God,rather than being known by penance or yagya or charity,can be easily known by unwavering devotion and contemplation which is constant and uninterrupted like a stream of oil. Firm and single-minded devotion is the means for achievement of the supreme goal. This naturally whets seeker’s curiosity to know which one of the two kinds of devotees, they who worship the manifest God like Sri Krishn and they who contemplate the unmanifest Spirit, are superior?

In fact, Arjun has raised this question many times in Geeta. He had asked Sri Krishn why he was urging him to undertake a dreadful task if he thought the Way of Knowledge superior to the Way of Selfless Action? According to Sri Krishn in both ways action is a necessity.

Despite this, however, if a man restrains his senses with unnatural violence and is yet unable to forget their objects, he is an arrogant impostor rather than a man of knowledge. So Arjun was counselled to do the ordained task, the deed of yagya. The mode of yagya, which is a special form of worship and which provides access to the supreme goal, was then elucidated. What difference is there then between the Way of Knowledge and the Way of Selfless Action if the same action-the deed of yagya-has to be embarked on for both? Whereas an affectionate devotee engages in the deed of yagya after having surrendered himself and his action to the desired God, the yogi of knowledge undertakes the same action with a due understanding of his own strength and reliance upon it.

Sri Krishn says:
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mayyāveśya mano ye mām nityayuktā upāsate
śraddhayā parayopetāh te me yuktatamā matāh

ye tvaksaramanirdeśyam avyaktam paryupāsate
sarvatragamacintyamca kūtastham acalamdhruvam

samniyamyendriyagrāmam sarvatra samabuddhayāh
te prāpnuvanti māmeva sarvabhūtahite ratāh

“I believe them to be the most superior of all yogi who always meditate upon me with concentration and worship me (the embodied,manifest God) with true faith.” ….”And they who restrain all their senses well, always adore the Supreme Spirit who is beyond thought, all-pervading, indefinable, filled with equanimity, immutable and immovable, and formless and indestructible , with total concentration, and who serve all beings viewing them with an equal eye,also attain to me.”These attributes of God are not different from those of Sri Krishn.But….Sri Krishn further adds:
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kleśo’dhikatarastesām avyaktāsaktacetasām
avyaktāhi gatirduhkhah dehavadbhiravāpyate

“Achievement of perfection by men who are devoted to the formless God is more arduous, because they who feel conceited because of their physical bodies find it more difficult to realize the unmanifest.’’
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Accomplishment is harder for worshippers who are devoted to the God who is devoid of all qualities because of their attachment to their physical existence. Attainment of the unmanifest, formless God is most difficult as long as a worshipper takes pride in his birth and prowess.

Yogeshwar Krishn was a Godlike accomplished teacher and the unmanifest God was manifested in him. According to him the seeker who, instead of seeking shelter under a sage, goes ahead with trust in his own strength, knowing his present situation and what it will be in the time to come, and with the awareness that he will ultimately realize his own unmanifest, identical Self, begins to think that the Supreme Spirit is no different from him and that he is “him.’’ Entertaining such thoughts and without waiting for fulfillment he begins to feel that his body itself is the real “he.” So he wanders about in the mortal world, the abode of sorrows, and at last comes to a dead end. But this is not so with the worshipper who goes ahead under Sri Krishn’s gracious shelter.

He says:                                                                 
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ye tu sarvāni karmāni mayi sannyasya matparah
ananyenaiva yogena mām dhyāyanta upāsate

tesāmaham samuddhartā mrtyusansārasāgarāt
bhavāmi na cirātpārtha mayyāveśitacetasām

mayyeva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhim niveśaya
nivasisyasi mayyeva ata ūrdhvam na sanśayah

athacittam samādhātum na śaknosi mayi sthiram
abhyāsayogena tato māmicchāptum dhananjaya

“And, O Parth, I soon deliver my affectionate devotees who have set their mind on me and who, coming under my shelter and dedicating all their action to me, ever contemplate and worship me-the God-with unshaken intentness, from the abyss of the mortal world.’’

Sri Krishn then prompts Arjun to such devotion and throws light upon the way by which it may be accomplished.He adds:”There is no doubt whatsoever that you will dwell in me if you devote and apply your mind and intellect to me.’’Sri Krishn is conscious of his disciple’s weakness, for Arjun has already confessed that he considers restraining the mind as difficult as restraining the wind.

Sri Krishn says:‘‘If you cannot firmly set your mind on me; O Dhananjay, seek me by the yog of incessant practice (abhyas-yog).’’

“Practice” here means repeated drawing back of mind from where-ever it roams and fixing it upon the desired goal. But if Arjun is incapable even of this, he should just long for Sri Krishn-only devote himself to his worship, If all his thoughts and actions are only for Sri Krishn, he will have the fulfillment of realizing him.

He adds:
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abhyāse’pyasamartho’si matkarmaparamo bhava
madarthamapi karmāni kurvansiddhimavāpsyasi

athaitadapyaśakto’si kartum madyogamāśritah
sarvakarmaphalatyāgam tatah kuru yatātmavān

‘‘In case you are incapable of even following the way of practice, you may yet secure fulfillment by the performance of actions which are meant only for me.”

“In case you fail to accomplish even this, abandon all the fruits of action and take refuge in my yog with a thoroughly subdued mind.’’
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If Arjun cannot even do this, he should give up all desire of the rewards of action as well as considerations of profit and loss, and with a sense of self-surrender find shelter under some sage with an accomplished Soul. The ordained action will then commence spontaneously under the prompting of this accomplished teacher.

And finally Sri Krishn points out about the importance of giving up all desires of the rewards of action with complete surrender.He says:
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śreyo hi jñānamabhyāsājjñānāddhyānam viśisyate
dhyānātkarmaphalatyāgastyāgācchāntiranantaram

“Since knowledge is superior to practice, meditation better than knowledge, and abandonment of the fruits of action higher than meditation, renunciation is soon rewarded with peace.’’
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To engage in action by the Way of Knowledge is better than just the exercise of restraining the mind. Meditation is better than the accomplishment of action through knowledge, because the desired goal is always present in contemplation. Even better than contemplation, however, is the abandonment of the fruits of action, for when Arjun has given up the fruits of action and surrendered himself to the desired goal with the purpose of realizing it, the burden of his exercise of yog is borne by the adored God. So this kind of renunciation is soon followed by the achievement of absolute peace.

Sri Krishn has so far said that the yogi who performs selfless action with a sense of self-surrender has an advantage over the follower of the Way of Knowledge who worships the unmanifest. Both of them accomplish the same action, but there are more hurdles in the way of the latter. He bears the responsibility for his profits and losses himself, whereas the burden of the dedicated worshipper is borne by God. So he soon achieves peace as an outcome of his renunciation of the fruits of action.

As expounded by Swami Adgadanand Paramhans,Most revered Gurudev. 

Humble Wishes!!!