466 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 9

PURPORT

Yoga means concentration of the mind detached from all other subject
matter. And actually such concentration is samadhi, or cent percent
engagement in the service of the Lord. And one who concenirates his
attention in that manner is called a yogi. Such a yogi devotee of the Lord
engages himself twenty-four hours daily in the service of the Lord so that
his whole attention is engrossed with the thoughts of the Lord in ninefold
devotional service, namely hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping,
praying, becoming a voluntary servant, carrying out orders, establishing
friendly relationship, or offering all that one may possess, in the service of
the Lord. By such practice of yoga or linking up in the service of the Lord,
one is recognized by the Lord Himself, as it is explained in the Bhagavad-
gita concerning the highest perfectional stage of samadhi. The Lord calls
such a rare devotee the best amongst all the yogis. Such a perfect yogt is
enabled by the divine grace of the Lord to concentrate his mind upon the
Lord with a perfect sense of consciousness, and thus by chanting His holy
name before quitting the body the yogi is at once transferred by the
internal energy of the Lord to one of the eternal planets where there is no
question of material life and its concomitant factors. In material existence
a living being has to endure the material conditions of threefold miseries,
life after life, according to his fruitive work. Such material life is produced
by material desires only. Devotional service of the Lord does not kill the
natural desires of the living being, but they are applied in the right cause
of devotional service. This qualifies the desire to be transferred in the
spiritual sky. General Bhismadeva is referring to a particular type of yoga
called bhakti-yoga, and he was fortunate enough to have the Lord directly
in his presence before he quitted his material body. He therefore desired
that the Lord stay before his view in the following verses.

TEXT 24

a Mean war vet
aoat wares faaterey |
~ ~ -
~ ¢
Gargat AMIqaATys: WV!
sa deva-devo bhagavan pratiksatam
kalevaram ydavad idar hinomy aham

prasanna-hdsaruna-locanollasan
mukhambujo dhyana-pathas catur-bhujah
