‘Jato Mat, Tato Path’ which literally means ‘whatever is your thought, that is the right path’. This vague line was spoken by a famous man based on his own mental speculation. This verse has done so much irreparable damage to followers of Sanatana dharma, that it’s impact can be felt in the weak attitude of billions of current followers of Sanatana Dharma. If you want to go from New York to Los Angeles in a random fashion through hitchhiking, what is the probability that you will reach Los Angeles in time if you have any? Then what to speak about a spiritual destination? This is the fallacy of that verse. For normal travel also you need to plan, then what to speak for planning to travel for a spiritual destination. Traveling from point A to point B, you need to plan for every part of that journey so that you do not waste time. Then why is such planning not needed for a spiritual destination? But when it comes to spiritual destinations, we leave everything to the roll of a dice. Is that an intelligent choice? We need to scrutinize the fallacy of that statement from the logic & reasoning documented in Bhagavad Gita.
Bhagavad Gita is the most precise and scientific literature available to mankind. Any spiritual discourse in the world that doesn’t follow the logic mentioned in Bhagavad Gita misleads the general mass of people.
यान्ति देवव्रता देवान्पितॄन्यान्ति पितृव्रता: ।
भूतानि यान्ति भूतेज्या यान्ति मद्याजिनोऽपि माम् ॥९.२५ ॥
In Bhagavad 9.25, which states that the next spiritual destination of a soul depends on the specific object of meditation at the time of leaving the body. That also shows that all destinations are unique and separate. It all depends on the object of destination. Just the way I gave a logic on travel from point A to point B. Spiritual life is also a journey and it cannot be vague. That’s what Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita. In the ultimate sense all paths lead to Him, but it will take a lot of time and suffering. The time taken by a hitchhiker to travel from New York to Los Angeles can be very long and filled with the dangers of unexpected events. However, a direct flight from New York to Los Angeles is less time consuming and also relatively secure. There is another verse in Bhagavad Gita that debunks that verse. Worshiping ghosts and dead bodies will lead to the destination where those have gone.
त्रैविद्या मां सोमपा: पूतपापा
यज्ञैरिष्ट्वा स्वर्गतिं प्रार्थयन्ते ।
ते पुण्यमासाद्य सुरेन्द्रलोक-
मश्नन्ति दिव्यान्दिवि देवभोगान् ॥ ९.२० ॥
ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं
क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति ।
एवं त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना
गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते ॥ ९.२१ ॥
Krishna says , “Those who worship other devatas and imaginary beings worship Me indirectly. And those people return back to this earth to enjoy or suffer the results of their karma.” That means true moksha is also not attained by such people. Worshiping devatas is considered good in Bhagavad Gita. Krishna even encourages Arjun to take blessings of Durga before the Mahabharat war.
देवान्भावयतातेन ते देवा भावयन्तु वः ।
परस्परं भावयन्तः श्रेयः परमवाप्स्यथ ॥ ११ ॥
All devatas serve Him like obedient children and He in turn is serving them like a loving father. The whole theory of competing Devatas & Vishnu is bogus. There are some incidents but the backgrounds of those incidents need careful study through parampara. Hindus or followers of Sanatana Dharma must be very careful in selecting their options based on Bhagavad Gita. Whenever you are in any doubt, consult whether that philosophy matches the words of Krishna in Bhagavad Gita. If it matches then it is bonafide, otherwise not. There is a lot of garbage in Wikipedia and also in social media. Just because people speak confidently doesn’t always mean it is right.
You need to check their references from Bhagavad Gita. If those references are not there, that means their theory was mental speculation.
‘Jato Mat, Tato Path’ doesn’t pass the test of Bhagavad Gita and therefore, it is the mental speculation of the person who said it. It has only created disturbance ‘उत्पात’ in Hindu community who is the biggest follower of Sanatana Dharma.
Any philosophy that doesn’t follow smriti and Shruti only creates disturbance in Human society.
ब्रह्म-यामले च —
श्रुति-स्मृति-पुराणादि-पञ्चरात्र-विधिं विना ।
ऐकान्तिकी हरेर् भक्तिर् उत्पातायैव कल्पते ॥
Disclaimer: The views are personal to the author and Sattology neither endorses or rejects it.
