Swami Brahm Bodhi

Revered Guru ji, my respectful salutations 🙏🙏

Gurudev, what are Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Japa Yoga, and Sharanagati Yoga?
Should a follower of Bhagavad Dharma practise all these yogas, or choose only one among them? In other words, how should harmony be established among these yogas?
Kindly guide us. 🙏🙏

Answer

All Yogas: Paths to Liberation (Moksha)

All the yogas mentioned here are paths to the attainment of Moksha.
Moksha means complete liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Liberation from this cycle implies that a person becomes free from all kinds of suffering forever, because rebirth itself is the root of all suffering.

Verse (Bhagavad Gita 8.15)
mām upetya punar janma duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam |
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ ||

Meaning:
Those great souls who attain Me do not take birth again in this impermanent world full of suffering; they attain the supreme perfection.

Moksha is attained only when there is complete union with God—in other words, when God-realisation takes place.

Karma Yoga

Karma Yoga means engaging in the ordinary duties of life without renouncing the world, while offering every worldly action to God, remaining unattached to the fruits of action, and living in the world without becoming attached to it—this is the essence of Karma Yoga. When this is done, even worldly actions become means to God-realisation, that is, to Moksha.

Verse (Bhagavad Gita 3.19)
tasmād asaktaḥ satataṁ kāryaṁ karma samācara |
asakto hy ācaran karma param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ ||

Meaning:
Therefore, perform your obligatory duty continuously without attachment; for by performing action without attachment, a person attains the Supreme state.

Bhakti Yoga

Bhakti Yoga means loving God in such a way that God-realisation is ultimately attained. This yoga can be practised both by a renunciate and by one who remains a Karma Yogi.

In Bhakti Yoga, emotion and devotion occupy the central place. Those in whom feeling is predominant and whose love for God is intense find this path especially suitable.

Jnana Yoga

Jnana Yoga is the path in which the intellect is employed more than emotion. It is considered especially suitable for those endowed with sharp intellectual capacity. Generally, it requires a life of renunciation, continuous study of the scriptures, understanding their meanings, and deep contemplation on scriptural teachings. Through such practice, over a long period—sometimes three or four decades—direct (immediate) knowledge of God and the Self becomes possible.

Japa Yoga

In Japa Yoga, the name of the Lord, or a mantra connected with the divine name, is repeated over a long period of time. The deeper the feeling behind the repetition, the more powerful its effect. This path too ultimately leads to God-realisation.

Sharanagati Yoga (The Yoga of Surrender)

In Sharanagati Yoga, not only devotion, knowledge, or japa is present, but along with these there develops a firm conviction:

“I am under the shelter of God; therefore I am always protected.”

Such a practitioner has no need to worry about anything, because God Himself takes responsibility for the devotee’s welfare. Prahlada is the finest example of this.

Sharanagati Yoga is complete in itself. Yet, whichever yoga a person may be practising, if the spirit of surrender arises within, progress in that yoga becomes extraordinarily rapid.

One Path or Many Paths

If even one yoga is followed properly and sincerely, God-realisation and Moksha are certainly attained. It depends on the intensity of one’s spiritual practice whether liberation is attained in this very life or after many births.

The journey to God can be undertaken through any single path. It is much like reaching Delhi: one may go on foot, by train, or by aeroplane. The harmony of multiple paths gives the speed of an aeroplane to spiritual progress.

The ‘Jnani Bhakta’: A Special Indication of the Gita

For this reason, the Bhagavad Gita indicates that when the various yogas are balanced and harmonised, Moksha is attained more quickly. For example, the Lord declares the ‘Jnani Bhakta’—one who is both a knower and a devotee—to be especially dear to Him.

Verse (Bhagavad Gita 7.16)
caturvidhā bhajante māṁ janāḥ sukṛtino’rjuna |
ārto jijñāsur arthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha ||

Meaning:
O Arjuna! Four kinds of virtuous people worship Me—the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise.

Verse (Bhagavad Gita 7.17)
teṣāṁ jñānī nitya-yukta eka-bhaktir viśiṣyate |
priyo hi jñānino’tyartham ahaṁ sa ca mama priyaḥ ||

Meaning:
Among them, the wise one—who is ever united with Me and devoted with single-minded love—is the best; for I am exceedingly dear to the wise, and the wise is dear to Me.

Unwavering Devotion in the Path of Knowledge

Even on the path of knowledge, the spirit of unwavering (avyabhicharini) devotion strengthens the practice of knowledge. Therefore, in both Chapter 13 and Chapter 14—devoted to Jnana Yoga—the Lord clearly emphasises the indispensability of devotion.

Verses (Bhagavad Gita 13.10–12)
(quoted)

Essence of the meaning:
Among the means of knowledge are freedom from pride, sense-control, detachment, reflection on the suffering inherent in birth and death, and exclusive, unwavering devotion to Me.

Verse (Bhagavad Gita 14.26)
māṁ ca yo’vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate |
sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate ||

Meaning:
One who serves Me with unwavering devotion transcends the three qualities of nature and becomes fit to attain Brahman.

Paths of Renunciates and Household Practitioners

Among these paths, Jnana Yoga and Dhyana Yoga are considered especially suitable for renunciates. Combining them with other yogas is neither mandatory nor always possible. However, spiritual knowledge is beneficial for all paths, even if the complete discipline of Jnana Yoga is not required in the other yogas.

Similarly, Dhyana Yoga primarily concerns meditation on the formless Absolute. Meditation on the formless is not obligatory for Karma Yogis or Bhakti Yogis. For devotees, meditation on the personal (saguna) form of God is considered appropriate.

Conclusion

The path of action (Karma Yoga) can be harmoniously and successfully integrated with Bhakti, Japa, Sharanagati, selfless service, and the dissemination of the knowledge of the Gita. There is no fundamental difficulty in such integration.