Gyana, Karma and Bhakti

Gyana, Karma and Bhakti generally are considered the spiritual paths relating, respectively, to knowledge, work and devotion. There is a tendency to think of these paths as being independent of one another. Some people even divide the Gita (18 chapters) into three sets (each set having six consecutive chapters) and label each set dealing separately with Gyana, Karma and Bhakti. But this division of Gita makes no sense and is quite inconsistent with the content (nature of verses) of various chapters.

This misunderstanding is further evident as people think that doing work with one’s hands (usually for a swami, guru or a temple) is Karma; reading (in Sanskrit etc.), talking or thinking about complex ideas is Gyana; and chanting, praying, or worshipping is Bhakti.

Note that Gyana, Karma and Bhakti essentially represent different approaches according to different philosophies. Consider the two paths Gyana and Karma, which relate, respectively, to Samkhya and Yoga (the Gita: Ch. 3 – V.3). They are intertwined and lead to the same result (the Gita: Ch. 5 – V. 4). Furthermore, as indicated in Ch. 18 (the Gita), Tyaga or the path of renunciation refers to Karma (Yoga), and Sanyasa or the path of surrender is Gyana (Samkhya).

Renunciation in the above refers to giving up (or not worrying about) the fruits of one’s actions (karma), and Surrender amounts to existing (even working) in such a way that the person is least concerned about his effort (action or karma) even though he still operates normally and fully. Incidentally, the ego is depleted in both these cases (renunciation and surrender).

Bhakti is closely tied to gyana and karma and its success depends greatly on having the right knowledge and performing the proper actions. In addition, Bhakti can be considered as the end product of Gyana or Karma or both, and reflects basically the Vedantic (or the Mimamska) approach for realizing and seeking God.

Note that the main aim of Samkhya and Yoga is to seek separation between soul and body for salvation -- by realizing that soul is separate from body in Samkhya, and by moving the citta (mind, intellect, ego) away (through medication etc.) from body in Yoga. In the Vedanta, the approach is to realize (serve and unite with) God with the understanding that God has supremacy over body and soul. In reality, the purpose of all these paths (Gyana, Karma and Bhakti), in addition to salvation and God realization etc., is to unfetter the soul from the body thus reducing pain and suffering.

References

(1) “Inter-relatedness of Brahmanical (Vedic) philosophies”, http://www.geocities.com/lamberdar/brahmanical_philosophies.html

------------------------------------

By: Dr. Subhash C. Sharma
Email:
[email protected]
Date: Oct. 11, 2006

link to: Related topics by the author

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1