"Also, as the Gitá, xvvi. 66, has it:
'Take refuge in ME alone, giving up all religions. Grieve not; I will deliver thee from all sins.'
But to this the Master objected, "This too is external. Tell me of a still higher means." The Ray answered, "Faith based on knowledge is the highest means of devotion. As Shri Krishna says to Arjun in the Gitá, xviii. 54:
'The peaceful soul that dwells on Brahma, and feels not sorrow or desire, but is the same in all states, gains my supreme bhakti.'"
Again the Master objected as before. The Ray answered, "Faith independent of knowledge is the highest instrument of devotion. Witness Brahma's words to God in the Bhágabat, X. xiv. 3:
'Lord, hard as Thou art to be won in the Universe, yet they realize Thee who reject the quest of theological knowledge but stay at home, listening to Thy story as told by holy men and accepting it with all their mind, body and soul.'"
The Master remarked, "It is so; but mention a higher still." The Ray said, "The highest devotion is love) (prem-bhakti). Witness the following verses of Rámánanda Ráy quoted in the Padyávali, cantos xi and xii respectively:
'We relish food and drink only so long as we have hunger and thirst. Similarly, the devotee delights not in worshipping his heart's darling with elaborate Preparations, but in love alone.'
'Get a heart inspired with love of Krishna, if ever you can get it. Its only price is greed,—a price which we cannot acquire even by the accumulated merits of ten millions of births.'"
The Master remarked as before. The Ray replied, "The love of a servant is the highest devotion. Witness the speech of Durváshá in the Bhágabat, IX. v. 11:—