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  • Karma Yoga - Followers of this yoga practice varnasrama dharma and follow all vedic ritualistic actvities as an offering to Lord Vishnu.

    Different types of karma yoga will lead to different results. Sakama karma yoga (karma yoga with desires for the results) will fulfill the desires of the practitioners and will make them eligible for practicing Niskama karma yoga (karma yoga without desires for the results). Sakama karma yoga is in the mode of passion and niskama karma yoga is in the mode of goodness. Niskama karma yoga will purify the heart of the person and make him qualified to start practicing Jnana yoga.

    Jnana Yoga - Followers of this yoga, will aim to attain Brahman (impersonal effulgence of the Lord) realization. This is also called Sayuja mukti (a type of liberation from this world). However practitioners of this yoga should have qualifications. They should be in the mode of goodness, be a brahmana by nature and should get upanayanam (vedic initiation) to read vedas and should study vedas. They meditate on identifying themselves with the Brahman.

    Ashtanga yoga - The goal is same as jnana yoga but the methods of practice is different. It has eight stages as described by Patanjali in his book Yoga Sutras.

    Bhakti Yoga - The most superior of all of these yogas. This is because, in sayujya mukti (the goal of Jnana yoga and ashtanga yoga), you don't feel pain and pleasure, which in itself would make you feel relief. Also, when you practice jnana yoga, you've to do much more sense control and mind control, which is painful, and takes a long time (multiple births). But in bhakti yoga, you get bliss throughout the bhakti process and the end goal is much much more blissful. The goal is you would be in a particular relationship with the Lord. This is the easiest, superior one and doesn't require qualification.

    "Everything that can be achieved by fruitive activities (karma kanda), penance (tapas), knowledge (jnana), detachment (vairagyam), mystic yoga (yoga), charity (dhana), religious duties (dharma) and all other means of perfecting life is easily achieved by my devotee through loving service unto me. If somehow or other my devotee desires promotion to heaven, liberation, or residence in my abode, he easily achieves such benedictions." SB 11.20.32-33

    Modern yogas mostly are some derivations of Hatha yoga or first two stages of Ashtanga yoga (yama, niyama). They mainly focus on making one's body nice and calming down the disturbances of mind (which is very very difficult)

  • Actually, there is no possible elevation beside thiese three systems :

    Those who neither disgusted with, nor attached to material life and somehow develop the attraction in hearing and chanting, they can achieve perfection in bhakti yoga..

    Those who are disgusted with material life and are thus detached from ordinary fruitive activities, its recommended for them to  go and achieve perfection trough gyana yoga.

    Those who are not disgusted with material life, having many desires yet to fulfill, should seek perfection through the path of karma-yoga by giving up the results of work.

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    In modern time of Kali yuga people are generally led by unqualified spiritual teachers and their ''brain washing''  philosophy, then what enlightenment and progress can expect. 

    By taking exclusive shelter at Lords lotus feet even uneducated and primitive candala who has firm faith can easy cross all obstacles in the life and achieve Lords association.

    On another side, those proud preachers who claim there is no possible to approach God without first serving them, do not achieve God despite all the effort. Such proud and modern rascals even aloud their washed feet water to be drink by their ''brain washed''  students.

    That's yoga in a modern day, where in human society money is considered to be essential for practice, learning and spiritual progress.

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