Vedanta

shrImadAnandatIrthArya mukhanissR^itaM

sAdhanebhyo.adhikA bhaktiH naivAnyattAdR^ishaM kvacit | A.V 3.3.34

bhakti is the chief instrument among all instruments of knowledge of brahman such as j~nAna, bhakti, vairAgya etc. Here a question arises - Is this bhatki an independent instrument of knowledge of brahman or does it require the help of brahman? Some argue - as there are many shR^iti passages such as “bhaktirevainaM nayati bhatirevainaM darshayati” which clearly give independent status to bhakti, bhakti should be accepted as the independent instrument of knowledge of brahman - thus.

To this we say, bhakti is not the independent instrument. brahman, who is pleased by the bhakti grants knowledge to the seeker. So, He is the independent instrument for the knowledge. The statement that bhakti is the highest instrument should be understood that among the instruments of knowledge (other than brahman) bhakti is the highest instrument. One can also rightly understand this statement “bhaktirevainaM nayati”, taking the secondary meaning into consideration. Just as in the example, “hantA rAmasharaH - rAmAs arrow kills”, though the killer is rAma, in usage, accepting the secondary meaning, the arrow of rAma is said to be the killer. Similarly, though brahman grants knowledge, bhakti is said to be the chief instrument of knowledge.

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