Karma Yoga

Work is a means, if done unattached; but the end of life is to see God.  Let me repeat that the means should not be confounded with the end--that the first stage on a road should not be taken for the goal.  No, do not regard work as the be-all and the end-all, the ideal of human existence.  Pray for devotion to God.  Suppose you are fortunate enough to see God.  Then what would you pray for?  Would you pray for dispensaries and hospitals, tanks and wells, roads and alms-houses?  No, these are realities to us so long as we do not see God.  But once brought face to face with the Divine vision, we see them as they are--transitory things no better than dreams.  And then we would pray for more light--more knowledge in the highest sense, more Divine love--the love which lifts us up from man to God, the love which makes us realize that we are really sons of the Supreme Being of Whom all that can be said is that He exists, that He is Knowledge itself in highest sense, and that He is the eternal fountain of love and bliss.

Bhakti and Jnana

A devotee: How can one know that one has attained Jnana, even while leading a family life?
The Master: By the tears and the thrill of the hair at the name of Hari.  When at the very mention of the sweet 'name' of the Lord, tears trickle down from a person's eyes and his hairs stand on end, he has attained Jnana.

Introduction