One might speculate that if one can achieve purity of heart through the practice ofkarma yoga or prescribed Vedic activities and hence acquire knowledge by this effort then what is the necessity for approaching a spiritual master as spoken of in verse thirty four? To lay this doubt to rest Lord Krishna specifically states who is qualified to receive spiritual knowledge. A person may acquire knowledge by themselves but here are presented all the qualities that are essential for such a person to succeed. The wordsraddhavan means a person who has faith. Faith is firmly believing. Believing is something that must have a source from where it believed in. Verily that source is the words of the spiritual master who reveals the inner meaning of the Vedic scriptures by explaining them in an way that is easy to understand. But this is not enough there must also be sincere devoted service to the spiritual master while studying the Vedic scriptures under his tutelage. But there is more one must also avoid the association of those who are not following the Vedic injunctions as association with them may cause one to deviate from the path of knowledge in spite of having faith and be captivated once again by maya or illusion neglecting to study the Vedic scriptures and omitting to serve the spiritual master. So only one who is self-controlled attains spiritual knowledge and acquiring such knowledge one neutralises all extraneous activities and perceives the Brahman or the spiritual substratum pervading all existence and from there achieves atma tattva or soul realisation and from that platform attains moksa or liberation from material existence. So a person of faith must follow the age old process in the proper sequence to attain the coveted goal.
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