Jnana Vahini - Post 16

Swami writes, 

Brahman or Jnana is the drug for the un-realization of the falsely realized, the removal of the fog of misunderstanding or Ajnana. It will burn off the dust that hides the Truth.

Who among men are in urgent need of medical treatment? Those who are badly ill, is it not? 

So too, those who are groping in Ajnana are first entitled to the teaching and the training leading to the acquisition of Jnana. 

Everyone, whatever the status, class or sex, can win that Jnana. If it is stated that women are not entitled to it, why is it mentioned that Siva taught Vedanta to Parvathi? Or how did Kapilacharya, a great Yogi, teach the Sankhya system to his mother, Devahoothi? Or how did Yajnavalkya the great Rishi impart the essential principles of Vedantic philosophy to his wife, Maithreyi, as mentioned in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad? The Upanishad cannot be false. The Scriptures wherein these facts are mentioned speak only Truth.

So, the chief qualification for the path leading to Jnana is only Sadhana, the Tapas one is enhgaged in, not the irrelevant consideration of caste, creed or sex. Leaving all other matters aside, one should concentrate on that Sadhana and that Tapas.

"Jnana is the panacea for all ills, troubles and travails". This is how the Vedas describe it. 

To acquire this Jnana, there are many paths, and the chiefest of them is the path of Bhakthi, the Path adopted by Vasishta, Narada, Vyasa, Gouranga and other great persons. 

Krishna, who is the Personification of Prema, and who is saturated with the quality of Mercy, declared in the Gita: "I am known by means of Bhakthi", "Bhakthyaa Maam Abhijaanaathi".

Why was this declaration made? Because in the path of Bhakti there are no hurdles. Young and old, high and low, man and woman, all are entitled to tread it. 

What the oil is to the flame in the lamp, Bhakthi is to the Flame of Jnana. The Heavenly Tree of the Joy of Jnana thrives on the refreshing waters of Bhakthi. Understand this well.

(Author’s note - Volumes and volumes have been spoken and written by the author on the subject - How Bhakti fructifies into Jnana, how Jnana is the final attainment of Bhakti.

Only after one’s focus, one’s undivided attention on his chosen God is achieved through Bhakti, it becomes easy for that bhakta to then focus on SELF / BRAHMAN, which is beyond any name and form.

Why it is said that Bhakti culminates in Jnana??

After all what is liberation or Self-realization?? It is not a new heavenly attainment. In Vedanta, Self-realization is Self-discovery, the realization that one is always and has always been Gold, the shining atman, once the dirt covering the Gold, the ego, is removed.

And, what is the ultimate attainment in Devotion? The Bhakta loses his self-identity and merges with Lord, in LOVE. 

Does this merger not take the Sadhaka / the Bhakta, directly towards SELF-REALIZATION in shortest time?

Any Jnani who has, in this contemporary world, attained Self-Realization, must be a Bhakta first, either in the same birth in which he attained jnana or in some other birth- This is not given in any treatise, but the author can vouch for this from his own subjective experience, 100%.

Swami kept him in the path of devotion for 35 years, before taking him to the path of Jnana and thereafter, the journey was shortened to 6 years and the pinnacle, the peak journey was in fact only 6 months!!!)

Love.