Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 2

Bhakti Yoga is the one Yoga which directly appeals to the feelings of man. Apara Bhakti is lower Bhakti. It is a premature stage in devotion. Mature stage of subjective experience is known as Para Bhakti. 

The devotee has ineffable inner experience of unsurpassing bliss and illumination. He has God-realisation.

There are two stages in Apara or lower Bhakti. The first stage is called Gauna or secondary ; the second stage is Mukhya or primary. 

In Gauna Bhakti there is the influence of Rajo Guna; in Mukhya Bhakti there is influence of Sattva Guna. The mind is calm and serene.

Meditation becomes firm and steady. The devotee is in the presence of God. He is conscious of duality.

In Para Bhakti the devotee attains the full grace of the Lord, knowledge and full illumination. He merges in the Lord; he loses his identity. He becomes one with the Lord.

Your happiness depends upon the nature of the object on which you set your heart. The only true object of love is the Lord who is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient and all-merciful.

Love of God or devotion is more a practice than a

philosophy. Devotion dethrones the ego and enthrones the Lord in its place. 

The climax of love is the love of God. Service of the saints, association with the saints, study of Bhakti literature, charity, self-restraint, humility, Japa, Kirtan, praver — this is the preparation for the love of God. 

ORIGIN OF NARADA BHAKTI SUTRAS

Sri Veda Vyasa was staying in his hermitage of Badarikasrama. One day Narada went to the Ashram in the course of his wanderings. Sri Vyasa welcomed the Rishi with due rites and said, 

“Man seeks freedom etc. But without devotion it is dry. Devotion does not lead directly to the goal. Knowledge bestows freedom, etc. But without devotion, it is dry. Devotion is the only way for attaining salvation. All the others have importance only in so far as they are auxiliary to it. I humbly ask you to explain to me the virtue of devotion.”

Narada said, “Your disciple Jaimini has already discussed

about action (KARMA) in the PurvaMimamsa. You have yourself completed the enquiry of the problem of knowledge in the Uttara-Mimamsa.

Now you have taken up the problem of devotion. Its full explanation will be given by you in your Srimad Bhagavatam. I shall explain Bhakti in the form of Sutras.” 

So saying Narada delivered a discourse on devotion in 84 aphorisms.

The collection of these Sutras forms a short treatise, known as "Narada-Bhakti Sutras".

Love.

Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 1

Dear All,

Swami Says 'A true devotee is one who understands the principle of unity and acts accordingly. Non-dualism is true devotion. Share your love with others without any expectation. Love everybody only for the sake of love. When you extend your love to others, you can attain the state of non-dualism. The love that you experience at physical and worldly plane day in and day out is not true love at all! True love is that which is focused on one form, one path and one goal. It is a great mistake to divide love and divert it in different directions. Love is God. God is love. Live in love."

(Divine Discourse 13.4.2005)

Author had been thinking about the next theme for few days. It then came from within to present Devotion as LOVE in the next theme.

Thought of Narada Bhakti Sutra came instantly.  So, we will, together, immerse in the nectarine song of Love, Narada Bhakti Sutra in days to come.

Swami Sivananda writes in his introduction to this song of Love thus:-

DEVOTION

The path of Bhakti consists of a gradation of steps. The desire for release from the evil of mortality and the sufferings is its starting point. Para Bhakti or Higher devotion is its goal. It is Para Bhakti that leads to Mukti .

Subsidiary to Para Bhakti, Ekanta-bhava, whole hearted devotion, there are various forms of devotional states, 81 in number.

Illiterates, females, outcastes — are all equally competent to follow the path of devotion. Desire for release or Mumukshatwa is the minimum qualification.

An objector says, God is far above the power of comprehension of man. How, then, can one cultivate devotion to Him ?

Live in the company of saints. Hear the Lilas of God. Study the sacred scriptures. Worship Him first in His several forms as manifested in the world. Worship any image or picture of the Lord or Guru. Recite His name. Sing His glories. You will develop devotion.

According to some Jnana is instrumental in the cultivation of Bhakti, while others say that they are mutually dependent. But Narada says that Bhakti is the fruit or result of itself.

Devotion is the highest sentiment. Narada has dealt with the subject from the point of view of sentiment alone. Whereas the Bhakti-Mimamsa of Sandilya is an enquiry into the philosophy of devotion.

The two treatises are companions. They supplement each other.

When the devotee grows in devotion there is absolute self-forgetfulness. This is called Bhava. Bhava then grows into Maha-Bhava wherein the devotee lives, moves and has his being in the Lord. This is parama-prema, the consummation of love or supreme love.  

By fixing the mind on the Lord through love, hate, fear, friendship many have attained God-realisation, e.g., the Gopis through love, Kamsa through fear, Sisupala through hate, the Vrishnis through relationship.

Continued........

Swami Suryadevananda

Stay a While

And Take This In

We discover

That what we will face

Is not the rose garden we hoped for,

But the entire forest in which there are roses too.

Stay a while and take this in;

Roses are as much a part of the forest

As the thorny bush,

Hummingbirds fly there

And the rattler too has a mailbox in the neighborhood.

Stay a while longer and let this all be seen;

Then feel that all this is pervaded by the One

And these are only expressions as appearance of One Reality.

This is why it is requisite and imperative

That all judgments and opinions be cast aside,

It will seek only roses

And never the larger expanse of the universal garden—

It will stop there or search in some other way

Only to meet the same end again

And never know the grandeur of the universal garden

Or the Majesty of the Prompter, Sustainer and Source

Where even variety is not.