In the rendition of the Bhagavad Gita produced by William Q. Judge (H. P. Blavatsky’s closest and most trusted colleague, whose life and work can be read about here) the Sanskrit word “yoga,” which appears throughout the original text, is almost always rendered as “devotion.”

From the perspective of a serious textual student of the Gita, this is likely to frustrate, since in Sanskrit and thus in the Gita itself, the actual word for “devotion” is “Bhakti” and Bhakti is only one of the several forms of Yoga (which means “union” and any path of spiritual practice which leads to that goal of union with the Divine) presented by Krishna in the scripture. The Bhagavad Gita is thus not actually called “The Book of Devotion” (as many enthusiasts of the Judge version of the Gita think) but rather “The Book of Yoga” or, more accurately, “The Scripture of Yoga.”

The Gita’s twelfth chapter, titled Bhakti Yoga, meaning “The Yoga of Devotion,” is titled “Devotion by means of Faith” in the Judge rendition but “faith” in Sanskrit is Shraddha rather than Bhakti. Having made a very in depth textual study of the Bhagavad Gita ourselves, including closely comparing numerous different translations, we have never seen anyone else (with the exception of the very early pre-Judge translations, which he drew heavily on) translate the word “yoga” as “devotion.”

BUT – we do not say all of that in order to criticise, nor to deter people from the William Judge rendition.

For once one comes to realise from a careful and attentive perusal of his writings and work that WQJ clearly knew well that he was rendering “yoga” as “devotion” and that this was not an accident on his part, and once one also realises – principally through the book “Notes on The Bhagavad Gita” and also his highly recommended article of the same title published in the book “Theosophical Articles and Notes” – that the “devotion” is referring to “mental devotion” rather than to what most people think of as religious devotion through prayers, hymns, or idol worship etc. towards a personal or anthropomorphic conception of the Divine, and once one comes to understand that one’s mental devotion is really the crux of real spiritual development and evolution, Judge’s rendition takes on a much more living quality and valuable character.

Since we all have a mind and are all “thinkers” in evolution, every one of us is continually engaged in “mental devotion” towards someone or something. There is always a particular subject, object, person, being, desire, or expectation (whether positive or negative) which occupies and receives the vast majority of our thoughts, feelings, and inner focus, over the course of days, weeks, months, years, or an entire lifetime. Usually we have not consciously and deliberately selected it but nonetheless it either helps us or holds us back, transforming us either into someone better and freer or someone worse and more shackled to our lower nature and lower influences and impulses.

As WQJ’s article “Meditation, Concentration, Will” says, there is always that “on which the heart is set.” Theosophy emphasises that “thought is the real plane of action” and so it is only natural that true Yoga relates primarily to transforming and spiritualising it, so as to raise our inner being closer to the Divine within us. In his posthumously published article “Occultism,” occultism or esotericism is described as “an epitome of the science of Thought.” On p. 141 of “Notes on The Bhagavad Gita” he states: “Man, made of thought, occupant only of many bodies from time to time, is eternally thinking. His chains are through thought, his release due to nothing else.”

William Judge’s rendition of the Bhagavad Gita and also his overall approach to its message and teachings brings into emphasis that the right object of our mental devotion should be the ONE Self or divine Essence or Spirit which is the true Self of each and all and the sole Life or Presence in the Universe, and also that there are numerous synthesised or integrated practices which lead us towards that, such as “devotion through the right performance of action,” “devotion by means of spiritual discernment,” “devotion by means of the discrimination of the Kshetra from Kshetrajna” and so on.

So while it is true that the more one learns and knows Sanskrit, the more Judge’s rendition is seen as unsatisfactory from the perspective of literal accuracy, it is also true that the more deeply and practically one understands Theosophy, the more useful and helpful Judge’s rendition becomes as a beneficial impetus in daily life. We do not mean to give the impression, however, that a more scholarly and textually rigorous approach to the Bhagavad Gita is in any way wrong or inadvisable; on the contrary, those who want to find out for themselves what the text actually says word for word should pursue that. But it is also fine to be solely interested in the practical value and potential of the text.

The actual specific term “mental devotion” itself appears several times in Judge’s Gita. It is how he renders the Sanskrit term “Buddhi Yoga” or “buddhiyoga.” This expression appears three times in the Bhagavad Gita, namely in 2:49, 10:10, and 18:57. As the Gita has 18 chapters, Buddhi Yoga is thus mentioned more or less at the beginning, the middle, and end. It is also both the first and the last specifically named form of Yoga to be mentioned by Krishna in the Gita, which has led some – some Hindus as well as some Theosophists – to conclude that the whole of the Bhagavad Gita is therefore really a treatise or exposition on Buddhi Yoga. William Judge would certainly agree that the whole of the Bhagavad Gita is a practical guidebook on mental devotion.

