Do all paths lead to the same goal?

A common notion about the Bhagavad Gita and about Vedic traditions in general is that 'all paths lead to the same goal'. Although this might sound like a liberal or broad-minded statement, it has no logical basis.

If we sit on a flight to Kolkata, we will not reach Delhi. If all paths lead to the same goal, why do we need to choose a particular flight to a specific destination? In our daily life also, we are choosy about what we buy and where we buy it from, we send our children to a particular school or we choose a particular holiday destination. So, if every path could lead to the same destination, why do we need so much planning? Surprisingly, we do not make such a statement when it comes to our personal life, but when it comes to spiritual life, something we do not have much idea about, we believe we can say anything. Whatever we say must have an authentic source. When it comes to spirituality or anything related to it, scriptures must be the basis.

In the Bhagavad Gita (9.25), Lord Krishna clearly says:

yanti deva-vrata devan 

pitrn yanti pitr-vratah 

bhutani yanti bhutejya 

yanti mad-yajino 'pi mam

"Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; and those who worship Me will live with Me.'

Here Lord Krishna says, 'Whatever people worship is the situation they will get'. Those who worship Lord Krishna will attain Him. This verse clearly indicates that different paths lead to different ends.

Furthermore, He says in 7.23:

antavat tu phalam tesam 

tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam 

devan deva-yajo yanti 

mad-bhakta yanti mam api

'Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.'

This verse clearly states that different types of worship yield different results. If someone worships the demigods, the results are different from those attained if someone Him. Even though externally the worship looks the same, the rewards one gets will depend example, worships I on the person one is serving. For someone who cooks in a roadside restaurant and someone who cooks in the home of the wealthiest man in the world are performing the same activity, but the rewards of each will be entirely different.

Yes, there are different paths and modes of worship mentioned in the scriptures, but since not everyone is spiritually evolved to the highest level, these different paths facilitate their gradual elevation towards the ultimate goal of engaging in the devotional service of the Lord (Bhakti Yoga). There is no harm in following them as long as we remember the goal and keep progressing.

But if a person thinks that being stuck at on a particular path without advancing itself is perfection, then that person gets a different result from the ones who are engaged in the highest path of Bhakti Yoga.

Normally, people on the path of good karma will achieve prosperity in this world or attain the heavenly planets and demigods (since good karmas are under their jurisdiction) in the next world. The path of jnana, cultivating knowledge, mind control, sense control etc, will lead to liberation and merger with Brahman, the formless aspect of God. The path of Ashtang Yoga/mystic or Dhyan Yoga will help one attain supernatural powers initially and then achieve spiritual realization. If a yogi thinks that he will merge with the Parmatma, then he goes to brahmajyoti or the blue effulgence, referring to the formless aspect of God also known as Brahman. If he understands that he is the servant of Parmatma or 'supersoul', then he goes to Vaikuntha. And of course, if someone is a devotee, then he goes directly to the spiritual world to be an eternal associate of Lord Krishna.

So, do all paths lead to the same goal? Yes, if one knows that goal well. If karmis, yogis and jyanis all know that their ultimate goal is Lord Krishna, and then they adopt a path for transitional purposes of elevation and ultimately come to Lord Krishna, then all their paths will lead to the same goal.

But if people do not share the same clear goal and they have their own conceptions... of their goals, then all paths will not lead to the same goal, but to different goals according to what one's individual conception is.