Love is the path that leads to Eternal Freedom

In the yoga sutras, Patanjali has said that the path to God can be done in two manners. One, the focus on Atman, or self, two, the love of and for God.

He encourages the latter, because the former, though eventually leading to the final liberation from the cycle of life, is harder, and potentially a double edged sword, while the latter overcomes many obstacles in the process of understanding the self and its relation to God.