Here is how these verses – in which Krishna is speaking as our Higher Self or our Higher Ego or, as H. P. Blavatsky says in “The Key to Theosophy” p. 67-68, the trinity of Atman, Buddhi, and the Higher Manas, the immortal spiritual triad of an individual – appear in his rendition:

“Yet the performance of works is by far inferior to mental devotion, O despiser of wealth. Seek an asylum, then, in this mental devotion, which is knowledge; for the miserable and unhappy are those whose impulse to action is found in its reward. But he who by means of Yoga is mentally devoted dismisses alike successful and unsuccessful results, being beyond them; Yoga is skill in the performance of actions: therefore do thou aspire to this devotion.” (Chapter 2, p. 16-17, Theosophy Company edition)

“To them thus always devoted to me, who worship me with love, I give that mental devotion by which they come to me. For them do I out of my compassion, standing within their hearts, destroy the darkness which springs from ignorance by the brilliant lamp of spiritual discernment.” (Chapter 10, p. 71)

“With thy heart place all thy works on me, prefer me to all else, exercise mental devotion continually, and think constantly of me.” (Chapter 18, p. 130)

But although those are the only verses which speak specifically of “mental devotion” by name, WQJ’s teaching is that all the manifold other references to “devotion” in the Bhagavad Gita, or rather in his rendition of it, are also referring to that mental devotion, for that is the only kind of devotion that truly counts. It may indeed manifest or express itself in various outward ways but if one does not have mental devotion perpetually focused towards the Divine – the Divine which is all and in all – and which is therefore also a recognition of and devotion towards the spiritual nature of the whole of humanity, then one does not really have true devotion at all.

According to Theosophy, real Yoga is mental yoga, internal yoga, spiritual yoga, the yoga of consciousness, the yoga of concentrated, elevated, and aspirational thought throughout daily life and its activities, and hence the terms “yoga” and “mental devotion” are essentially synonymous, even though not etymologically or literally the same. (See the article The Raja Yoga of Theosophy)

William Judge sheds further light on this principle of mental devotion elsewhere in his writings:

“Then we should both seek devotion. This devotion is what is inculcated by the Adepts to their chelas. It involves a mental abnegation not agreeable to our modern mind, but that must be acquired or real progress is impossible. We must by means of this mental devotion to the Divine, which means abnegation of all the rest, dismiss all results of our actions. It is not ours to say what shall be the result of an action; the Law will bring about a result much better, perhaps, than we had imagined. If the results, if the passing daily circumstances, are not those we expected, then by means of devotion we accept them as just what the Law intended. But if we fix our desire on accomplishing even a seeming good result, we are bound by that desire, no matter whether our wish is accomplished or not.

“This exhortation to devotion is at once the most simple and the most difficult. Some deride it because they want powers and “development;” others because they think it too simple; but the wise student, even when he cannot at first grasp its meaning, will revolve it in his mind, strive after it, and make it a thing to be attained by him.” (“Notes on The Bhagavad Gita” p. 68-69, Theosophy Company edition)

“The generality of men have many and widely branching objects for mental devotion. It is a devotion to sense, or to self, or to wrong belief or to improper practice. But the follower of the Bhagavad-Gita gradually comes to see that the true devotion is that which has but one object through all changes of scene, of thought, or of companionship. That object is the Self which is all in all. The Self, as object, is immovable, whereas the objects taken up by the unwise are movable and transitory.

“Equal mindedness and skill in the right performance of duty are the true rules — this is yoga. This right performance of duty means the mental state, for the mere performance of an act has no moral quality in it, since even a machine may be made to perform acts usually done by men. The moral quality resides in the person inside and in his presence or absence. If a human body, asleep or devoid of a soul, raised its hand and took the life of another, that would not be a crime. And oppositely the performance of a good act is no virtue unless the person within is in the right attitude of mind. Many an apparently good act is done from selfish, hypocritical, crafty or other wrong motives. These are only outwardly good. So we must attain to a proper state of mind, or mental devotion, in order to know how to skillfully perform our actions without doing so for the sake of the result; doing them because they ought to be done, because they are our duties.” (The 1895 article “Notes on The Bhagavad Gita,” published in “Theosophical Articles and Notes” and as “We Are All Arjunas” in “The Heart Doctrine” and online here)

“Lastly, know this law, written on the walls of the temple of learning.

