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So many paths in Hinduism- लोकेस्मिन् द्विविधा निष्ठा Geeta 3-3

When a Swami speaks to a non-desi audience anywhere in the world, there are a few inevitable questions. Why do you have so many Gods? What is the Hindu scripture?

A question that is not asked because it is actually outside the range of comprehension of most non-desis (notice I did not day Westerners) is "Who do we have so many paths in Hinduism?" Lets face it, if your only introduction to religion is one of the semitic religions, then you can't conceive of there being more than one way.

Śhri Kṛṣṇa refers to the many paths in Hinduism in the third chapter of the Bhagavad Geeta.

लोकेऽस्मिन् द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ |
ज्ञानयोगेन साङ्ख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम् ||३-३||

loke.asmin dvividhaa nishhThaa puraa proktaa mayaanagha .
GYaanayogena saaN^khyaanaa.n karmayogena yoginaam.h .. 3\-3..
In this world there is a two-fold path, as I said before, O sinless one; the 'Path-of-Knowledge' of the Sāṁkhyans and the 'Path-of-Action' of the Yogis.

In the video below, Pujya Gurudev elaborates on this topic in his inimitable style. Well worth watching. Thanks to Neeraj Bhai for posting this video



Enjoy and learn. Forward to anyone who is interested in the fundamental ways in which Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma is different from what we call religion today.

Hari Om and Namaskar until the next post

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