We hear in common parlance the terms mother, father, preceptor and God being used in that order. This has a significance of its own. It is the mother that a child sees as soon as it is born. The mother shows the child to the father. The father leads him to the preceptor and the preceptor leads him to God. Everyone should understand the inner significance of the four terms.

We hear from spiritual aspirants the four terms: Bhakti (devotion), Jnana (wisdom), Vairagya (renunciation), and Tattvam (reality) in the same order. There is significance in the order in which these terms are mentioned. Devotion awakens wisdom, wisdom promotes renunciation and renunciation confers the knowledge of Reality. We can reach the mansion of Mukti (liberation) if we walk on the stepping-stones of devotion, wisdom, renunciation and the knowledge of Reality. The Bhagavatam in its very title testifies to this truth. The term Bhagavatamu in Telugu is made up of five letters: Bha, Ga, Va, Ta, Mu. Here ‘Bha’ signifies Bhakti (devotion): ‘Ga’ signifies Jnana (wisdom): ‘Va’ signifies vairagya (renunciation): ‘Ta’ signifies Tattva (the knowledge of Reality): and ‘Mu’ signifies Mukti by leading us through Devotion to Wisdom, Renunciation and the knowledge or Reality. Prahlada has given us a dvadasakshari Mantra, a twelve lettered holy formula: Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya ‘Throva vedhuku konuta dodda buddhi.’ It means that the highest intelligence consists in finding the way. What is the way to be sought? It is the way to Divinity. How is it to be found? It is by knowing the source from which you have come from the Divine and you have to go back to the Divine. (SSS Vol.20, pp. 72-73)