Greatness of using both Gnana yoga & Bhakti Yoga in devotion!
This is a very important aspect to be learnt by everyone who likes to follow devotional way of life properly.
Gnana yoga is related to wisdom; Bhakti yoga is related to emotion.
Let us now learn the greatness of using both Gnana yoga & Bhakti Yoga in devotion!
HH. Bhanu Swami Maharaj says that Gnana yoga and bhakti yoga, if exist together, will be good.
Both our Wisdom (Gnana) & Emotion (bhakti) should be simultaneously used in devotion to be a honest devotee.
Why?
If emotion is followed without wisdom, we may be cheated or misguided.
If wisdom is followed without emotion, one can be a dry speaker of god’s message, but he can’t develop devotion.
Wisdom means Knowledge and deciding what to do and what not to do in life, as instructed by our brain. It is not wrong if we call the wisdom as intelligence also.
(PURITTY or LOVE – WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR DEVOTIONAL GROWTH? READ HERE!)
Emotion means approaching someone or something with love or hatred or with less importance as directed by one’s heart. not the brain.
Honesty means being truthful in both speech and actions in all situations. A devotee should be honest in his thoughts and actions!
A person with wisdom (Gnana) should analyse whether he is right or wrong before speaking or acting.
One can’t be honest to all because their expectations will be different.
Let s first take some examples from material life:
Take a family man whose wife comes and complains to him about his mother. He can’t support the both. If he supports his wife, his mother will become angry. If he supports his mother, his wife will become angry. This is the situation of husbands in most of the families.
(Why In India many gods are worshiped contrary to other countries? READ HERE!)
If that husband applies only his wisdom to avoid supporting anyone and advice his wife politely, what will happen?
His wife will accuse him like this: “Only because you are not taking any steps, your mother is getting strength to disturb me day by day. You are useless”
Did wisdom alone help him to be honest to both his mother and wife?
No.
Instead, if he shows emotional romantic approach and tell the wife to just leave this matter, she will obey. Romance, ie, emotion did the magic.
The above example is an incident in which the wisdom (Gnana) alone does not help and we need to mix our emotion (Love) also with wisdom (Gnana).
(Though they have advanced knowledge of God, why many Indians violate the disciplinary rules in public places? READ HERE!)
You can see many well educated people use their wisdom to cleverly implement the crimes.
In the older days, the theft were done by uneducated people only. Now, even technologically advanced guys are using their knowledge to brilliantly cheat through online.
They use their knowledge and wisdom to plan new ways to commit crimes.
Most of the crimes through social media, crimes through mails, crimes through smartphones, crimes through bank accounts, etc., are done by educated persons only.
Why such misuse of wisdom?
Because, most of the people are selfish and they care for their own welfare only. They do not bother about the pains and welfare of others.
That is why, they use their wisdom to cheat others, or atleast to ensure their own welfare without bothering if others are affected.
(A devotee should be wise (or) Bhakti Yogi should be a Gnani . Is it true? READ HERE!)
If God gives more knowledge to you, that knowledge should be used to help or reform others. To help, you need emotion.
But, what happens now?
Many people misuse the knowledge given by Krishna to involve in white collar crimes and to achieve their selfish motives.
Many acharyas and Vaishnavas use the knowledge given by god back to serving the God and His devotees.
Another section of people use their wisdom in their service to the society.
But, all the people are not honest like that. They apply emotions, ie, bhakti with their wisdom, ie, Gnana.
The criminals apply only their wisdom, not their emotions. Had they applied their emotions along with their wisdom, they would have feared to cheat others.
Wisdom and emotion coexist in some cases. The dry wisdom without emotion is misused to deceive or exploit others in many other cases.
(BALANCED DEVOTEE & BRAINWASHED DEVOTEE – DIFFERENCES! READ HERE!)
How to use both our Wisdom and Emotion in devotion to be a perfect devotee?
Or, How to use both Gnana & Bhakti Yogas in devotion to be a perfect devotee?
If the Wisdom in devotion (gnana) is to be used to help others, a devotee should apply his emotion like this: “Oh, this is the service to our Lord. We should use our wisdom to serve the Lord and to satisfy Him. This emotion (bhakti) coated wisdom (gnana) will ensure honesty in devotion.”
At the same time if the Wisdom in devotion is used to cheat others without mixing bhakti, it is not devotion at all.
So, Wisdom without bhakti can be used for negative purposes.
Criminals use only wisdom to cheat others in devotion. Good people use emotion coated wisdom to help others in devotion. Simple.
Because good people apply emotion, ie, bhakti with their wisdom. So, they use their wisdom to help others.
That is why, we can see the bogus spiritual personalities attract the crowd using the technology and clever speech.
At the same time, so many devotees use the same technology and their wisdom to help other devotees because they apply their bhakti (emotion) also.
(WHAT IS THE REASON FOR THE RISE OF CHEATING IN THE NAME OF GOD?– A RESEARCH! READ HERE!)
What about emotional devotion without applying wisdom?
It also involves risks.
If the emotions without wisdom are used to love Krishna and respect the devotees, it will elevate the devotees.
If the same emotion without wisdom is used to trust everyone who speaks of god, the motive of the person can’t be found out, the devotees have the risk of getting cheated.
So, we should use both our Wisdom & Emotion, ie, Gnana yoga & Bhakti yoga in devotion to be a perfect devotee.
We have to adopt the balanced approach.
Use the emotion (Bhakti) to love Krishna; Use the wisdom (Gnana) to know & teach about Krishna and to find out the right persons from whom you should learn and surrender.
Thus, if the Wisdom and Emotion in devotion is used together wisely, it ensures honest devotion.
In other words, if both Gnana yoga & Bhakti Yoga are used in devotion together, it ensures honest devotion.
Hope you have understood the greatness of using both Gnana yoga & Bhakti Yoga in devotion!
(How to be happy in spite of serious problems? READ HERE!)