Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 40

Sutra 29. Annyonyasrayatwamityanye.

(Others are of opinion that there is mutual dependence between knowledge and devotion.)

Annyonya-asreyatwam: Mutual dependence (of knowledge and devotion)

it: thus 

anye: others.

One cannot know God without love and without exertion. It is not possible to love truly without knowing the object of his love and without exerting to serve his beloved. 

It is not also possible to exert oneself for someone without knowing and loving him. All the faculties of the mind always cooperate with one another.

The Mutual dependence between knowledge and devotion is explained further now.

Initial Knowledge, to gain Love

• A child has to be introduced by its mother to its sibling, its father, its relatives, even to God, God's glories, stories from Epic etc.
• Unless this knowledge is gained by the child, for it, its
  
  relative is but a stranger. The mother says, "See, this is your mama, prostrate to him. Then the child looks at the man standing there, believes in its mother's words and goes and touches the feet of its Mama / uncle , the uncle showers love on the child and the child also hesitatingly accepts and reciprocates with a hug. The love starts here!!!
• Similarly, on Knowing the Glories of Rama / Krishna / Hanuman / Sai etc, depending upon its sanskara, the child develops attachment towards one particular God and starts Loving that God from deep within.
• Thus initial Knowledge kindles the initial Love towards God.

Later, Love culminates into knowledge

In the Gita you will find: 

“Sradhavan labhyate gyanam"

(the man who is full of faith obtained wisdom.”) 

Ch. IV-39.

“Tesham satata yuktanam bhajatam preetipurvakam, 

Dadami buddhi yogam tam yena maamupayantite.”

(To these, ever harmonious (worshipping in love) I give the Yoga of discrimination by which they come unto Me.”)

Ch. X-10.

• The initial love gained through knowledge about God, as explained earlier, grows and  expands enormously.
• Love grows and pervades God and His creation in entirety.
• An appropriate time comes in one birth when the Bhakta gets the intuitive experience within and realizes that the Love which is in his heart, pervading the creation, is the same as the God within one's heart, not in form, not as emotion, not with attributes but as SELF, also pervades the entire creation ( Isa vasyam Idam Sarvam) and just like the Love within the heart and the Love that pervades the creation is one and the same and is just LOVE, the SELF that is experienced within the cave of one's heart, is realized as the SELF of ALL, SELF in ALL, the supreme SELF or Supreme consciousness and exactly, it is realized and experienced that the SELF within and SELF pervading the creation is the same.

Here, through love, the ultimate knowledge is not only gained but the sadhaka who is now the seer, exists as the very knowledge itself.

This is the inter dependence or the link between devotion and Knowledge, as per pure experience!!

Sutra 30. Svayam phalaroopateti brahma-kumaaraa.

[Bhakti is its own fruit — thus opines Brahma Kumara (Narada) the son of Brahma.]

Svayam: of itself 

Phalarupata (Bhakti): being its own fruit 

its: thus  

Brahmakumara: Son of Brahma i.e., Narada (Manvate : thinks).

This has already been explained through Sutra no 26 and also further explained through comment posted by the Author on the very same sutra.

Bhakti is both the root and fruit of the tree of spirituality.

Bhakti is self-sufficient. It does not depend on any other Sadhana .

From what has devotion / Love resulted? From devotion / Love  itself. 

Bhakti is not the fruit or result of any practice . All practices enjoined by the scriptures are only to remove the ego or the veil.

Bhakti has no cause. It is not the effect of anything else also.

Love.