Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 34

Sutra 23. Tadviheenam jaaranaamiva.

(A love without it [the sense of greatness of the object loved — “the Lord”] is simply a passion of a woman towards her paramour. )

Tad-viheenam: deprived of that (bereft of the knowledge of that (glory of the Lord or divine greatness)

Jaaraanam: of couples or paramours indulging in base, unlawful passion

“Tat”: or ‘it’ means love.

In this verse, Narada brings about the difference between Prema (Divine love) and Kama (physical love).

PREMA- DIVINE LOVE

Divine Love is true and pure. All love other than that for God is unlawful. To love any creature as a creature and not as divinity embodied in it is unlawful. Impure selfish love taints the heart of a man.

The devotee cherishes always the sense of majesty and

magnanimity of the Lord. His Ishtam is the Lord of his very breath (Prananath or pranavallabha). It is this idea that keeps up his devotion, nourishes and strengthens it.

In the earlier sutra, we learnt that the gopis of Brindavan were fully aware about the Supreme divinity of Krishna.

The love of Gopis was saturated with the knowledge of the Divine glory. It was of a very pure nature. It was Shuddha Prem. It is the expression of total merger of their personalities with the supreme truth, the divinity of Krishna.

There was nothing sensual about this subtle and gracious relationship between the Gopis and the Lord of Brindavan.

KAMA-BASE  LOVE

If the idea of the sense of greatness of the Lord is lacking then he has no devotion. His devotion tantamounts to the passion of a lustful husband and wife. There is no grandeur in his devotion.

Deprived of the sense of divine greatness devotion is like the love of a woman towards her paramour which is constantly shifting from person to person in an indefinite manner, according as one appears more desirable than another.

THE INNER / IN-DEPTH MEANING OF THIS SUTRA

When a master / preceptor has to really drive home the actual meaning / purpose of a teaching, he sometimes uses a direct / extreme example to the disciple so that the essence is driven deep inside the heart and soul of his disciple.

It is in this sense that Narada has gone to the extreme and described the Love for God without knowing the Greatness of Lord is like a woman  indulging in illicit love with a man other than one's husband.

What is perhaps the inner meaning of this sutra??

If the love for God is without the recognition of the infinitude which is the essence of the Lord, it will be such a relationship that it cannot mature into the ecstasy of true love.

What is the state of devotion in most cases with human beings?

·  A man visits temple, attends kirtan / satsangh, chants   prayers, undertakes rituals as and when required, for worshipping the Lord.

·  He limits the Lord to a form which pleases him and   continues to limit the Lord in the same form.

·   He identifies his passion / his normal love for all others as the level of his love for God, with a little higher level but not at a much higher level.

·   Since he loves lower passion, he also enjoys the story of   Rasa leela, Story of Krishna and Radha’s love at a lower level, as it suits his understanding of Love.

·  Such initial level of devotion is pleasing to him and hence, he does not strive to evolve to higher level in devotion.

Whereas,

· God, in whatever name or form we recognize and worship, is essentially beyond name, form and attributes.

·   In Bhakti, Lord, in essence, is PURE LOVE.

· So, all rituals, all poojas, all worships, all spiritual activities undertaken by a man MUST increase his pure love for his chosen God.

·  The Love for God must expand and grow to such level that “for God” in the expression “Love for God” goes and only LOVE remains.

What, if man does not evolve in His love for God to the extent given above?

·  Man’s devotion / love for God only remains at a lower level.

·   The purpose  of devotion then turns out to be temporary satisfaction, momentary happiness, selfish expectations.

·   When, at any phase in man’s life, when he finds that the above requirements are not getting satisfied with one Lord or when an incarnation / an Avatar leaves his body and the devotee does not have that Lord to put up all his selfish requirements and enjoy momentary satisfaction on physical darshan of the avatar, then what does he do?

Such a man runs after other Gods / other Gurus / other preceptors / other sects in the path of devotion, even converts from one religion to another religion so that he can get that happiness, which he thinks as permanent whereas it is just temporary and fleeting moments of happiness!

This exactly is described by Narada as “Illicit love with another man, one's paramour".

SUMMARY

The very purpose of any path in spirituality - Bhakti or Jnana or Karma or Raja yoga, is to ultimately discover the divinity in one’s own self.

