Prabhupāda: Now, if somebody, instead of crossing the steps, he is given chance of the elevator, within a second he comes to the top. So if somebody says: "Why shall I take advantage of this elevator? I shall go step by step," he can go. But there is chance. If you take this bhakti-yoga, immediately you take the help of the elevator and within a second you are on the hundredth floor. This is the process, direct process. You can go step by step, following all other yoga system, but you can take directly.
Lord Caitanya has recommended that in this age, people are very short-living, they are disturbed, they are full of anxieties. Therefore by His grace, by His causeless mercy, He is giving you the lift immediately, "Come to the bhakti-yoga by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa." Immediately. You haven't got to wait. Immediately take. That is the special gift of Lord Caitanya.
Therefore Rūpa Gosvāmī prays, offers respect to Lord Caitanya, namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te (CC Madhya 19.53):
"Oh, You are the most munificent incarnation, because You are giving directly love of Kṛṣṇa. To attain love of Kṛṣṇa one has to pass through so many steps and stages of yoga system, and You are giving directly. Therefore You are the most munificent." So actually that is the position.
Go on.
Revatīnandana: "Therefore, to become Kṛṣṇa conscious is the highest stage of yoga, just as when we speak of the Himalayas, we refer to the world's highest mountains, of which the highest peak, Mount Everest, is considered to be the culmination. It is by great fortune that one comes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness on the path of bhakti-yoga and is well situated according to the Vedic directions."
"The ideal yogī concentrates his attention on Kṛṣṇa, who is called Śyāmasundara, beautifully colored as a cloud, His lotuslike face effulgent as the sun, and His dress brilliant with earrings, and His body flower-garlanded. Illuminating all sides is His gorgeous luster, which is called the brahma-jyotir. He incarnates in different forms, such as Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Varāha and Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And He descends like a human being as the son of Mother Yaśodā, and is He known as Kṛṣṇa, Govinda and Vāsudeva. He is the perfect child, husband, friend, master, and He is full of all opulences and transcendental qualities."
"If one remains fully conscious of these features of the Lord, he is called the highest yogī. This stage of highest perfection in yoga can be attained only by bhakti-yoga, as is confirmed in all Vedic literature."
Prabhupāda: Bhakti . . . in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find that bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55).
In the beginning Kṛṣṇa says that "Out of millions of people, one may understand Me actually, factually." And that same "factually" word is used in the Eighteenth Chapter that, "If one wants to know Me," Kṛṣṇa, or God, "then he has to go through the process of bhakti-yoga." Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). That is clearly said.