Only bhakti-yoga grants complete, doubtless knowledge of God; all other paths offer partial understanding shrouded in doubt.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Room Conversation with Documentary Maker — October 21, 1975, Johannesburg 751021R1-JOHANNESBURG [10:22 Minutes] Conv_751021R1-JOHANNESBURG Guest: ...a couple of things for the potential audience who I'm hoping will see the documentary. So it's just a couple of questions I'd like to ask you, if I may. And if I can record them, we can have them typed out. I hope my little tape recorder works.
Prabhupāda: You sit down. Actually ours is not in search of truth, but we are presenting the truth as it is. We are not searching out.
Guest: Right. Well, this is what I want to... I wanted to ask you... I'll put the questions in their order.
The questions in order is... The first one is, "Within Vedic culture, what is meant by bhakti-yoga?" The second one... Shall we take it in order?
Prabhupāda: Yes. You just learn it first of all. Vedic culture is that we are living entities. Some way or other, we have fallen in this material world and encaged in this body or other body.
So material world means the spirit soul is wandering throughout the universe under material conditions. And the Vedic knowledge is to get him out of this material condition and take him again to the spiritual world. This is Vedic knowledge.
Prabhupāda: Bhakti-yoga is the direct method. There are many methods recommended: karma, jñāna, yoga, and at last bhakti. They are different steps of the same staircase going upwards, and bhakti-yoga is the topmost level.