Swami Vivekanand was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of

Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world. Vivekananda propagated that the essence of
Hinduism was best expressed in Adi Shankara's Advaita Vedanta philosophy which is
basically Gyaan marg.

Gyan Yog is the path of God-realization based on the premise of Advaid vad that the
soul itself is God; when it dispels its covering of ignorance and gets seated in knowledge,
it will get liberated from the illusion of Maya. Then it will realize itself to be one with the
formless Brahman for eternity, devoid of any form, attribute, activity or qualities.

Now statements like -

ahaṃ Brahmaāsmi

"I am Brahm" or in other words I (the soul) is non- different from the Supreme God.

tat tvam asi

"You are Him."

These are not mere statements. These are realisations. You are not meant to be simply
repeating like a parrot while still dwelling in licentious, gluttonous and immoral
existence. If you believe that the world is unreal then be prepared to relinquish
everything that is unreal and only dwell in the real which is Brahman.

Do not call yourself God/Bhagwan if you are not omniscient, omnipotent and
omnipresent. God is not such a light term. We worship God and if you can't even recall
what you had for dinner last night and you claim yourself to be equal to Brahman, that
would be unacceptable to anyone so be ready to be called out for your hypocrisy.

Gyaan marg is meant for the absolute renunciates who question everything and are
ready at once to give up what is temporary and unreal.

nirviṇṇānāṃ jñānayogaḥ

"The path of knowledge is meant for the entirely renounced souls".

manuṣyāṇāṃ sahastreṣu kaścidyatati siddhaye । yatatāmapi siddhānāṃ kaścinmāṃ vetti

"There are only few, who dare treading on this arduous path. Among those who
venture on this path only one in thousands is able to attain Me". So only those who
want to undergo such immense hardship, for thousands of lives, dare to follow this path.
Now coming to Srila Prabhupada, he is like a ray of hope for the people who cannot
renounce the world at once and cannot perform bone breaking Raja Yoga. He
propagated a much simpler and feasible way to reach God through Bhakti Yoga.

Bhakti Yog is based on the premise that the soul is an integral part of God which makes
sense and is evident. It is a well observable fact that we are not omnipotent/omniscient
or omnipresent. I, for one, wouldn't call myself equal to Brahman, calling myself as a part
of God makes more sense to me.

Bhakti Yog involves developing immense love for the Lord. In such a state, the devotee
develops an intense longing to see God, meet Him, and be with Him. Whatever one
does, the mind remains attached to God and the thoughts flow towards Him, like the
rivers flow towards the ocean. Such love in the heart cleanses it of all impurities. Why
wouldn't you want God to be your friend, parent and a lover? Who wouldn't want a
person one can always look up to and who has always got their back on us for support?
Understand the difference between a bhakt and a gyani by comparing a baby kitten and a
baby monkey. The kitten is tiny in size and delicate in build. Yet if it is to be moved from
one place to another, it does not need to worry. Its mother holds the kitten with her mouth
and carries it. On the other hand, the baby monkey is responsible for holding its mother
tight, while the mother jumps from one branch of the tree to another. So a bhakt is like a
kitten, it simply surrenders to its mother while a gyani is like a baby monkey who clinges
on to its mother through self effort.

The gyani has to renounce all worldly attractions based on his own mental strength and
perform the bhakti of impersonal form of God. That is why the gyani repeatedly falls off
the path. The Gyaanis path is much more rigorous and requires absolute rationalism
without any scope for emotionalism. Gyan Marg can only be followed by the
intellectuals, while the path of bhakti could be followed even by child devotees like
Dhruv and Prahlad etc.

A devotee depends only on the grace of God. He seeks refuge in the lotus feet of God
alone and treads on the path. Therefore, God supports and protects him at every step.
Shrimad Bhagwatam says:

Tathā na tē mādhava tāvakāḥ kvacid bhraśyanti mārgāt tvayi bad'dhasauHr̥ dāḥ.

"God Himself protects the devotees. That’s why they tread on the path fearlessly".

Although the gyani and the bhakt, both strive to achieve total detachment, there is a
huge difference in the practices they undertake to detach their mind from material
attractions by:

 Nivritti Marg (निवृत्ति मार्ग): detachment by renouncing everything

Devotion is inevitable for emancipation from Maya for Gyaanis as well. As Jagadguru
Shankaracharya says:

Mōkṣa kāraṇa sāmagryāṁ bhaktirēva gariyasī. Śaṅkarācārya

Jagadguru Shankaracharya asserts that even Sham (शम) or purification of mind is not
possible without Shri Krishna Bhakti, then it is obvious that liberation is unattainable;

Now, coming to the main difference between the two teachings, the Gyaanis have
Kaivalya moksh (merging in Brahm) as the ultimate goal of their sadhana while a devotee
is averse to the very idea. He does not want to lose the beautiful form of his beloved.
The difference in their degree of enjoyment is best explained by Jagadguru Kripalu ji
Maharaj:

A gyani is like a pregnant woman who obviously has intense love and care for the baby
in the womb but will she not like the baby on her lap ever more?

A gyaani becomes a sugar candy in his ultimate realisation whereas a devotee gets to
enjoy the sugar candy by tasting, sucking and licking it.

Now, won't it make sense for Srila Prabhupada to call Vivekananda as a “rascal” for
taking away his beloved child/lover's very form who a devotee has so much adoration
and attachment to?
The sweetness of the bliss of the personal form of God is ineffable and ever increasing.
Many great God-realized Gyanis who lived on the earth as ‘paramhansa’ (always being
engrossed in transcendental meditation and having no inkling of this world), experienced
bliss of the personal form of Brahma - Supreme Lord with one faculty (sight, hearing,
taste, touch, smell). For example,

The 4 kumars who are the greatest gyani of Satyug once experienced an unknown
fragrance through the air. The moment they smelt a fragrance and they forgot about
their transcendental meditation. Not only that they became restless to know where it
came from. Through their Samadhi, they came to know that the Divine fragrance is from
a Tulasi leaf which is placed on the lotus feet of Maha Vishnu.They thought, 'If the bliss
of Tulasi-leaf, which has touched His feet is so idyllic, then what can be said about His
lotus feet!’ They immediately left to see Him, thus leaving behind the charm of
meditation which was this highest bliss as far as they knew, and asked for a boon to let
them dwell at His lotus feet forever. (Bhagavat 3.15.43 & 3.15.49).
Similarly, in Treta Yuga (Vedic Cycle of Time), Janak Ji Maharaj just saw Shri Ram once
and lost consciousness of everything around him, including the awareness of the great
ceremony of his daughter, Sita Ji’s engagement.

To conclude, one can have a preference over one master over the other, one can have
more interest in pursuing a rather logical approach towards God than based on love and
surrender but calling out one great saint and degrading one master over the other can
surely bring about great downfall and ensure a hellish existence in the afterlife.