Shloka 27
Kapila’s Conclusion: Limits of Karma and Yoga; Supremacy of Bhakti and Qualification to Receive the Teaching
एतावानेव योगेन समग्रेणेह योगिन: । युज्यतेऽभिमतो ह्यर्थो यदसङ्गस्तु कृत्स्नश: ॥ २७ ॥
etāvān eva yogena samagreṇeha yoginaḥ yujyate ’bhimato hy artho yad asaṅgas tu kṛtsnaśaḥ
The highest common conclusion for all yogīs is complete detachment from matter—total nonattachment—which may be attained through various kinds of yoga.
There are three kinds of yoga, namely bhakti-yoga, jñāna-yoga and aṣṭāṅga-yoga. Devotees, jñānīs and yogīs all try to get out of the material entanglement. The jñānīs try to detach their sensual activities from material engagement. The jñāna-yogī thinks that matter is false and that Brahman is truth; therefore by cultivation of knowledge he tries to detach the senses from material enjoyment. The aṣṭāṅga-yogīs also try to control the senses. The devotees, however, try to engage the senses in the service of the Lord. Therefore it appears that the activities of the bhaktas, devotees, are better than those of the jñānīs and yogīs. The mystic yogīs simply try to control the senses by practicing the eight divisions of yoga — yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, etc. — and the jñānīs try by mental reasoning to understand that sense enjoyment is false. But the easiest and most direct process is to engage the senses in the service of the Lord.
FAQs
This verse states that the essential aim of complete yoga practice is total non-attachment (asaṅga)—freedom from material entanglement—through which the desired perfection is attained.
Kapila instructs Devahūti on the path to liberation: without full detachment from material association and possessiveness, yoga cannot yield its intended result, so he highlights asaṅga as the core attainment.
Practice engaging duties without possessiveness—reduce craving-based consumption, avoid harmful associations, and dedicate actions and results to the Lord—so the mind becomes progressively free from binding attachments.