[Mokśakárańasamagryáḿ] bhaktireva gariiyasii [“Of all the ways to attain salvation, bhakti is the greatest”]. What is mokśa? Mokśa is suspension of individual physical feeling in the crude mind; suspension of the crude mind, merger of the crude mind, in the subtle mind; merger of the subtle mind in the pure “I” feeling; and suspension of the “I” feeling in the átman. When the “I” feeling is suspended within the scope of, within the jurisdiction of, the pure cognition,⁽¹⁾ that stance is called salvation, or mokśa. Mokśakárańasamagryáḿ bhaktireva gariiyasii. For the attainment of mokśa, one should follow certain processes. There are certain practices. “Amongst those processes or practices,” the sádhakas say, “the best one is bhakti [devotion]; that is, the suspension of the cruder self into the subtler self is done best by bhakti.” And bhakti is the best process. In shruti [scripture] it has been said:

Yacched váuṋmanasi prajiṋastad yacchejjiṋána átmani;
Jiṋánamátmani mahati niyacchet tadyacchecchánta átmani.

[Wise persons first merge their indriyas, sense organs, into their citta, then their citta into aham, then aham into mahat, then mahat into jiivátmá, and finally their jiivátmá into Supreme Consciousness.]

“The zealous and intelligent spiritual aspirant is to suspend his sensory feelings into the crude mind; those of the crude mind are to be guided, are to be diverted, unto the subtle mind, the working mind, the individual ego; those of the individual ego are to be guided, are to be diverted, towards the pure ‘I’ feeling; and the pure ‘I’ feeling should become one with the pure cognition.” This process of merger may be effected with the help of jiṋána, karma and bhakti.⁽²⁾

In the first phase the sádhaka is to know what to do, how to do, why to do. This getting the reply of what to do, how to do, why to do, is the sádhaná of jiṋána. It is jiṋána. And after acquiring the elementary knowledge – you know, in jiṋána there are two classes, two varieties. One is jiṋána, another is vijiṋána. Jiṋánam and vijiṋánam. Knowledge regarding mundane entities – engineering science, medical science, art, architecture, literature – these are all mundane knowledge, worldly knowledge. Such knowledge is called jiṋánam. And knowledge regarding spiritual science is called vijiṋánam.

Now, after acquiring knowledge, one is to do accordingly. One is to do something practical. That doing something practical is karma sádhaná. So after jiṋánam, after knowing what to do, how to do, the sádhaka, the spiritual aspirant, is to do accordingly. This doing is karma sádhaná. And the resultant of the jiṋána sádhaná and the karma sádhaná is bhakti. So bhakti is not a sádhaná, bhakti is not a practice. It is the resultant of two practices – jiṋána and karma.

So in the basic stage, in the primordial stage, jiṋánam has a certain value for a sádhaka, for a spiritual aspirant. In the next stage karma has a certain value. But in the final stage, bhakti⁽³⁾ is the guiding factor.

Just now I said that bhakti is the resultant of jiṋánam and karma. But it may so happen that a little boy, a boy of five or six, has developed bhakti. Developed bhakti: but he did not acquire any jiṋánam and did not do any karma. How is it possible? It is possible because bhakti is the resultant of jiṋána sádhaná and karma sádhaná. That child did jiṋána sádhaná and karma sádhaná in his past life. That’s why in this life, in the present life, he developed bhakti from very childhood.

Now, Mokśakárańasamagryáḿ bhaktireva gariiyasii. These three factors are the three requisite factors for the attainment of mokśa – jiṋánam, karma and bhakti. But bhaktireva gariiyasii – “bhakti is the best,” because it is the final, it is the subtlest factor. That’s why the sádhaka says: Mokśakárańasamagryáḿ bhaktireva gariiyasii. You sádhakas, you must remember this factor, you must remember this point. Here, all your karma sádhaná and all your jiṋána sádhaná are finally to become pinnacled factors, pinnacled into bhakti sádhaná. Without bhakti, one cannot come in contact with the Lord. And you must remember that bhakti is not a sádhaná, it is not a practice; it is the resultant of two practices, jiṋánam and karma. Be bhaktimána and enjoy His bliss.

Footnotes

(1) A short phrase here, apparently an alternative for “that stance”, was inaudible on the tape. –Eds.

(2) Jiṋána, karma and bhakti are forms of spiritual practice which emphasize, respectively, discrimination, selfless action, and devotion. –Eds.

(3) A word or two here were inaudible on the tape. –Eds.