Ramakrishna Math of Jnana. The encircling serpent is indicative of Yoga and the awakened Kundalini Shakti, while the swan in the picture stands for Paramatman (Supreme Self). Therefore, the idea of the picture is that by the union of Karma, Jnana, Bhakti and Yoga, the vision of Paramatman is obtained."" The basic philosophy of life put before the Ramakrishna Order by Vivekananda automatically led to a bifurcation of its activities into two important, but parallel, areas. The atmamoksha aspect resulted in the establishment of the Ramakrishna Math, an organisation catering predominantly to the spiritual needs of the monks of the order as
Kirtan Hindu scriptures such as the "Bhagavad-gita" where Krishna describes multiple paths to spiritual freedom, including karma marga (way of works), jnana marga (way of knowledge) and bhakti marga (way of loving devotion to god). "Kirtan" relates to the bhakti marga tradition of Hinduism. References to "Kirtan" as a musical recitation are also found in the Bhagavata Purana, an important Vaishnava text. Kirtan is often practiced as a kind of theatrical folk song with call-and-response chanting or antiphon. The ancient sage Narada revered as a musical genius, is called a "kirtankar" (singer of kirtan) in the Padma Purana. The famous story