In the Samvat year 1876 on the third day of the dark half of the month of Magh Shreeji Maharaj was listening to the reading d some holy scripture in the veranda leading to the upper floor in the residential place of Dada Khachar in Gadhada. He had put on all white garments. Saints and devotees from various places had gathered before Him in an
assembly. During the course of the reading there came a reference to the four scriptures Sankhya, Yog, Vedant and Panchratra It was stated therein that one who comes to know
the nature of God properly through the study of these four scriptures, can be said to be a true gnani-man of knowledge.
Thereupon Muktanand Swami asked. “Maharaj, how can we know God through these four holy books ? And in what way a person will feel wanting if lie does not come to know God with the help of all these four scriptures?
Shreeji Maharaj replied, “Sankhya considers God to be the twenty-fifth element. The other twenty-four elements are not able to do anything without the power derived from God. Even jeev- (soul) and Ishwar are also helpless without His power. Therefore Sankhya considers jeev and Ishwar as included in the twenty four elements. The twenty four elements including jeev and Ishwar are called the Kshetra [field of knowledge] and
God, the twenty fifth element is called the Kshetragnya [knower of the field].
Yog considers God to be the twenty sixth element. It says that God has a definite form. It considers jeev and Ishwar to be the twenty fifth element as distinct from the other twenty four elements. It lays down that one should meditate upon God thinking one’s self to be distinct from the elements. Vedant considers God to be as Sam-Karan [the cause of everything]. Sarva- Vyapaka [all pervasive], Sarva-Adhar [Sustainer of everything], Nirgun [free from the attributes of Maya], Advait [one without a second], Niranjan [unaffected by Maya], doer of everything and yet not the doer, devoid of worldly qualities and having all five divine qualities. And Panchratra says that Lord Krishna Purushottam Narayan Himself assumes the fourfold manifestations viz., Vasudev, Sankarshan, Aniruddha and Pradyumna. It says that the Lord Himself incarnates on this
earth. He who worships God through the nine kinds of devotion meets with his ultimate good.
The four scriptures describe God in four different ways. Only if one understands all the four properly. he can be called a true gnani If a person depends only on Sankhya and neglects the other three and tries to realize God, he comes across a snag. Sankhya does not consider jeev (soul) and Ishwar to be different food twenty four elements. Only if jeev is considered to be different from the twenty four elements, then one can know jeevatma as the twenty fifth element. But he never comes to know God. If a person depends only on Yog and tries to realize God, he comes across another snag. According
to Yog God possesses a form but He remains concealed. In that case also one does not come to realize God as a full and all pervasive entity. And if a person depends only upon Vedant he comes across yet another snag. He may come to realize God as the cause of everything. all – pervasive, and free from attributes of Maya. But he will think that God is formless. He will never realize that God has divine hands and feet, but not the physical hands and feet as we have. Thus one will never come to realize the eternal and divine image of God. And if a person depends only on Panchrafra and tries to realize God he will come across yet another snag. His devotion to the various incarnations of God is likely to be tinged with human feelings. He may know about His location at one place only, but He may not know His fullness and all- pervasiveness. It is only when a person tries to realize God by studying all the four scriptures he will be able to resolve ,the snag posed by one scripture, by the study of other scriptures.
Hence a person who studies all the four scriptures can be called a poorna gnani (a man of perfect knowledge). If one neglects one of them he is only three quarters gnani. If he neglects two of them he is one half gnani. If he neglects three of them he is one fourth gnani. And if he neglects all the four and interprets the scriptures in any way he likes, then he is misled even though he may be a Vedanti or the follower having upasana of God. Both of them have missed the path of their ultimate good. Such a vedanti is a pseudo-gnani (man of pseudo knowledge) and such a follower having upasana, is also
a pseudo-bhakta [pseudo devotee].”
