Re: do different paths of self realization go towards absolute truth?
Pranams,
The above quotes, if they indeed exist (I don't know, since no verse numbers were provided so we cannot cross-examine the evidence), are likely referring to the fact that those who worship anya-devatas may eventually become qualified to worship brahman. However, it is not a fact that anya-devatas are the same as brahman, except in the vishiShtAdvaitic sense of their having brahmin as their inner controller.
The bhagavad-gItA is very clear that one result is had by worship of anya-devatas, and another result is obtained by the worship of the Lord Himself.
antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām |
devān deva-yajo yānti mad-bhaktā yānti mām api || BG 7.23 ||
yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ |
bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā yānti mad-yājino ’pi mām || BG 9.25 ||
I believe we can raise the standard of debate if we try to include all of the valid evidence before formulating a conclusion.
Just FYI, if the padma purANa alone is going to become the standard of evidence in articulating the modern "all paths are same" conclusion, then you should be aware that the padma purANa also contains verses which explicitly denounce the paths of shaivism and shaktaism as baser religions invented to satisfy those who have no devotion to Hari. Now, you can say that you do not accept those verses, and I have no problem with that. But then you cannot very well quote padma purANa elsewhere to make your case, when you questioned its authority arbitrarily in the first place.
regards,
Philosoraptor
"Wise men speak because they have something to say. Fools speak because they have to say something." - Plato
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