“Having received, freely give; having once in thought devoted your life to the great stream of energy in which elementals and souls alike are carried – and which causes the pulse beat of our hearts – you can never claim it back again. Seek, then, that mental devotion which strains to give. For in the Law it is written that we must give away all or we lose it; as you need mental help, so do others who are wandering in darkness seeking for light.” (“Letters That Have Helped Me” p. 92-93)

As said earlier, the phrase “mental devotion” in WQJ’s rendition of the Bhagavad Gita is “buddhiyoga” in the original Sanskrit. “Buddhi” literally means “wisdom” but in the Bhagavad Gita, as in Hinduism in general, it does not have exactly the same meaning and significance as in Theosophical metaphysics. For the latter, please see the article The Buddhi Principle. H. P. Blavatsky has explained:

“Buddhi has one meaning in the Esoteric and quite a different sense in the Sankhya philosophy . . . and quite a different sense in the Vishnu Purana, which speaks of seven Prakritis emanating from Mahat, and calls the latter Maha-Buddhi. Fundamentally, however, the ideas are the same, though the terms differ with each school, and the correct sense is lost in this maze of personifications.” (“Transactions of The Blavatsky Lodge” p. 6)

So in encountering references to the word “buddhi” in the Bhagavad Gita and various other Hindu scriptures and philosophies, we should not automatically assume that they are referring to the Buddhi principle of Theosophy, nor in the same way in which Theosophy speaks of Buddhi. Typically, “buddhi” is said in Hinduism to mean the intellect, the intelligence, the discriminative or discerning or intuitive faculty. As shown in the article just linked to, Theosophy generally associates such qualities with Manas (mind) rather than Buddhi, which it instead calls the Spiritual Soul. But these linguistic and technical details do not change or alter the fact that the crucial practice for us is mental devotion.

“The Bhagavad-Gita (literally, the Gita or Song of Bhagavan or Lord) is the book of instructions which teaches the practice of Buddhi Yoga. It gives guidance as to how each event in life is to be met and how each step upon cautious step is to be taken on the path of knowledge and divine wisdom. Nowhere in the treatise does Krishna urge his disciple to develop abnormal powers, whether they be physical, psychic or spiritual. The goal of human evolution is not attained by their acquisition. The entire trend of the teaching is towards the blending (yoga or union) of mind and soul and the final assimilation in the Supreme. This union and final assimilation is an end by itself. It is not taken as a means for obtaining powers. These but follow upon and are a natural outcome of attainment.” (“The Lure of The Abnormal,” “The Theosophical Movement” magazine, June 2007, published by the United Lodge of Theosophists in Mumbai, India)

“What happens to these Wise Ones who keep up that constant promulgation and effort to enlighten the minds of their people? Krishna proceeds to give the method by which he really unites Himself to them. He says:

“To them thus always devoted to me, who worship me with love, I give that mental devotion [Buddhi Yoga] by which they come to me. For them do I out of my compassion, standing within their hearts, destroy the darkness which springs from ignorance by the brilliant lamp of spiritual discernment.”

“In verse 29 of the Ninth Discourse, we read the words of Krishna:

“I am the same to all creatures; I know not hatred nor favour; but those who serve me with love dwell in me and I in them.”

“And here he repeats the same promise, putting it a little differently, for he says, “those who worship me with love.” Both the cases, the service and worship with love, involves real love, which simply means true devotion, or real love for the Masters, to whom we have dedicated our lives. There cannot be true progress and growth in the spiritual path without it. It is only when that flame of devotion is kept alive in our own hearts that Krishna can come within the heart, and stand within it, as the living figure and Teacher, and because of that union which is made in the heart of the disciple himself, is it possible for all darkness to be dispelled, and for the lamp of spiritual discernment to be kindled forever and ever, enabling the disciple to show the same light to other human beings, along the road.

“This is the exact corresponding promise to that mentioned in the Ninth Discourse. This is true companionship, the idea of this union through mental devotion, or Buddhi-Yoga.” (“Studies in The Bhagavad-Gita,” “The Theosophical Movement” magazine, September 2016)

“The one desirous of emancipation has to acquire Spiritual Knowledge and cultivate that mental devotion in action (Buddhi Yoga) so as to create no new causes which have the power of binding the Soul to rebirth, and thus gradually exhaust the vast store of accumulated Karma over a series of lives till, at last, the Ego, having exhausted the law of Karmic retribution, is freed from the cycles of rebirths, and attains emancipation (Mukti).” (“Karma Yoga,” “The Theosophical Movement” magazine, July 2007)

