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74
BHAKTI-YOGA.
Protestants alone, in rejecting all concrete helps to religion, drifted away every year farther and farther from spirituality, till at present there is scarcely any difference between the advanced Protestants and the followers of Auguste Comte or the Agnostics, who preach ethics only! Again, in Christianity and Mahomedanism whatever exists of image-worship is to be counted under that category, in which the pratika or the pratima is worshipped in itself but not as a "help to the vision" of God ( Efenten ). Therefore it is at best only of the nature of ritualistic karmas and cannot produce either bhakti or mukti. In this form of image-worship the allegiance of the soul is given to other things than Isvara, and therefore, such use of images or graves, of temples or tombs is real® idolatry. Yet it is in itself neither sinful nor wicked—it is a rite, a karma, and woro shippers must and will get the fruit thereof.
