Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 36

Sutra 25. Saa tu karmajnanayogebhyopy adhikataraa.

(It [supreme devotion] is again higher than action knowledge and Yoga.)

Saa: it; devotion, that Para Bhakti 

tu: again; in distinction from others 

Karma-yoga-jnana-yogebhya: than action, knowledge and Yoga 

api: even  

Adhikatara: superior, higher, greater.

In Sutras 25 to 33 Narada explains the greatness of Para Bhakti. He says that Karma, Jnana and Yoga are methods to achieve the result whereas Bhakti is the result itself.

Yogi is one who enters into a living communion with God and perfectly realises His immanence and activity everywhere in the world.

Unless one is blessed with love of the Lord, unless one’s heart is purified by devotion, it is impossible to perform unselfish service.

Without real devotion, one cannot know the nature of the Lord.

Bhakti or devotion is an end in itself. In Jnana and Yoga there is the risk of a fall. In the path of devotion there is no risk as the devotee receives full support and help from God. 

How?? 

FALL IN KARMA

While undertaking Karma, one may get so much immersed / drawn into / find ego fulfillment in his actions that He may forget the real purpose of the path of action - Karma yoga.

A person who takes up this path, must have the clarity that by undertaking selfless actions, he must reduce his ego, be simple, humble and noble. 

He should never expect any praise / any appreciation for his actions.

And most important, all along his path of action, even though one may not have the strength to melt in his love for God, even though one may not be totally immersing in prayers, still, he must have perfect clarity that it is the Lord who is using him to perform all selfless actions, may it be for the family or for the society.

What happens in reality in most cases when we take up action?

Exactly opposite of what is required in this path as given in the above paras, happens to us.

We are appreciated for our actions and our ego swells.

We are able to accomplish certain things through our action and we fail to realize that we are mere instruments and it is God's grace that He has used us in accomplishing such tasks.

We are  over occupied mentally in planning and doing actions that we get stuck in actions and we are never able to evolve spiritually.

This is slipping / falling down in the path of action.

FALL IN THE PATH OF JNANA

When we  take up the path of Self enquiry / Jnana / wisdom, the basic foundation is that we start with the question "Who am I" because, we have to be clear that after all, the flesh and bone that we exist as, the mind that rules us is not the real I and therefore, we start enquiring who really am I??

Then we take up various treatise in the path of Jnana, the main upanishads and then various treatise on vedanta which supports and compliments upanishad learning.

We gain knowledge of what is Brahman, what is Atman, what is universal consciousness and what is Individual consciousness, what is liberation in this path etc.

What happens then in some or many cases?

We start keeping ourselves at a very high pedestal when we look on all the worldly level people who do not process such knowledge.

Somehow, within, our ego, our impression that we are highly learned, creeps in. In vedantha, this is called "Shastra vasana" or the impression about oneself excelling in all shastras!

WHEN EGO COMES, THEN WHAT HAPPENS?

H   EGO   S.   , i.e., HE GOES!!. God leaves us, or, in the understanding in the path of Jnana, we go far away from experiencing the bliss of God as Atman / Self / Pure consciousness. 

The purpose is defeated.

We will continue with the same sutra tomorrow as something more has to be conveyed by the author on this sutra!!

Love.

Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 35

Sutra 24. Naasthyeva tasminsthatsukhasukhitwam.

(There i.e. in that illicit love there can certainly never be happiness of the other.)

Tasmin: in that (profane love), therein, in illicit love

Tat sukha-sukhitwam: happiness in the happiness of the other

na: not

asti: is, exists

eva: certainly.

In that sort of illicit /selfish love, there is no idea at all of one’s feeling happy in the happiness of the other.

In the case of the Gopis, the Beloved was God Himself. There was no desire in them for physical contact. They tried to make Sri Krishna happy by offering their all to Him.

They derived immense happiness from this act of service. They had no idea of any sensual enjoyment. Sensuality is selfish passion. It seeks gratification through others, but pure, divine love seeks to make the Beloved happy and to derive happiness from the happiness of the later. 

Happiness in the happiness of Other 

The subject referred in this sutra, in the context of Devotion to God, is SELF SACRIFICE for God Realization.

A true Bhakta sacrifices everything to attain God's Love, to attain God realization.

There are numerous stories of such devotees who sacrificed everything to please God / to attain God.

Mira sacrificed palace, her home, everything and went around, singing about Krishna, totally immersed in Krishna's Love.

Emperor Bali offered everything that he had, his kingdom, everything and said to Lord, "Oh Lord! I am offering to you the heart which you gave to me. I offer to you all my wealth, my kith and kin and everything else. Protect me, who has surrendered to you."

A heart touching incident to reveal what exactly is SELF SACRIFICE in devotion is worth mentioning here.

During the Super Specialty Hospital build, Swami was so intricately involved with the project that he would lose time with His students. This was difficult for the students, as much of Baba’s time was now dedicated talking to people involved with the project. However, the boys understood the reason behind the change and now communicated with the Swami through letters.

One afternoon, Swami went back into His room after collecting letters from students and the public. A while later, the door opened and Swami came out holding a letter in His hand saying, "Who wrote this letter? Which boy wrote it?". The boy who had given the letter recognized it to be his. Filled with fear, he slowly got up. Swami asked, "You wrote this letter?" Fearing the worst, the boy just nodded. "Come here" said Swami.

Legs shaking and body trembling, the boy tip-toed to Swami. Swami then said to the people on the veranda, "You know what this boy has written and done? He says, 'Swami, I am very anxious to do something for the Hospital Project. If I were a rich man, I could have written a cheque. If I were a contractor, I could have contributed building materials. If I were an engineer, I could have helped with the construction. If I were a doctor, I could have opted to serve here. I cannot do any of these things because I am still a student here. Yet I want to do something. So Bhagavan, out of Love for You, I decided to save money, money that I would otherwise have spent on soft drinks, snacks and various personal conveniences. For example, I now wash my clothes instead of giving it to the Dhobi [washerman]. This way, I have been able to save a hundred rupees. Please allow me to offer this with Love at Your Lotus Feet. If this money could get even a little brick for the Hospital, I would consider myself Blessed!'" 

After saying all this, Swami held opened the envelope and held up a hundred rupee currency note for all to see. Bhagavan then slowly said, "For Me, this hundred rupee note is more valuable than the biggest of cheques". 

(Source: Radio Sai)

Whereas,

In an illicit Love, all that there man needs from his paramour is sensuous satisfaction for himself and in return, he offers some money / some wealth. 

Such a man does not sacrifice anything for his paramour, does not consider her satisfaction to be of much importance. He just needs things for himself in the relationship.

Summary

In divine love the devotee sacrifices everything unto the Lord. There is a sense of self-forgetfulness. There is no trace of selfishness. The devotee does not at all care for his own happiness. He is willing to court suffering in order to make his Beloved Lord happy.

To make Lord happy is to be understood as "Following Lord's commands, Lord's instructions and lead one's life accordingly.

Swami has clearly spoken on this.

"How do you give me Ananda? By taking to heart what I say and putting in into daily sacrifice."

(Divine discourse, 29.9.1960)

The essential difference between the worldly love and the Godly love has been perfectly brought about in this sutra with a striking analogy.

The worldly love springs from the flesh (physical) and seeks but a sensual satisfaction. 

Godly love is utterly selfless and makes the lover joyously sacrifice, happily sigher because his goal is only to make his beloved God happy!!

Chinmaya concludes his commentary on this verse with this beautiful line. 

"To enjoy at the very joy given to his joyous beloved is the subtlest joy demanded in pure love".

Love.

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.