“The first necessary step shown in the second fragment of our textbook [i.e. referring to “The Voice of The Silence”], “The Two Paths,” is that of the Buddhi-yoga of the second chapter of The Bhagavad-Gita, with one important difference. It not only recommends seeking asylum in mental devotion and doing one’s duty without caring for the fruits of action, but also adds – “Gain Siddhis for thy future birth.”” (B. P. Wadia, “Studies in The Voice of The Silence” p. 11, from Chapter 3: “The Mind of the Renouncer”)

“Gandhiji’s [i.e. Mahatma Gandhi’s] soul influenced by the pure light of love and of universal brotherhood heard the Voice of Krishna. What found most ready response in his soul was the path of works, Karma-marga, deeds to be performed according to Buddhi-Yoga. All duties to be discharged with mental devotion to the Deity, formless and universal, without a desire for reward, or even looking for any particular result. . . . Seeking ways and means to practise Buddhi yoga, Gandhiji made special use of certain ancient words: Satya-Truth; Ahimsa-Harmlessness; Tyaga-Renunciation; Yagna-Sacrifice. This Buddhi-Yoga defined in the second half of the second chapter of the Gita and which culminates in the definition “Yoga is skill in the performance of actions” contains definite precepts to be practised not only at set times but in the routine of hourly living at home, at the office, everywhere. These precepts when daily practised create the man whose marks are also precise. The precepts are followed by a picture which embodies the example: how does a steady practitioner of Buddhi-yoga look, talk, act?” (B. P. Wadia, “Gandhian Philosophy and Theosophy,” “The Gandhian Way” p. 36)

“Our understanding–discernment is clouded. Illusion (maya), delusion (moha), ever envelop the man. Buddhi-Yoga frees us from this bondage.”

“Detachment about gaining Wisdom is a virtue necessary in the practise of Buddhi-Yoga – the Path of Purifying the Heart.” (Bhavani Shankar, “On Hearing,” “The Aryan Path” May 1933; click here for the complete article)

Metaphysically speaking, devotion is a fire and acts alchemically within the Principles or vestures of our inner being, burning away that which serves no good purpose and bringing an ever increasing purity and clarity in its place. One quote above spoke of the “flame of devotion” and likewise B. P. Wadia, in some of the “Extracts from Unpublished Letters,” refers to “the fire of devotion.” In the Theosophical view, All is Fire and Fire is All and so it may help us to picture its working and its effects in this way.

The exact and precise practical steps to be taken in daily life in order to begin or improve this practice of mental devotion are left up to each aspirant to work out for themselves, since everyone is different as a personality and what works well for one person may not work well for another. The important thing is to try and also to make meditative use of the Bhagavad Gita, seeing as it was partly written for this very purpose. WQJ’s simple yet profound practical guidance throughout the book “Letters That Have Helped Me” may also prove extremely valuable as a frequent companion.

The following are some excerpts from “True Devotion,” an article that was published in “The Theosophical Movement” magazine in July 2003:

“Devotion” is a much misunderstood term. Sentimentality, emotionalism and religious fanaticism often go under the name of “devotion,” and have led many, including aspirants to the higher life, astray. They have taken the false for the real, without understanding. A definition of true devotion is given by the great Shankara:

“Among all means of liberation, devotion verily is the most potent. The fixing of the attention on the true Master, the Divine Self, is declared to be devotion.”

“So true devotion is union with the Divine Self, the Supreme Spirit. In the Eleventh Discourse of the Bhagavad-Gita, Sri Krishna states: “I am to be approached and seen and known in truth by means of that devotion which has me alone as the object.” It was because of his devotion to Krishna that Arjuna was able to see the Universal Form of the Supreme Master of Devotion. All the discourses of the Bhagavad-Gita deal with devotion – devotion by means of action, devotion by means of knowledge, devotion by means of renunciation, and so on. Devotion is the keynote of all the 18 discourses. . . .

“Devotion is not something that belongs to our lower, personal nature; it is the highest trait of the self-conscious thinker that each of us is, and has to be developed and acquired at this stage of our evolution. Therefore, The Voice of the Silence instructs us to “make of pride and self-regard bond-maidens to devotion.” As long as these lower tendencies exist, they act as barriers on the path of true devotion, just as the light of the sun is obstructed by the clouds. Therefore it is necessary to clean and clear our own lower, personal nature of sense-inclinations, passions and attachment to material existence. . . .

“How different this true devotion is from the sentimental type that we see around us! It is necessary to raise our consciousness to the level of the heaven-aspiring Superior Mind – Vohu Mano. Then only will our daily life, with its various activities on different levels, become fruitful from the spiritual point of view. . . .

