Sankirtana makes yoga's purification accessible to all, not just renunciates in forests.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Prabhupāda: In India there are some selected places, very sacred place, and the yogīs, generally they go there and sit there alone in a sacred place and, as prescribed in the Bhagavad-gītā, and perform there. Yoga..., yoga-āsana cannot be executed in a public place, so that in assembly. Now, so far this kīrtana is concerned... Just like we have performed just now kīrtana, this is called saìkīrtana.
Saìkīrtana means bahubhir militvā kīrtayati iti saìkīrtanam. When we sit down, many people together. When Lord Caitanya was performing this kīrtana ceremony five hundred years before, He had in each group sixteen persons taking part in kīrtana, and thousands and thousands of people were singing with them. Now, this participation in the kīrtana is very easily possible. But so far the yoga system is concerned, that is required any very secluded and sacred place, silent.
That is required. It is clearly said here that śucau deśe..., śucau deśe pratiṣṭhāpya sthiram āsanam ātmanaḥ [Bg 6.11]. [To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kuśa-grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should neither be too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place. The yogī should then sit on it very firmly and should practice yoga by controlling the mind and the senses, purifying the heart and fixing the mind on one point.] One has to place himself in a sacred place, in a silent place; then yoga system is possible. Now, comparatively, at the present moment, if you have to practice yoga, then strictly, according to the rules and regulation, you have to leave your home, you have to go out in a secluded place, in a sacred place, and there you have to execute the performance of meditation and yoga.
At home it is not possible. So far Bhagavad-gītā is concerned, it is a book of authority. It is recommended here that you should find out a place, suitable place for executing yoga. But here, this is also yoga.
This is called bhakti-yoga. Śravaṇaṃ kīrtanam [SB 7.5.23]. [There are six principles favorable to the execution of pure devotional service: (1) being enthusiastic, (2) endeavoring with confidence, (3) being patient, (4) acting according to regulative principles [such as śravaṇaṃ kīrtanaṃ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam—hearing, chanting and remembering Kṛṣṇa], (5) abandoning the association of nondevotees, and (6) following in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas. These six principles undoubtedly assure the complete success of pure devotional service.] Bhakti-yoga, they have got nine different processes. Out of that, the first two, śravaṇaṃ kīrtanam, hearing and chanting. I am chanting, you are hearing; you are chanting, I am hearing.
This is the process, holy name of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. So everyone can take part in it. But in the yoga system, a particular man, if he is expert, if he is able, if he can live alone from home in a secluded place, then perfection of yoga can be attained. It cannot be attained in a city, in a very good assembly, by exercising, gymnastic.
No. That is not recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā, at least. We may do that according to one's own way, but that is not the system recommended by the Bhagavad-gītā. tatraikāgraṃ manaḥ kṛtvā yata-cittendriya-kriyaḥ upaviśyāsane yuñjyād yogam ātma-viśuddhaye [Bg 6.12] [One should hold one's body, neck and head erect in a straight line and stare steadily at the tip of the nose. Thus with an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid of fear, completely free from sex life, one should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life.] The whole process is, yoga system, whole process is to purify myself.