One reason for studying Narada’s Bhakti Sutra is just that, i.e, we need it as an
essential
sadhana
. Secondly,
bhakti, properly understood, is not simply intense
tapasya
as it is depicted in
puranic
stories.
In the study of Narada’s
Bhakti Sutra, we will see inseparability of
bhakti
and
jnana . We will see the
deeper and more profound meaning of
bhakti
; more than devotion to God or
divine love. At its highest level,
bhakti
is enlightenment!
It is important to understand that
bhakti
is not a gradual process that progresses
from desire (kama, which is romantic love or sexual attraction) to emotional love
(prema) to
bhakti. Although, all three have some element of love, they are all
completely different from one another.
A good way to understand any absence
of a continuum among the three is to consider the metaphor of a seed (kama) giving rise to a tree (prema) and the tree bearing a fruit (bhakti).
Although the tree
arises from the seed, and the fruit from
the tree, the tree and the seed are very
different and so are the tree and the fruit.
Tree is not a bigger form of the seed
and the fruit is not an intens
e form of tree.
Similarly,
bhakti
is not an intense form
of conventional or emotion based love and
emotional love is not physical love or
sexual attraction. Physical love is rooted in the physiology of the body like
desire for food and water. Emotional love, as between a husband and a wife or
between parent and child is located in the mind.
Bhakti, in its highest form, referred to as “parama prema” (supreme love),
transcends love; it is limitless and infinite love. No matter how intense the
conventional love is, it’s not
bhakti
.
Continued....
