Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 20

Dear All.

Author assumes that the readers have got the clarity on how a Devotee / lover of God, ends up acting in conformance with the scriptural instructions / social norms etc., even without a ray of thought about  scriptural injunctions / social requirements.

The above was explained with an example of Buddha.

Today's post is willed to explain the same further.

Loka Veda Vyapara Nyaas - Renunciation of secular and religious activities.

As long as a devotee is in society and has to undertake actions as a householder or as a Sanyasi, yesterday's post explains how, without any concern of what Religion / Religious treatise expects from him / society expects from him, the house holder or a sanyasi Bhakta automatically ends up acting in conformance of secular/ religious injunctions.

How??

Let us see the difference between a normal jiva and a God intoxicated Bhakta, in the above context.

A Normal Jiva

• For any of his actions, there is a desire / there is a motive.
• Even standing in front of the sanctum sanctorum in Tirupathi / Prashant nilayam, the devotee has some desires which he wants the God to fulfill.
• Thus, mind, if it has even a ray of any desire, is agitated / restless till the time that desire is fulfilled and as soon as and if at all, that desire is fulfilled, the mind jumps to next desire.
• Agitated mind may end up prompting the jiva to take actions which may sometimes be against the scriptural injunctions or the social norms.

A Bhakta, intoxicated with Love of God

• Nothing mentioned above in case of a normal Jiva is applicable to a true Bhakta as he has no desire but to merge with God.
• Mira existed with so much of Love for her Krishna that she verily existed as Krishna. In such an existence, where can a place for any desire in worldly sense??
• So, what would be the texture of such a heart which is filled ONLY with love for God and with no CONCERN for the world??
• The heart is PURE, the spiritual energy is FULL, mental agitation is NIL.

Dear Readers,

This Heart's PURITY, FULLNESS of spiritual energy and ZERO mental agitation is the SECRET for perfection in all thoughts / words and actions of a true devotee because there is no mixing of any thought / motive behind any of his action.

When action is done at such a purity, they are same as actions of any Avatar / any incarnation. How can any action of an incarnation not confirm to Spiritual injunction or secular norms?????

Now, let us move to the state of a Bhakta, who  has neither any duty towards family / society, nor any need for  being in this world for any purpose, not even for transforming any human beings.

What would be such a Bhakta's state??

He even crosses the spontaneous perfection in confirming to Spiritual / secular norms. He transcends all actions, He transcends all practices, all rituals, all social requirements.

Chinmaya writes about the state of such a devotee thus:-

"When once  the world ward flow of mind has completely ended, to such a devotee, performance of rituals becomes totally impossible.

Every moment of his existence, in every thought in his heart, he is constantly at Lord's feet. 

To such a devotee who is living in unbroken memory of the Lord of his heart, his very existence is a constant flow of Love at the Alter of the Lord."

When the devotee reaches such a state, it is immaterial where he lives - whether in a cave in Himalaya or in a busy town. He exists in KAIVALYA, ALONE LESS WITH / AS / IN  SELF  or GOD.

For him, there are no more rituals, no more pilgrimages, no more yagnas, no more reading of scripture, no more fasting, no more praying, no more prescriptions of religion!!!! He crosses them all and neither is he concerned with any society norms / expectations of people from him !!!!

HE HAS MERGED WITH THE LORD!!

Love.

Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 19

Sutra 8. Nirodhastu Lokavedavyaapaaranyaasah. 

(On the contrary control of desires means the resignation to the Lord of all worldly and scriptural activities.)

Nirodha: inhibition of desires

Tu: on the contrary

Lokaveda Vyaapaarasya: of worldly and scriptural activities;

Nyaasah: resignation or consecration (to the Supreme).

When divine love grows renunciation of action comes by itself. The devotee is God-intoxicated. He knows nothing but his beloved Lord. His mind is ever fixed on the form of his Lord. He is not capable of doing any action enjoined by the Smritis or the Vedas. All activities leave him of their own accord.

He sees nothing else but God. He speaks of nothing else but God. He does not listen to anything. He has no craving or desire. Sometimes his voice is choked. He sits silently. How can he work at this stage ?

Nirodha: The word Nirodha is not used here in the ordinary way as “restraint”. It is used in a special sense viz., Nyasa or ‘renunciation’, or ‘dedication’.

Loka Veda Vyaapaara: Renunciation of worldly activities and scriptural duties does not mean here the abandoning of such activities themselves.

We often take up a particular activity / we act in a particular way due to any of the following reasons:-

• Our religion and its related treatise prescribe certain actions/ certain way to act- Bhagwad Gita / Bible / Quran etc prescribe certain actions / restraints.
• There are certain accepted norms of the society / society or the people around us / the community expects us to act in a particular way
• If we do things in a particular way / if we take up some actions, then we will get appreciation from society.

How ever, what does Narada say about a Bhakta who is intoxicated in Love of God???

He says, the Bhakta is not bound by any prescriptions in scriptures, nor does  he concern himself about expectations of society from him, nor is he mindful of actions which will fetch him appreciation from  society.

Does it mean that he does not abide by scriptures/ social norms??

A true Bhakta, immersed / intoxicated in God's Love, does not act because scriptures impose / society expects such action from him, but he does everything good, everything that is honored by the society because HE IS GOOD BY HIS NATURE, He has become THAT which is  respected, accepted and loved by the world!!

Buddha, even when he was old and much later after attaining enlightenment,   used to go through all the daily duties/ practice that a young monk is expected to undertake in his initial period of training.

An young monk approached Buddha and said, " Master, you are beyond all these practice, why do you take up these practice"?

Buddha smiled and replied, " I am not taking up any practice, these practice have taken me over".

What did Buddha mean??

The rigorous practice in the initial years in renunciation has become a natural way for Buddha and he does not do any such action because the religion prescribes, but because, he spontaneously ended up acting in that manner!!!

So, a lover of God exists unconcerned about any prescriptions of religion / society  but he is essentially perfect, essentially so good that whatever he does / act / speak  are those actions / words which are prescribed as "Good" by religion / society!!.

Thus, even the distinction of sacred and secular (worldly) duty vanishes for a realised devotee. Every work is sacred to him. Every work is a sacred offering unto the Lord. Every work is an expression of his love for God.

He does not intend to subscribe to any norms but in his purity, he ends up acting pure and perfect and his actions are such which are hailed by religion/ by humanity / by society / by world at large!!

Love.

Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 18

Sutra 7. Saa Na Kaamayamaana Nirodharoopatwat. 

(Bhakti (supreme love) is not of the nature of lust (desire), because it is of the form of renunciation.)

Saa: it  that (i.e. Bhakti described as Paramapremarupa in Sutra 2)

na: not  

Kaamayamaana: of the nature of lust;

Nirodharoopatwat: being of the form of renunciation.

Bhakti is not led by desires, because it finds expression in the inhibition of all desires. The inhibition of all desires is not a total annihilation or extinction of all activities.

Kaamayamaana: It means “of the nature of Kama”. “Kama” is not only sexual lust but desire in general. 

Kaama is love for objects (which are not connected to Bhagavan) which when consumed by any of the senses gives us pleasure. It is well known and self-explanatory. 

We have something we really enjoy doing or consuming, we consume it or do it and we feel happy. This is Kaama.

Bhakti is love for Bhagavan. This love may be present due to different reasons. One possible reason (and popular, perhaps) is that the mind finds peace if it believes in the presence of a benevolent protector of oneself who is all-powerful and all-knowing and all-forgiving. 

This belief is strengthened by a number of experiences that one may have and the life of persons who have moral, ethical and spiritual purity.

This peace calms the mind, and a calm mind is the source of happiness in itself. 

Bhakti may also arise due to the understanding that Ishwara is in the form of everything one loves, i.e., in and through all the underlying sense-objects of Kaama, it is only Bhagavan that exists really.

In an earlier post, we have dealt with the flow of Kama and how the flow can be reversed to attain Moksha.

Let us revise the same in an earlier manner now.

• Man's life is filled with Kama, Love for objects as explained above.
• All objects, all human beings - everything is matter created by God and man spends several births in pursuit of Satisfaction / Happiness by running after all objects created by the God.
• Along side, he is also spending some time for pursuing God in every birth. 
• At last, there comes a birth where, man, after getting tired of the "temporary happiness" that he gets out of all worldly objects, turns towards the source of all those objects- GOD.

(Swami, pointing out at few Ex students who served Swami 24/7 by being with Swami, serving Swami in every possible way and said in a discourse- "while the entire world comes to me for fulfilling their desires for worldly objects and pray to me to fulfill such desires, these are the boys who said- Swami, you are serving the world tirelessly, we just need one thing in our life, to Love you and to serve you)

(In the Navavida Bhakti, when the state of Saakhyam is reached where the Bhakta sees and experiences God as his friend, the Bhakta says, by being God's friend itself, if it is so wonderful, then How would it be when I exist as God Himself - this thought takes him to the last culmination- ATMA NIVEDANAM)

• If the objects in this world can give some happiness for some moments and all / many such objects put together can give a higher satisfaction for a longer time, then the devotee now turns to God and wonders, "If I  desire and reach the source of all these objects, the God Himself, then will it not result in ever lasting happiness, ever lasting bliss??".
• Thus, Love for Objects or Kama also ultimately culminates in Love for God only.

Whereas, in this sutra, we are taking about SA NA KAMYAMAANA - i.e., Sage Narada talks about the one who has already crossed the above flow of Love for Objects and has reached SA - The Parama Prema Rupa, God!!!. 

Then, How such a Bhakta can ever indulge in Kama - whether sexual or any other objective pleasure????

Continued..........

Love.