“The ancient pledge of Kwan-Yin is also the expression of pure devotion:

“Never will I seek nor receive private, individual salvation; never will I enter into final peace alone; but forever, and everywhere, will I live and strive for the redemption of every creature throughout the world.”

“The great Masters of Wisdom and Compassion, out of their devotion to humanity, sent out Madame Blavatsky as Their Messenger to re-proclaim the teachings of the Wisdom-Religion, so that peace and harmony may be established on earth and men and women may be bound together into one family by the four links of the Golden Chain – Universal Unity and Causation, Human Solidarity, Karma, and Reincarnation.

“On her part, H.P.B. has stated that her unswerving devotion to her Master was the only cause of her success. It was her devotion to the Cause of the Masters that has kept the Theosophical Movement going.

“Mr. Judge’s devotion to Theosophy, his loyalty to H.P.B. and the great Teachers, enabled him to carry on the work of the Movement alone in America after H.P.B. left for India. He was considered a bridge between the trans-Himalayan School and the Western world. It was his whole-hearted devotion that kept going his monthly journal, The Path, which H.P.B. called “pure Buddhi,” and through which he poured out his soul-wisdom.

“When students of Theosophy in various parts of the world distorted the original teachings and departed from the lines laid down by H.P.B., it was again the man of devotion, Robert Crosbie, who had the vision and the courage to start anew along the right lines and strengthen the Theosophical Movement which had fallen to pieces. So, out of his heart-devotion he started, in 1909, the United Lodge of Theosophists, the fruit of which succeeding generations have been fortunate to enjoy.

“Devotion to the Divine Principle men call God can only be expressed through the selfless service of our fellow beings. . . . In the Twelfth Discourse of the Gita, Sri Krishna points out different modes of devotion for people at different stages of evolution. Each one can find out for himself where he stands, and adopt the mode suited to him. Krishna also enumerates the qualities of a true devotee, which can be cultivated by all.

“To them thus always devoted to me, who worship me with love, I give that mental devotion by which they come to me. For them do I out of my compassion, standing within their hearts, destroy the darkness which springs from ignorance by the brilliant lamp of spiritual discernment.” (Bhagavad-Gita)

“Not only is the darkness of ignorance removed by the brilliant lamp of spiritual discernment, but, as The Voice of the Silence states, true devotion may bring us back the knowledge which was ours in former births.

“So life after life one has to practise devotion to regain the lost knowledge impressed upon the plastic mind of humanity in its infancy. Then only one may get the inner version or the right perception of existing things, the knowlege of the non-existent. And the Voice of the Silence will begin to whisper to the inner ear the truth about the divine life and light, the justice of the divine law and the love and compassion of the divine beings who live and labour for the upliftment of human souls and of the whole universe.”

~ * ~

“Give light and comfort to the toiling pilgrim, and seek out him who knows still less than thou; who in his wretched desolation sits starving for the bread of Wisdom and the bread which feeds the shadow, without a Teacher, hope or consolation, and – let him hear the Law.

“Tell him, O Candidate, that he who makes of pride and self-regard bond-maidens to devotion; that he, who cleaving to existence, still lays his patience and submission to the Law, as a sweet flower at the feet of Shakya-Thub-pa [i.e. Buddha], becomes a Srotapatti in this birth. The Siddhis of perfection may loom far, far away; but the first step is taken, the stream is entered, and he may gain the eye-sight of the mountain eagle, the hearing of the timid doe.

“Tell him, O Aspirant, that true devotion may bring him back the knowledge, that knowledge which was his in former births.”

(“The Voice of The Silence” p. 37-38, original edition, translated by H. P. Blavatsky from The Book of The Golden Precepts)

For more about the Bhagavad Gita and the Theosophical approach to it, please see The Theosophy of The Bhagavad Gita, The Essence of The Bhagavad Gita, and The Secret of Daiviprakriti – The Light of The Logos. The subject of the Self, mentioned throughout the above article, can be explored further in Atman – The Higher Self, Sakshi: The Unchanging Inner Witness, Self, Non-Self, Emptiness & Voidness in Buddhism & Theosophy, The Upanishads, Vedanta & The Mahavakyas, What Does Theosophy Say About God?, and Understanding Our Seven Principles. For more on William Judge, please see Who Was William Quan Judge?, William Q. Judge and The Masters of Wisdom, and Understanding The Importance of William Q. Judge. Please see the Articles page for the complete listing of over 300 articles on all aspects of Theosophy and the Theosophical Movement. If you found this article helpful, you may be particularly interested in those listed under the heading “SPIRITUAL LIVING AND PRACTICE.”

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