Bhakti yoga

[Stephanie Stean]

Hello:

The way I had interpreted the comments of Bhakti being the same as jnana,
was not that they "were the same/ synonymous" but that during moksha, there
exist no distinctions between any of the paths.  They all become one/
intersect.  I read this recently in an introduction to Sankaracharya's Atma
Bodha, by Vidyaratna P.N. Menon.
Is this what was meant?

I have another question for the group.  The idea of jnana and bhakti being
ONE during moksha; Can anyone give me some references of where this idea is
covered more thoroughly?

Thanks
Stephanie



On 6/12/02 7:26 AM, "K Kathirasan NCS" <kkathir at NCS.COM.SG> wrote:

> Namaste Vidyasankarji
>
> I agree with you on certain points. To start with there is no bhakti yoga,
> as in a another specific sadhana in Advaita Vedanta. In any sadhana where
> there is a notion of doership is indeed Karma Yoga. That is why even Raja
> Yoga (or Ashtanga/Hatha Yoga) can also be seen as Karma Yoga if the
> attitude of Ishwara arpana buddhi and prasada buddhi are there in the
> sadhaka. But in Jnana Yoga is different from any of these. In Jnana Yoga
> there is no doership or karma involved. Therefore, I don't know how Bhakti
> Yoga can be synonymous with Jnana Yoga. Shankara is very clear in his
> teachings that jnana alone confers mukti and nothing else. The thrust of
> this point can be seen in the initial verses of Vivekachudamani and Atma
> Bodha.
>
> I am in no way attempting to shoot down the sadhana involved in Bhakti
> Yoga. It is highly meritorious to be involved in such actions BUT in NO
> way are they the direct cause of moksha. That is what I am trying to say.
> If someone says that Bhakti Yoga is the same as Jnana Yoga, I think we are
> doing a great disservice to the Advaita Vedanta tradition. Even in the
> invocatory verses of the Bhagavad Gita, only Yoga shastra and Brahma vidya
> are mentioned. And in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna mentions only two
> lifestyles: the life of Karma Yoga & the life of Sannyasa Yoga (or Jnana
> Yoga), both having the vision of Moksha in mind but different results(BG 3:3).