The Easiest Path to Reach God - MUST WATCH by Swami Mukundanand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg Full Text 1 That bhakti is above and beyond karma, gyan and ashtang yog. The vedas talk about a part of karma, another of gyaan, another of bhakti another of ashtang yog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=0 2 Sage Narada has written one of the most important texts in regard to the path of bhakti-yoga, he says this bhakti that I am describing is above and beyond the other means which is karma, gyan and ashtang - now you may say that you know he is just liking his own path but really there is a science behind it which we will try to understand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=26 3 what is this karma karma does not refer to working in the office or cooking at home, the word karma in the vedas has come for the ritualistic practices and ceremonies, so the rituals described in the vedas are extremely elaborate and if you wish to do them you must fulfill the rules and regulations and there are six such conditions to the karmas Verse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=71 4 the scriptures say “desh”, “kal“, “padarth“, “karta“, “mantra“, “karm“ - when all these are fulfilled you will get the fruit of karma - that means the place where you are doing it must be pure, the time must be appropriate, the material used must be pure, the person who is doing the yagya must be pure, the person who has arranged must have the pure intention, and the mantras used must be perfect, like for example you have heard Yajurvedi Brahmins reciting mantras Verse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=129 5 Now while saying these mantras they indicate with their hands and they lift and lower the scales, what is it that they are doing ? is it just an interest of theirs ? No, to each syllable of each mantra of the Yagya ceremony a scale has been attached, that needs to be enunciated and indicated with the hands but the condition is there must be not a difference of even one scale or you will not get the fruit - just like if a huge air bus, one wire has come off, the plane does not fly, you may say such a huge machine has been grounded because of one wire, that is how it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=211 6 so in the ritualistic section the vedas are very strict why because they want to dissuade us from that side. The fruit of these rituals is materialistic, verse, perform the rituals and achieve material benefit, so the vedas say, look, if you are insistent, go ahead but we will make it difficult for you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=279 7 that is why even King Dashrath ji maharaj (father of Lord Rama) during the Ramayana, when he wished to do a Putrakamesthi Yagya, there was only one brahmana on the whole planet earth who was able to execute it properly, Vashisht ji did not do it, he said I am not competent, verse,Sringi Rishi performed it, verse, so these rituals or karma kand are extremely stringent and if you do them properly what is the fruit not god realization but materialistic benefit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=315 8 in other words you dig a mountain and find the mole hill, that is why Lord Krishna who is the source of all the vedas in the Bhagavad-Gita, He is dissuading us from going towards the rituals, He says, don't get attracted by the flowery language of the vedas that promise you material rewards, understand that they are temporary and they will all be snatched away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=377 9 maximum you will get from karma kand is swarg, swarga kamoyajet, but even the attainment of the celestial abodes will be temporary, verse, “swarga swalpa anta dukh dai”, so this is the path of karma kand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=428 10 yet four-fifths of the vedic mantras are related to karma kand - 80,000 out of one lakh veda mantras are related to the karma section, you will say when that is not the goal then why so elaborate descriptions ? because the vedas are realistic, they know that majority of humankind is not interested in God realization, most people want materialistic benefits so rather than letting them become frivolous, they say all right, at least remain under the shelter of the vedas, today you don't want god but you have faith in the vedas, tomorrow you may rise further and say what was the use of all this let me choose a higher goal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=455 11 now come to the second part, the path of gyan yoga, the goal out here is by intellectual analysis to understand that I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the intellect, and "Swarupevasthanam", to become situated in the self, not in theory, we all know in theory that I am the soul, who doesn't know that, but in realization, which means all these designations we have I am a Gujarati, Bengali, Punjabi, indian, american - all the designations of the body, to cut them all away, I am the pure soul, by realization, so in the path of gyan the endeavor is to stop the thinking process, and finally allow the mind to reach the state of nirvikalp samadhi, ,i.e., no thinking, like a stone does not think the same manner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=534 12 but what many people don't realize is that merely by self-knowledge liberation will not happen, liberation requires knowledge of God, the Shvetashvatara Upanishad of the Yajurveda says verse only by knowledge of God will you be able to cross over the ocean of life and death, there is no other means so the path of gyan needs bhakti for its completion, when the gyani engages in bhakti he draws the grace of God and through the grace of God, he is able to know God and then reach the ultimate goal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=622 13 that is why in the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna says the final salvation will not happen by your effort, it will be My prasad or my grace, so gyan needs bhakti for its completion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=700 14 the third is ashtang, in this ashtang yoga maharshi patanjali has built bhakti inside because he says "Ishwara pranidhanat samadhi siddhih" ,i.e., you will only reach samadhi when you surrender to God, in other words every path has the prerequisite of bhakti and if you remove bhakti what happens ? Verse where love for God is not included that is not yoga, it is kuyog and it is not gyan, it is agyan , ignorance. So the first point is bhakti is necessary in every path but here Devarshi Narada states that bhakti or devotion is above and beyond all the others (,i.e., karm, gyan & Ashtang yog) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYhdRfaWIg&t=732 Standby link (in case youtube link does not work) The Easiest Path to Reach God - MUST WATCH Swami Mukundananda.mp4