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in all philosophies and starts doubting the same. However, in the following years of his life he made a number of innovative attempts to reconcile both points of view.
MEANS OF SELF-REALIZATION: BHAKTI AND JNANA MĀRGA
śrīmad's writings in the year 1892 mainly deal with the following topics: (1) sadguru-satpuruşa-jñānī, (2) means of self-realization, such as devotion (bhakti mărga) and knowledge (jñāna mārga), (3) the qualities of the aspirant, or mumukṣu, (4) Śrimad's own spiritual stage and his paradoxical situation, and (5) śrīmad's description of the ultimate reality and the conflict between his dogmatic approach towards Jainism and his liberal approach towards Vedānta and Vaişņavism.
(1) Let us first consider Śrīmad's views on the concept of the sadguru-satpuruşa-jñānī. In a letter, perhaps written to Sobhāgyabhāi Lallubhāī, śrīmad advises, "Infinite scriptures are implicit in a satpuruşa's each and every word or sentence. ... One should search for him at any cost and after finding out one should fully surrender to him with one's body, mind and speech and by obeying him without doubt one can dispell all illusory desires. The passage to salvation is not outside. It exists in one's ārman only."
śrīmad identifies the term sadguru or satpuruşa with jñānī and associates both the bhakti mārga and the jñāna mārga with the sadguru in the following novel manner. In his letter to Manilal Sobhāgyabhāī, śrīmad states, "(1) All religions unanimously hold that the self has forgotten its own nature and consequently parted with true happiness or bliss. (2) To become oblivious of one's own nature is nothing but ignorance that can be dispelled through knowledge. (3) It is quite obvious that such
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