Talking on the path of devotion which is the main subject of Narada Bhakti Sutra, if the purpose is clear to a Bhakta, then, he / she would choose just one Lord, focus fully in that Lord, immerse in love for that Lord, expand that love to such enormous proportion that the devotee just exists as Love.

When one reaches such a matured level in Devotion, then, wherever he goes, whichever God he prays, whichever Guru he meets, whichever temple he visits, whatever form of worship he undertakes, the essence is same - SUPREME, SELFLESS, PURE LOVE!

In such a case, going back to the Sutra, there is neither own's husband, nor Paramour, neither mine, nor not mine, neither Bhagwan nor even the Bhakta.

IT IS ALL JUST LOVE, IN ITS PUREST AND DIVINE ESSENCE!!!

Love.

Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 33

Sutra 22. Tatraapi na maahaatmyagyana vismrityapavaada.

(Even there [the love of the Gopis], there is no particular reason for forgetting the glory and greatness of the Lord.)

Tatra: there, i.e., in respect of the example of the Gopis

Api: even

na: not

Mahatmya-gyana-vismriti-apavaadah: particular reason for forgetting the glory and greatness of the Lord.

A full and conscious realization of the grandeur and majesty

of God increases, all the more His supreme importance as an object of admiration and adoration in the eye of the devotee. Without a clear consciousness of the majesty and grandeur of God, devotion cannot operate as a persistent factor of spiritual development.

  

The gopis surrendered themselves to Sri Krishna knowing Him to be God Himself and the embodiment of Satchitananda. They said to Lord Krishna, “You are the primal Purusha or Purushottama, the protector of the Devas. You are the witness of everything. You have taken an incarnation for the protection of the whole world.”

The Gopis danced in the moonlight and played with Sri Krishna and yet they were not unconscious of His divinity, His Omniscience and Omnipotence even for a second. They recognized Him as the soul of the universe and also as their own Atma.

The Rishis of Dandaka forest wanted to embrace Lord Rama. Lord Rama said, “You will be born as Gopis of Brindavan. You will embrace Lord Krishna who is no other than My own Self.” This is the cause for Ras Leela.

“Tatra api: Even there.” Even though the Gopis had physical attachment to Lord Krishna, the attachment was of the nature of supreme devotion. It was perfectly taintless too.

Dear All,

Let us now see what Sai had to say on His avatar in this Kali Yuga.

Why does God incarnate? No doubt Krishna has already outlined the reasons, but Swami goes deeper into the subject. He says,

"To elevate man to the level of Supreme Consciousness, God has to incarnate as man. God has to speak to man in his own style and language. He has to teach mankind the methods that they can adopt and practice. Birds and beasts need no Divine incarnation to guide them for they have no inclination to stray away from their respective duties. Man alone forgets the goal of life."

Playing a role in Swami's global Mission calls for a proper attitude and frame of mind. Many people are carried away by Baba's miracles, but that is not correct, as Swami warns. 

He says: 

You must take a path by which you can see deep in My heart, and experience the various Divine aspects of Mine. You must understand the all-knowing power in Me. Do not be led away by people who always talk of having got a locket or a watch or a ring from Me. These things have no deep meaning. 

Because the Avatar has a human form, man thinks (mistakenly of course) that the Avatar too is just another human being. In this context, Swami points out that,

When Narayana (Supreme God) takes the form of a man and wants to help humanity, He will act like a man. Just because God comes in human form, it is no excuse for man to be indifferent. He must realise that all the Poorna Avatars are incarnations of the same Formless, Eternal, Supreme Consciousness and the Cosmic, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient God.

(Source- http://media.radiosai.org/journals/Portal/On-Himself.htm)

Dear Bhaktas,

By now, you would have got perfect connectivity between Swami's words on His avatar and this sutra which says, "Even there (the love of the Gopis), there is no particular reason for forgetting the glory and greatness of the Lord."

Two lines from Swami's declarations above are repeated in order to bring about the total alignment of the same with today's verse.

"You must take a path by which you can see deep in My heart, and experience the various Divine aspects of Mine. You must understand the all-knowing power in Me."

"Just because God comes in human form, it is no excuse for man to be indifferent. He must realise that all the Poorna Avatars are incarnations of the same Formless, Eternal, Supreme Consciousness and the Cosmic, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient God."

