominent devotional scholar and the founder of sixty-four branches of Gaudiya Mathas (Vedic institutes), liked this educated young man and convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge in the Western world. Srila Prabhupada became his student, and eleven years later (1933) at Allahabad, he became his formally initiated disciple.
At their first meeting, in 1922, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge through the English language. In the years that followed, Srila Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita and in 1944, without assistance, started an English fortnightly magazine.
In the last ten years of his life, in spite of his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe twelve times on lecture tours that have took him to six continents. In spite of such a vigorous schedule, Srila Prabhupada continued to write prolifically. His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 15, 2021
I fear I will progress through every single publication of this group without the concepts even once being explained properly, thoroughly, and most importantly, CLEARLY.
It gets very repetitive, with the same uninventive analogies used by Prabhupada over and over. And yet somehow basic ideas that Westerners (Lennon, Harrison) and Easterners alike (Ono) in prior installments asked about are NEVER adequately addressed or even confronted head on.
It gets very repetitive, with the same uninventive analogies used by Prabhupada over and over. And yet somehow basic ideas that Westerners (Lennon, Harrison) and Easterners alike (Ono) in prior installments asked about are NEVER adequately addressed or even confronted head on.
May 1, 2019
I was thinking it would be a better opera or a play. Because the story was quite predictable and pretty much the same outcome was repeated many times... Still it was nice. I got to know some things about indian culture at least :)
July 16, 2025
Very repetitive for concepts clearly explained.
Slight negative notions and attitude towards those who do not practice. Although attempting to get others to practice.
I’m also curious as to if this was translated, there’s nothing that says it was or wasn’t. The wording seems awkward for someone of high status in their community. Although it’s possible they are trying to make it funny or quirky..?
Interesting read though, a good insight into someone else’s perspective and culture.
Yoga = Krsna in the Hindu community!
Slight negative notions and attitude towards those who do not practice. Although attempting to get others to practice.
I’m also curious as to if this was translated, there’s nothing that says it was or wasn’t. The wording seems awkward for someone of high status in their community. Although it’s possible they are trying to make it funny or quirky..?
Interesting read though, a good insight into someone else’s perspective and culture.
Yoga = Krsna in the Hindu community!
May 20, 2020
Texto sumamente amigable para los interesados curiosos. Aun si no es seguidor, todos deberían leerlo porque, en suma, da algunas sencillos pasos sobre cómo debería ser la convivencia humana -más allá de credos u orientaciones-. Uno no es su cuerpo ni su orgullo. Uno no son sus problemas o sus talentos.
December 11, 2021
Swami Prabhupada nos trae perlas de sabiduría con sus libritos accesibles y amenos. Con las verdades de oriente explicadas para que se entiendan en occidente. En este librito se explica cómo la meditación es capaz de hacernos abrir la conciencia para ser capaces de ver más allá de nuestro propio ego.
December 29, 2017
I just loved the book. The topmost yoga is bhakti yoga and srila prabhupada has nicely explained it with the example of a plant which grows until it gets krishna :)...
March 30, 2020
Good but too referent to krsna and not to the universal holyness
February 3, 2021
Must read for everyone who wants to know what is the real meaning of yoga.
September 30, 2022
One of his best pamphlets.
January 17, 2025
Conciso y directo. Resume muchas de las propuestas de la meditación acorde a los textos de los vedas.
December 14, 2013
Not always the easiest read, and in some claims should be taken "with a pinch of salt", or read with an open mind... but there are some good and genuine message in there, if you are interested in this kind of literature. In my opinion, best read at intervals, one chapter at a time, putting it down inbetween reads.
December 23, 2013
A good introduction into the basic principles and tenants of the Hare Krishna practices.
September 29, 2014
I guess is to advance for myself in this point of my life.
April 26, 2016
Esperaba más por el título del libro, no encontré lo que esperaba, habló más de la doctrina en si, que de la meditación.
September 1, 2024
No está mal, pero no es muy específico. Se hace entretenido, pero no es de los mejores libros del autor. Me gustó más "Preguntas perfectas, respuestas perfectas".
April 17, 2017
Amazing and very concise reading on self-realization and the spiritual path of bhakti-yoga.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews