Page 88 - Hinduism

CHAPTER IX
SADHANAS
The puruṣārthas or chief ends of life outlined in the next chapter have a religious value. Dharma, artha and kāma are not ends in themselves; they lead to the supreme end called mokṣa puruṣārtha. Mokṣa is freedom from avidyā and karma which bind the ātman to the world of saṁsāra. The ātman really belongs to God but somehow he has identified himself with the body made of twenty-four tattvas of prakṛti from time immemorial. Owing to this materialistic view he is subject to the changes of prakṛti and therefore to the cycle of births and deaths, pleasures and pains. At long last he comes to know that he has given up his permanent home in God, banished himself from God, became a wanderer in saṁsāra and therefore he longs to return to his home. God as the self and the saviour of souls also longs for reunion. It is in this light that the teaching of the Gitā as the book of yogic sādhanas is to be understood. Yoga is union with God and each yoga stresses this union. The chief yogas are Karma yoga, Raja yoga, Jñāna yoga and Bhakti yoga including Prapatti. They are generally arranged as steps in a ladder and every sect or system has its own way of attainment. There is another view that each yoga is independent and leads directly to mukti. In this work, the view of Śrī Vaisnavism is adopted and karma, jñāna and bhakti
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