all paths lead to god

Commenting on this verse, our spiritual master writes: "Nowhere in authentic scriptures is it said that whatever you do and whatever you worship you will ultimately reach the same goal. Such foolish theories are offered by self-made masters who have no connection with the bona fide system of disciplic succession. The bona fide spiritual master cannot say that everyone's own mode of worship-be it worship of the demigods or of the Supreme-leads to the same goal. For a common man it is very easy to understand that a person starting by train from Bombay can reach the destination for which he has purchased his ticket, and nowhere else. A person who has purchased a ticket for Calcutta can reach Calcutta. But contemporary so-called masters say that whatever spiritual ticket you may purchase will take you to the supreme goal. Such mundane and compromising offers attract many foolish creatures to become puffed up with their manufactured methods of spiritual realization, but the Vedic instruction does not uphold them. Unless one has received knowledge from the bona fide spiritual master, one cannot have the real thing as it is." It is not unlikely that your mistaken ideas about Bhagavad-gita have come from the books you have read. For a translation of Bhagavad-gita by a bona fide spiritual master, I strongly recommend Bhagavad-gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. (More...)

Material speculators differ in conclusions, and at the end they make a useless compromise by saying,

There is an intimate relationship between the swan and the lotus stem. So the comparison is very appropriate: without becoming a swan or paramahamsa, one cannot enter into the network of the lotus feet of the Lord. The mental speculators, as it is stated in the Brahma-samhita, even by dint of learned scholarship, cannot even dream of the Absolute Truth by speculating over it for eternity. The Lord reserves the right of not being exposed to such mental speculators. And because they cannot enter into the network stem of the lotus feet of the Lord, all mental speculators differ in conclusions, and at the end they make a useless compromise by saying "as many conclusions, as many ways," according to one's own inclination (yatha-rucam). But the Lord is not like a shopkeeper trying to please all sorts of customers in the mental speculator exchange. The Lord is what He is, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, and He demands absolute surrender unto Him only. The pure devotee, however, by following the ways of previous acaryas or authorities, can see the Supreme Lord through the transparent medium of a bona fide spiritual master (anupasyanti). The pure devotee never tries to see the Lord by mental speculation, but by following the footsteps of the acaryas (mahajano yena gatah sa pantha). Therefore there is no difference of conclusions amongst the Vaisnava acaryas regarding the Lord and the devotees. Lord Caitanya asserts that the living entity (jiva) is eternally the servitor of the Lord and that he is simultaneously one and different from the Lord. This tattva of Lord Caitanya is shared by all the four sampradayas of the Vaisnava school (all accepting eternal servitude of the Lord even after salvation), and there is no authorized Vaisnava acarya who may think of the Lord and himself as one. (More...)

This humbleness of the pure devotee who is one hundred percent engaged in His service puts the devotee of the Lord in a trance to realize everything, because to the sincere devotee of the Lord, the Lord reveals Himself, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita (Bg. 10.10). The Lord, being the Lord of intelligence in everyone (even in the nondevotee), favors His devotee with proper intelligence so that automatically the pure devotee is enlightened with the factual truth about the Lord and His different energies. The Lord is revealed not by one's speculative power or by one's verbal jugglery over the Absolute Truth. Rather, He reveals Himself to a devotee when He is fully satisfied by his service attitude. Sukadeva Gosvami is not a mental speculator or compromiser of the theory of "as many ways, as many conclusions," but He prays to the Lord only, invoking His transcendental pleasure. That is the way of knowing the Lord. (More...)

There is a class of common men who claim that anyone and everyone can worship the Supreme Lord according to his own invented mode of worship and still attain the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In this material world people are engaged in different activities simply to achieve a little success in sense gratification. The karmis are engaged in performing very difficult activities, and thus they open gigantic factories, build huge cities, make big scientific discoveries, etc. In other words, they are engaged in performing very costly sacrifices in order to be promoted to the higher planetary systems. Similarly, yogis are engaged in achieving a similar goal by accepting the tedious practices of mystic yoga. Jnanis are engaged in philosophical speculation in order to gain release from the clutches of material nature. In these ways everyone is engaged in performing very difficult tasks simply for the gratification of the senses. All of these are considered to be engaged in sense gratificatory activities (or visaya) because they all demand some facility for material existence. Actually the results of such activities are temporary, as Krsna Himself proclaims in Bhagavad-gita: antavat tu phalam tesam: "The fruits [of those who worship the demigods] are limited and temporary." (Bg. 7.23) Thus the fruits of the activities of the yogis, karmis and jnanis are ephemeral. Moreover, Krsna says, tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam: "They are simply meant for men of small intelligence." (Bg. 7.23) The word visaya denotes sense gratification. The karmis flatly state that they want sense gratification. The yogis also want sense gratification, but they want it to a higher degree. It is their desire to show some miraculous results through the practice of yoga. Thus they strive very hard to achieve success in becoming smaller than the smallest or greater than the greatest, or in creating a planet like the earth, or, as scientists, by inventing so many wonderful machines. Similarly, the jnanis are also engaged in sense gratification, for they are simply interested in becoming one with the Supreme. Thus the aim of all these activities is sense gratification to a higher or a lower degree. The bhaktas, however, are not interested in sense gratificatory practices; they are simply satisfied to get an opportunity to serve the Lord. Although they are satisfied in any condition, there is nothing they cannot obtain because they are purely engaged in the service of the Lord. (More...)

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharajhas remarked that there is a class of common men who say as follows: Anyone and everyone can worship the Supreme Lord according to his particular invention of some mode of worship, and he will still achieve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One may try to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, either by fruitive activities or by speculative knowledge or by meditation or by austerity-any one of the methods accepted will help one to reach the perfectional stage. They generally give the example that if anyone wants to reach a certain destination he can accept one of many different paths, and still reach the same place. Similarly, they say the Supreme Absolute Truth may be worshipped either as the Goddess Kali, or the Goddess Durga, or Lord Shiva, or Ganesha, or Rama, or Hari, or Brahma-any way that the Absolute Truth is addressed, it is all one and the same. They give an example in this connection that a man might have different names, but if he is called by any of those names he will answer. (More...)