Karma yoga and jnana yoga are said to lead to bhakti yoga. Jnana yoga is the meditation on one’s atma swaroopa. That is, one tries to meditate on one’s atma as always being supported and commanded by the Lord. One should always be aware that he is subservient and subordinate to Him.
In a discourse, Asuri Sri Madhavachariar drew attention to the gap between knowing this truth as a piece of information and experiencing it in one’s daily routine amid the strong worldly pulls. Yoga abhyasa as taught by Krishna can reveal the atma within which is not tangible to the human senses. The Lord urges the jiva to control one’s senses and the mind by practice of karma yoga. Jnana yoga is possible via karma yoga which is easier to practise for a majority of us. When done in the proper spirit, it leads to the realisation of the atma swaroopa that is the object of jnana yoga. The next step is to enter bhakti yoga which is shown to rest in the deep meditation on the Lord’s omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence.
Ramanuja explains bhakti in practice as a gradual development in three stages, para bhakti, para jnana and parama bhakti. In the first stage of para bhakti, the individual is able to see the Lord in his mind. It is a kind of internalisation. In the next stage para jnana, one is able to dwell in the experience of the Lord and savour it. Here, one may get glimpses of God with some clarity. This encourages him to long for His vision more frequently and one develops vairagya towards worldly objects. The next stage is parama bhakti, which is the experience of intense love to the Lord as is exemplified by the Gopis. It is the highest form of selfless bhakti when even the early stage of fear of separation is transcended by His grace.