Thus, the essence of this sutra, in alignment with Swami's gospel is that:

'A devotee, even when he / she takes to form worship of his / her chosen God - Rama / Krishna / Shiva / Muruga / Hanuman / Buddha / Sai etc., he / she must be fully aware of the eternal truth that all these are in essence the "Supreme consciousness or Purusha as God is explained in Upanishads." 

It is just that for a devotee, it may be difficult to start off in the initial stage of devotion that God is Satchitananda or Sathyam Jnanam Anantam Brahman or the Supreme Purusha  and hence, devotee takes some God with a form  as his / her Ishta Devata. 

Even while doing so, the conviction must be there in the devotee that from this form worship, I have to reach the state where, as Swami has said before, I am able to realise that (My chosen God, as much as) all the Poorna Avatars, are incarnations of the same Formless, Eternal, Supreme Consciousness and the Cosmic, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient God."

Love.

Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 32

Sutra 20. Astyevamevam.

(There are such and such instances. Examples do exist of such perfect expression of Bhakti. So it is.)

Evam evam: such and such, thus and thus (Udaharanam: example)

Asti: exists, there is.

The next Sutra will illustrate the view of Narada.

Bhakti is exactly as described in the foregoing aphorism.

Sutra 21. Yatha vrajagopikaanaam.

(As for instance, in the case of the cow-maids of Vraja or Brindavan.)

Vrajagopikaanaam: in the case of the Gopis of Vraja; the cow-maids of Vraja or Brindawan.

Although there have been great devotees like Sri Suka, Uddhava, Valmiki and others, Narada mentions the illiterate women of Vraja, as examples of the highest devotion. They played with Sri Krishna and identified themselves with Him in complete devotion.

They cared not for family tradition, reputation and personal comfort in order to live in perfect devotion to Lord Krishna. They said, “Wherever we look, we find Shyama in the dark rain cloud, in the black pupils of our eyes, in the dark Tamal tree leaves, in the blue waters of Jumna, in the blue sky etc.”

Pure, divine love definitely exercises a levelling influence. It removes all inequalities and brings the lover and the Beloved on the same level. It results in the fusion of personalities.

The Gopis were the crest-jewels among the devotees of the Lord. The love of the Gopis to the Lord cannot be adequately described in words. They dedicated their bodies, minds, possessions, souls, and their all to the Lord. They always sang the Lord’s glories with their voices choked with emotion.

Lord Krishna spoke to them, “You have cut all domestic ties for my sake. I cannot repay the debt of yours by serving you even for the life time of a celestial being. Please relieve Me from this liability out of your own generosity.”

The Lord says, “The Gopis have given themselves up to me, their heart and soul. They think that I am their life. They have abandoned all their closest relatives for my sake. I ever support those who cast aside all worldly pleasures for my sake.”

(Bhagavat X-46 chapter, verse 4. )

Th Gopis surrendered all their actions at the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. They experienced acute agony if they missed His presence even for a moment. When they heard the sweet, melodious flute of their beloved they left their houses while milking the cows. 

With minds absorbed in Krishna they rushed forth to where their lover was, without taking notice of each other. They gave up their household duties, with clothes and ornaments all in disorder, they hurriedly went to Krishna. 

Dear All,

Throughout the posts under this theme, it is experienced that the author mentions / writes something on a post and finds that in the next sutra / within the next few Sutras, the same subject is being dealt.

Yesterday, he had to write on the Gopis when the subject was "Vyakulta" and today, he finds the Sutra itself is on the Gopis!!!

All His will!!

For understanding the divine love which Gopis had for their Krishna, one has to exist as / in the state of a Gopi heart of heart / one has to reach that state of Ananya prema towards God, otherwise, the love of Gopis portrayed in Rasa Leela can never be understood by human beings with perverted mind.

If one looks at the Rasa Leela as a sport between a male and many females, then he / she has not even understood 0.1% of the divine love Gopis had for Krishna.

For them, Krishna was not a male and they were not female.

At the peak of their Prema for Krishna, they had lost their identity as female totally, they forgot that they were human beings, that they were in Brindavan, that it was a moon light, that Krishna was a male, that they were sporting with Krishna. 

All that existed was LOVE in its SUPREME ESSENCE.

With a human mind which discriminates between male and female, which recognizes the biological / physical attractions / sex etc between a male and a female, the divine love of Gopis for Krishna can never ever be known or experienced!!

Love.