Bhakti and Jnana the same in the End 24H

793. What is Jnana (Knowledge) in the highest sense?

Sllys the Jnani, "0 Lord, Thou alone dost act in all this
universe. I am but the smallest of tools in Thy hands.
Nothing 1s mme. Everything· is Thine. Myself, my
family, my riches, my virtues-all are Thine."
794. A devotee : How can one know that one has
attainecf Jnana, even while leading a family life ?
The Master : By t.!ars and thrill of the hair at the
natne of Hari. When, at the very mention of the sweet
'name' of the Lord. tears trickle down from a person· s
,eyes llnd his hairs stand on end. truely he has attained
Jnana. •
795. * Here is a Puranic story which reconciles Jnana
and Bhakti. Once Ramachandra, God incarnate, said to
his great devotee Hanuman, " My son, tell Me in what
relation yqu regard Me, and how you meditate upon Me.··
Hamnnan replied : " 0 Rama, at times I worship Thee
as Purna, the undivided one. Then I look upon myself as
an Amsa, a part, a fragment as it were, of that Divinity.
At other times I meditate upon Thee, 0 ltama, as my
Divine Master and think of myself only as Thy ser'if'.tnt.
Wher.-, however, I am blessed, 0 Rama, with 'f.attva Jnana,
or true Knowledge, I see, I realise that I am Thou and
Thou art I."
796. If the scum on the surface of a ta\ik is pushed
.aside a little, it spreads out again cm-\!ring the water ;
.but if it is well kept away with bamboo frames, it cannot
{:Ome back any more. So if Maya is forced back merely
-0nce in a way, �t tomes again to trouble us ; bflt "hejl the,
heart is �edged•in'\ViV1 Bhakti lnd Jnana, it is permanently
 250 Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna,

kept away. Indeed, it is only thus that God becomes

manifest to human vision.
,,
HOW BHAKTI LEA!)S TO JNANA

797. Knowledge of Non-duality is the highest: but

God should be worshipped first as a master is worshipped
by his servant, as the adored by foe adorer. This is the
easiest path: it soon leads to the highest knowledge
of unity.
798. Though the non-dualistic Knowledge j.., the
highest, you should proceed in yo11r devotion first with the
idea of the worshipper and the worshipped (i.e., with the
feeling, " God is the object of worship and I am his wor­
shipper"), then you will easily attain Knowledge.
799,:,_ Brahman Itself sheds tears of grief, b�ing �aught
in the trap of the five elements. You may close yout eyes
and convince yourself saying again and again, " There is
no thorn, there is no thorn."' But the moment you touch
it, you feel t�e prick, and you draw your hand away in pain.
Litiewi)ie, however much you may reason within yourself
that you arf beyond birth and death, virtue and vil!e, joy
and sorrow, hunger and thirst-that you are the immutable
Atman, the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute-never­
theless, the' moment the body is subjected to ailments, or­
the mind encoun•ters the temptations of the world and is
overwhelmed by the transient r,leasures of wealth and sex,•
and in consequence you happen to commit any sin, you
•hecoue• stlbje'ct to delusion, pain an'1 ° 'miserY.-become
deprived of discriminatio';i and gqod ' ctmduct'.' and get
 How Hhakti Leads to .Tiw1w 251

overwhelmed by utter perplexity. Know therefore that

none can have Self-realisation and liberation from all
miseries unless God Himself shows mercy to him. and
Maya unbars the door. Have you not heard it stated
in the Chandi, " This s;me Goddess, the bestower of
boons, when propitiated, removes the bondage of human
beings.'" ·� Nothing can be achieved unless the Divine
Mother removes the ob:.tacles from the path. The aspirant
can ,never realise God unless Maya takes pity on him, and
moves aside from his path. The moment She besto;vs Her
mercy qn the aspirant, he becomes blessed with the vision
of God and escapes from all miseries. Otherwise, however
much you may go on with your discrimination and other
spiritual practices. they will be of little use. They say
each grain of Ajowan (Ptychotis) helps one to digest a
hundred, gra�ns of rice. But when the digestive organ goes
out of a-der, even a hundred grains of Ajowan cannot make
one assimilate a single grain of rice.
800. * The Jnana Yogi longs to realise Brahman-God
the Impersonal, the Absolute and the Uncfmditioned.
But, as a generai rule, such a soul would do better, in thiJ
present .age, to love, pray, and surrender h:mself rntirely to
God. The Lord saves His devotee and will vouchsafe to
him even Brahma-jnana if the devotee hungers and thirsts
.after it. Thus the Jnana Yogi will attain Jnana !is well as
Bhakti, It will be given to him to realise Elrahman. The
Lqrd willing, he will also, rr.a,lise the Personal God of the
Bhakta. The Bhakta, on the other hand, will generally
be content to see ai'\dtrealise the Personal God: the S.tgupa
Brahman of• the IJ pa_ni�hads. �t the Lord makes him