If someone gives you a piece of jewellery, and you have no
knowledge of its worth, will you have any love for it? Not really, but if someone told you that it is worth a million dollars, you will immediately develop immense love for it. Similarly in the spiritual journey, as we get knowledge of the glory of God and our relationship with Him, our devotion towards Him also increases. Hence true knowledge leads to Bhakti.
As we engage in Bhakti, God seated within the heart gives us deeper and newer realizations. And here Bhakti leads to Gyan (knowledge). They are both intimately interrelated: Gyan increases Bhakti, and Bhakti increases Gyan. The topic of “Gyan vs Bhakti” is one of the most intensely debated topics in Indian philosophy.
Spiritual aspirants should however not confuse Gyan (knowledge) with Gyan Yog. Gyan Yog is a path of sadhana based on a particular philosophic viewpoint which suggests that the soul is itself God, and by situating oneself in the knowledge of the atman (self), one will attain liberation.
There is yet another kind of Gyan, called Shabdik Gyan, which means dry intellectual knowledge, without concomitant practice. Such Gyan, which is without realization, leads to pride, and does more harm than good. Thus, it has been criticized by the scriptures.
Bhakti and knowledge go hand in hand, but it is indispensable for devotees to understand the meaning of gyan, gyan yog and its difference from Bhakti Yog. Different paths are a part of God’s diverse creation, and their sound knowledge helps in making suitable choices in our journey to the Absolute Truth.
Question: Please explain the difference between Gyan Yog and Bhakti Yog.
Swami Mukundananda: Gyan Yog is the path of God-realization based on the premise of Non-Dualism that the soul itself is God; when it dispels its covering of ignorance and gets seated in knowledge, it will get liberated from the illusion of Maya. Then it will realize itself to be one with the formless Brahman for eternity, devoid of any form, attribute, activity or qualities.
The Gyan Yogi strives to attain knowledge of the self, and be practically situated on that platform. This requires analyzing that one is not the body, senses, mind, intellect and ego. One first theoretically understands this knowledge by hearing from the Guru and the scriptures. Then one repeatedly meditates on the knowledge and tries to realize it practically. In this manner, material desires related to the body slowly diminish. Finally, one gains practical insight into the nature of the self.
Bhakti Yog is based on the premise that the soul is an integral part of God; it has turned its back towards God, and hence it is suffering in the cycle of life and death because of Maya.This Maya is not an illusion; it is energy of God. So the soul needs to surrender itself to God and attract His Grace, by which it will receive the Divine Knowledge, Love and Bliss of God.
Bhakti Yog involves developing immense love for the Lord. In such a state, the devotee develops an intense longing to see God, meet Him, and be with Him. Whatever one does, the mind remains attached to God and the thoughts flow towards Him, like the rivers flow towards the ocean. Such love in the heart cleanses it of all impurities.
With a pure heart, one begins to see God in all living beings and in all things. As the thoughts become sublime, the devotee experiences the unlimited Divine Bliss of God and becomes fully satisfied. On liberation, the soul does not become God; it goes to His Divine abode, and there in a Divine body, it eternally participates in the loving pastimes of God.
Q: Everyone says that Bhakti Yog is easy, while Gyan Yog is difficult. What is the reason for this?
SM: Understand this by comparing a baby kitten and a baby monkey. The kitten is tiny in size and delicate in build. Yet if it is to be moved from one place to another, it does not need to worry. Its mother holds the kitten with her mouth and carries it. On the other hand, the baby monkey is responsible for holding its mother tight, while the mother jumps from one branch of the tree to another.
In the above analogy, the path of Gyan Yog is comparable to the mother monkey and its baby. It is based on self-effort. Since the premise is that the soul itself is the Ultimate Supreme Entity, there is no concept of surrender to God or dependence upon His Grace. Hence, the aspirant strives on his or her own strength.
Bhakti Yog is comparable to the cat and its kitten. In Bhakti Yog, the aspirant learns to surrender to the Lord, and thus attracts His Grace. Through Grace, God assists and protects the devotee. Thus, the path of Bhakti Yog becomes easy compared to Gyan Yog.
In Gyan Yog, the danger of pride is enormous. The poor conditioned soul gets trapped in the pride of being God. In comparison, the path of Bhakti involves practicing humbleness before God, and hence the pitfall of pride becomes marginalized.
Q: Why should we distinguish between Gyan Yog and Bhakti Yog as two different paths? Such divisions in the name of religion are the cause of so much of strife in the world, and the fighting between religions. There is only one entity called Brahman in existence, so why don’t we stop making distinctions between different paths?
