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INTRODUCTION
TT must be remembered that Karma, Bhakti, Yoga
and Jnana do not mutually exclude each other.
Karma Yoga leads to Bhakti Yoga which in its turn leads to Raja Yoga Raja Yoga brings Jnana. Para Bhakti is Jnana only. Bhakti, it must be borne in mind, is not divorced from Jnana. On the contrary, Jnana intensifies Bhakti. Karma purifies the heart. Bhakti removes the tossing of the mind. Raja Yoga steadies the mind and destroys Sankalpas. Every Yoga is a fulfilment of the preceding one. Bhakti is the fulfilment of Karma, Yoga (i.e., Raja Yoga) of Bhakti and Karma, and Jnana of all the preceding three.
The practice of Karma Yoga prepares the aspirant for the reception of knowledge of the Self. It makes him a proper Adhikari (aspirant) for the study of Vedanta. Ignorant people jump at once to Jnana Yoga, without first having a preliminary training in Karma Yoga. That is the reason why they fail miserably to realize the Truth. The impurities lurk in the fourfold mind (Antahkarana). The mind is filled with likes and dislikes, jealousy, etc. They only talk of Brahman. They indulge in all sorts of useless controversies, vain debates and dry, endless discussions. Their philosophy is only on their lips. In other words, they are lip-Vedantins. What is really
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