What about other paths? Gita says, “No.”
नाहं वेदैर्न तपसा न दानेन न चेज्यया | शक्य एवंविधो द्रष्टुं दृष्टवानसि मां यथा ||
Nāhaṁ vedair na tapasā na dānen na chejyayā. Shakya evaṁ-vidho draṣhṭuṁ dṛiṣhṭavān asi māṁ yathā.- Gita 11.53
भक्त्या त्वनन्यया शक्य अहमेवंविधोऽर्जुन |
Bhaktyā tvananyayā śhakya aham evaṁ-vidhorjun.- Gita 11.54
“Not through any other means, not through studying the scriptures literally, not through any amount of good actions or charity, not through any amount of rituals or religious formalities,” Krishna is saying this, “only through bhakti can a soul reach Me.”
He says the same thing in the Bhagwatam.
आद्यन्तवन्त एवैषां लोका: कर्मविनिर्मिता: । दु:खोदर्कास्तमोनिष्ठा: क्षुद्रा मन्दा: शुचार्पिता: ॥
Ādy-anta-vant evaiṣhāṁ lokāḥ karma-vinirmitāḥ. Duḥkhodarkās tamo-niṣhṭhāḥ kṣhudrā mandāḥ śhuchārpitāḥ.- Bhagwatam 11.14.11
He says, “All those other paths keep you within the field of maya. So the result that they give you will always be limited, because all the other paths you do through your own effort.”
They're not a direct way to receive God's grace. Only surrender, only bhakti, is the direct way to receive God's grace. Every other path is good if it improves or elevates the sattvic quality of your mind, but it can't result in God realization. It can only result in some improvement of yourself in this world. And it keeps you bound in the cycle of birth and death and under maya.
भक्त्याहमेकया ग्राह्य: श्रद्धयात्मा प्रिय: सताम् ।
Bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ śhraddhayātmā priyaḥ satām.- Bhagwatam 11.14.21
In the next verse, Krishna goes on to say, “I am only attainable through bhakti.”
Any other way?
न साधयति मां योगो न साङ्ख्यं धर्म उद्धव । न स्वाध्यायस्तपस्त्यागो यथा भक्तिर्ममोर्जिता ॥
Na sādhayati māṁ yogo na sāṅkhyaṁ dharm uddhava. Na svādhyāyas tapas tyāgo yathā bhaktir mamorjitā.- Bhagwatam 11.14.20
“I'm not attainable through yog, gyan, dharma, swadhyay, tap, tyag”...
…not through any of these other paths which are described in the scriptures, but they are not the path to reach God. They're just the path to elevate yourself a little bit, and improve the sattvic quality of your mind. They cannot take you to God. He says,
धर्म: सत्यदयोपेतो विद्या वा तपसान्विता । मद्भक्त्यापेतमात्मानं न सम्यक् प्रपुनाति हि ॥
Dharmaḥ satya-dayopeto vidyā vā tapasānvitā. Mad-bhaktyāpetam ātmānaṁ na samyak prapunāti hi.- Bhagwatam 11.14.22
“Even the highest form of dharm, the greatest good actions, and the highest form of gyan and yog, even those cannot fully purify your heart without bhakti.” So even they are dependent on bhakti, Krishna says in the Bhagwatam.
This is why Tulsidas claims in the Ramayana,
बारि मथें घृत होइ बरु, सिकता ते बरु तेल। बिनु हरि भजन न भव तरिअ, यह सिद्धांत अपेल॥
Bāri matheņ ghřit hoi baru, sikatā te baru tel. Binu hari bhajan na bhav taria, yah siddhānt apel.
“Even if someone could accomplish other impossible things, like churning water and getting butter, or squeezing dry sand and getting oil out of it, yet they could still not attain God without doing bhakti.”
So every other path is dependent on bhakti. Every practitioner of any other path must eventually come to the path of bhakti.