SM: We must definitely try to see the wonderful form of God behind everything sentient and non-sentient. That is what both Bhakti and Gyan teach us to do. The lack of this vision of unity is what leads to animosity and hatred, and in the senseless killings that have taken place in the religious wars in history. The perpetrators of such violence apparently have a world view in which they see people not subscribing to their beliefs as enemies, who can be killed without compunction. Unpleasant divides in this world are created when we fail to see the connection between God and His creation.
However, this unity does not mean that we must neutralize all the diversities that exist. There is unity in diversity, and also diversity in the unity. That diversity is the expression of the greatness of God Himself, who creates innumerable species of life, and innumerable varieties within each species.
Is it possible to live without seeing the diversity of creation? Imagine life without categories. Can we say that we hate categories, and so we do not distinguish between shirts and trousers? Can we wear them in place of each other, and when people laugh at our dress, tell them that we see this world as one, and so do not categorize kinds of clothes. Can a doctor tell the patient that he does not categorize, and so the patient should take any medicine from the cabinet?
Without accepting the diversity of life, it is not possible to live. If we express our distaste for categorization between Gyan and Bhakti, we have in effect created a distinction between categorized and non-categorized. If there is abhorrence for categories, then why see the difference between categorized and non-categorized? Why find the need to criticize categorization?
Similarly, there are various paths leading to the goal of life. All these paths are manifestations of the infinite variety created by God. We must definitely not create any ill-feeling or ill-will towards anyone. However, we must clearly understand the pros and cons of each and then make an intelligent choice of the path we wish to follow.
Gyan and Bhakti are both praiseworthy, but it does not imply that there is no distinction between them. We must clearly understand the difference and the relationship between them. Then we will be in a position to reach our ultimate destination of God-realization.
Q: If the soul is a part of God, then why did such a great Saint such as Jagadguru Shankaracharya say that the soul is God Himself? Did he not understand the scriptures?
SM: When the Nitya Siddha Mahapurushas, or Eternally liberated Saints descend upon this earth, they preach according to Desh, Kaal and Patra (time, place and circumstance). The teacher may be D.Litt. but if he is teaching Grade One students, he will explain simple mathematics: five minus three is equal to two. It does not mean that the teacher only knows that much; it means that the students can only understand so much.
Even before Shankaracharya, came Gautam Buddha. He was an Avatar of Lord Vishnu, and hence He is respected and worshipped by Hindus. But He did not accept the authority of the Vedas. This was because at that time people were misinterpreting the Vedas; they were doing animal sacrifices and justifying them by distorting the meaning of the Vedas. They were exceedingly inclined to rituals and neglecting the cleansing of the heart.
So the Buddha thought that if he tried to convince them on the basis of the Vedas, they would insist that their own interpretation was right. So he decided to move the people away from the Vedas. He also focused on getting people detached from the world.
When Shankaracharya came on this earth, a few hundred years after the Buddha, Buddhism had spread all over Bharatvarsh (India). In accordance with its philosophy, people believed in voidism, or the non-existence of the soul and God.
In that atheistic environment, it was not possible to preach the glories of devotion to Shree Ram and Shree Krishna. So Shankaracharya accomplished the task of bringing the people back to the Vedas. To do this, he emphasized the formless, attributeless, all-pervading Brahman. However, he was a great devotee of the personal form of God himself, and wrote hundreds of verses in praise of the various Gods.
The following conversation is from Shankaracharya’s Prashnavali.
One of his disciples asked, “What should that soul who earnestly desires salvation do?”
Shankaracharya replied, “He should break the bonds of material attachment and engage in devotion to God.”
Again, his disciple asked him, “What is that work which does not lead to repentance later.”
Shankaracharya immediately replied, “Only one who engages in devotion to Shree Krishna has no regrets later.”
In fact, Shankaracharya, the unrivalled propagator of Non-Dualism, advised his mother to practice Bhakti, and blessed her with a vision of Shree Krishna.
Swami Mukundananda is a world renowned spiritual teacher from India, and is the senior disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj and founder of JK Yog. He has received his degrees in engineering from world renowned institutes in India, IIT and IIM. He has inspired people all over the world on the path of spirituality, holistic health, yoga, meditation, service to society and God realization.
This year, Swamiji will be conducting weeklong programs in 30+ cities of USA from April onwards. For more information visit: http://www.jkyog.org/ or contact: secretary@jkyog.org
To attend Swamiji’s Yoga, Meditation and Spiritual Discourses in USA, see the schedule for your city:www.jkyog.org/2013
Swami Mukundananda
Thank You For Your Vote!
Sorry You have Already Voted!
