Devotion to God- Isvara YS I-23,24

Yoga Sutra I- 23 - ISVARAPRANIDHANAD VA - Or [samadhi is attained] by devotion with total dedication to God [Isvara].

From the Wikipedia - Ishvara (Sanskrit: Īśvara ईश्वर, Malay: Iswara, Thai: Phra Isuan) is a philosophical concept in Hinduism, meaning controller or the Supreme controller[1] (i.e. 'God') in a monotheistic sense or as an Ishta-deva of monistic thought. Ishvara is also used to denote a "lord" in a temporal sense, as any master or king (a dual usage also found in English).

Swami Satchidananda says of this sutra that devotion is another way to succeed in attaining samadhi is by self-surrender to God. "By the term Isvara, Patanjali means the supreme consciousness--not the individual soul but the supreme soul. Patanjali goes on to explain who Isvara is:"

Yoga Sutra I- 24- KLESA KARMA VIPAKASAYAIR APARAMRSTAH PURUSAVISESA ISVARAH - Isvara is the supreme Purusha, unaffected by any afflictions, actions, fruit of actions or by any inner impressions of desires.

Swami Satchidananda says this sutra means "He has no desire, so He has no action and no need to reap the fruits of action. Then what is He?

In the book "How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, comments for these sutras that this is the first time Patanjali introduces the idea of God. "According to Vedanta philosophy , Isvara is the supreme Ruler of the universe- its Creator, Sustainer and Dissolver." They say what is important is the the concept of devotion. Liberation can be attained without devotion to God (as seen in the previous sutras. "But this is a subtle and dangerous path, threading its way through the pitfalls of ambition and pride. Devotion to a personal ideal of God brings with it a natural inclination to humility and service It sweetens the dryness of intellectual discrimination and calls forth the highest kind of love of which man is capable."

A further comment from this book is that devotion, perhaps belongs to a special temperament and that it is not for everybody. It was also stated in the commentary that to feel devotion is "a very great blessing, for it is the safest and happiest way to liberation."

We see that yoga sutra I-24 describes Isvara as being unaffected by any afflictions, actions, fruits of actions, or by any inner impressions of desires, whereas man is affected by all that is mentioned. Man may become liberated but even in this he differs from Isvara who was never in bondage.