![Ravi Gupta Ravi Gupta](http://www.backtogodhead.in/wp-content/uploads/1996/11/Back-To-Godhead-Ravi-Gupta.jpg)
Ravi Gupta
AN INDIAN GUEST at our Sunday Feast once asked, "Why do you talk only of Krsna-bhakti [devotion to Krsna]? Our tradition is so rich jnana-yoga, dhyana-yoga, karma-yoga, hatha-yoga, raja-yoga, buddhi- yoga, kundalini-yoga. Why do you limit Hinduism to bhakti-yoga? Unlike others, who say there is only one way, the beauty of our tradition is that we can choose any deity and any path, since they all lead to the same goal."
Many Hindus share our guest's belief, often basing their belief on verse 4.11 of the Bhagavad-gita, which they loosely translate as "All paths lead to the same goal." After all, since God is all-pervading, they reason, where else can any path go?
This, however, is a mistranslation of the verse. In fact, Krsna makes it quite clear in the Bhagavad-gita that our choice of which path to tread does make a difference.
The verse goes like this:
ye yatha mam prapadyante
tams tathaiva bhajamy aham
mama vartmanuvartante
manusyah partha sarvasah
Srila Prabhupada's translation reads, "As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Prtha." (Bg. 4.11) Lord Krsna uses the possessive pronoun mama, "mine" and the singular noun vartma,"path." In other words, there is but one path Krsna's.
That we are all on Krsna's path doesn't mean that whatever we do leads us to Krsna. Imagine the spiritual path to be a great highway. Some of us are progressing slowly, some faster. As long as we move in the right direction, we make spiritual advancement. But if, desiring to be independent of the Lord, we turn our heads and go the other direction, we head into further ignorance.
And whom we worship while on the path also matters. Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita (9.25) that those who worship ghosts go to the ghosts, those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors, and those who worship demigods go to the demigods. If all worship is the same, why the different destinations? These destinations are like exits on the spiritual highway. They simply divert us from the final goal.
But what about the different spiritual paths described in the Bhagavad-gita, such as jnana-yoga, dhyana-yoga, karma-yoga, and so on? Don't all of them lead to the same goal?
Different bona fide methods for spiritual realization are like different lanes on the spiritual highway. All of them are heading toward the final goal, yet all but one of the lanes are fairly slow, and they can bring us only part way to success. Nearing the final destination, they all merge into another lane, which has been coming all along, namely bhakti-yoga, or devotional service to Sri Krsna.
Krsna Himself says in Bhagavad-gita that He is the ultimate goal of all spiritual processes. For those performing dhyana-yoga He says, "One should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life." For those performing karma-yoga He says, "Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform do that, O son of Kunti, as an offering to Me." For those performing jnana-yoga He says, "After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes." And for those who want to perform Vedic sacrifices, Krsna proclaims that He is the goal and beneficiary of all sacrifices.
Although Krsna says clearly that He is the goal of all spiritual processes, He also says that only through bhakti-yoga can He be attained. "One can understand Me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of Me by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God." (Bg. 18.54) And Krsna says at the end of the sixth chapter that of all yogis with their different methods for spiritual realization the bhakta is the most intimately united with Him.
Therefore, because Krsna says He is the goal of all spiritual paths but one can attain Him only through devotional service, all spiritual paths (at least those that are genuine) must lead to pure devotional service, which in turn leads to Krsna, the ultimate spiritual destination. The benefits obtained by other forms of yoga should impel one to serve the Lord.
Ravi Gupta, age fourteen, lives at the Hare Krsna center in Boise, Idaho. The center is run by his parents. Ravi, who was schooled at home, is a second-year student at Boise State University.