“Spiritual wisdom (jnana) is the panacea for all ills, troubles, and travails.” This is how the Vedas describe it. Who among people are in urgent need of medical treatment? Those who are badly ill, right? So too, those who are groping in ignorance are first entitled to the teaching and the training leading to the acquisition of spiritual wisdom. There are many paths to acquire this wisdom, and the chief among them is the path of devotion (bhakti). As the oil is to the flame in the lamp, so is devotion to the flame of spiritual wisdom. The heavenly tree of joy of wisdom thrives on the refreshing waters of devotion. Understand this well. It is for this reason that Krishna, who is the personification of divine love and who is saturated with the quality of mercy, declared in the Gita, “I am known by means of devotion - Bhakthya-mam abhijanathi”. Why was this declaration made? Because there are no hurdles in the path of devotion. Young and old, high and low, man and woman - all are entitled to tread it.

- Jnana Vahini, Ch 18.