Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 60

Sutra 54. Gunarahitam kaamanaarahitam pratikashana vardhamaanam avichchinnam Sookshmamataram anubhavaroopam.

[It (divine love) is devoid of all attributes, devoid of all desires, expanding every moment, continuous, most subtle and of the nature of inner experience.]

Gunarahitam: devoid of all attributes

Kaamanaarahitam: bereft of desire

Pratikshana-vardhamaanam: expanding every moment

Avichchinnam: of ceaseless flow

Sookshmataram: extremely subtle

Anubhavaroopam: of the form of feeling, of the nature of inner experiences.

Let us now focus on each of the above descriptions / highlights on divine love, given by Devarishi in this sutra.

Attribute-less

Attributes reside in matter and describe one or other aspect of relativity, while divine love is beyond matter and relativity. 

We can grasp with the mind and describe in language an object only through its properties. 

Whereas, Devotion is devoid of these and so it cannot be described in words .

Desire-less

Bhakti practiced in order to get away from ills or to attain certain desire is not genuine Bhakti. 

It is impossible for the ordinary human mind to have any conception of this exalted divine love. It is different from the grosser love for things of this world.

All of us go to Parthi and whether it used be the time when Swami was there in form or it is now, after 2011, invariably we end up (most of us), praying for some or the other material fulfillments, whether it is marriage / career / health or any other such thing related to this material world.

God waits for those few devotees who would seek nothing else but the God Himself.  Seeking God in true sense is again not only limiting to physical proximity / interview etc. only but real seeking is real craving to find God within oneself, for such presence of God within us that He would come, Install Himself within us and will never ever leave thereafter!!!

Expanding every moment

Divine love is infinite. Worldly love is often cut short. It is broken. It decreases or wanes or declines like the waning moon. 

Divine love is not dependent on youth, beauty, wealth or virtue. It is not tainted by self-interest. There is no thought of personal gain here. It is very subtle, very soft, very slender, very remote. It is the fountain of all sweetness. It is unvaried in sweetness. It is constant. It is the hardest of all. It is brimful or full. It is unwavering and sublime. It unites the devotee with the Lord and makes him an embodiment of bliss. 

The divine current of love begins to flow only when one goes beyond the influence of the three Gunas. 

At first there is a glimpse of the Lord. Gradually the devotee becomes identified with the Lord. 

Like the smaller streams rushing towards the ocean, with every inner experience in his love for God, the love for God expands each and every moment to the extent that ultimately, it expands beyond the limitations of this creation and has the entire creation within it.

Ceaseless flow 

The divine love grows in volume and intensity at every moment. It has a ceaseless flow. It is of the form of subtler feeling.

Even Satvic Bhakti is far below the true Bhakti when one loves God for love’s sake . 

Ceaseless flow is explained by Sankara with an example of continuous flow of Oil from one pot to another, in full, without break, not in drops but in whole. 

Extremely Subtle

It is very, very subtle. So the term ‘Sukshmataram’ is used. It always grows and increases. There is always waxing. The play of gunas has no place here. Sensual desires cannot exist when this unbroken love operates. Whatever the mind wants can be had in God. His one attribute ananta (infinite) embraces everything.

Divine Love seeks no return, grows from more to more every moment, knows no break, is subtler than the subtlest and is of the nature pure, inner experience. It is a spontaneous outpouring of the heart.

The last of the subtler thing to leave  a human being is his subtlest identity as a Jiva, which is termed as Avidya or Ignorance in vedantha. 

Once this last subtler identity leaves a man, only then is he able to experience the subtler than the subtlest experience of divine love.

Inner experience

“Anu” is a prefix expressing nearness, participation, conformity. Love or Ananda exists. It is bhava. The individual soul participates in it. His nearness to it, his conforming himself to its nature, his participation of it is indicated by the prefix “Anu”.

There is God’s love. The individual soul participates this love. That is the Anubhava. So divine love is Anubhavarupam.

Ordinary emotions depend on certain external causes and objects and are therefore transitory. The emotion vanishes when the cause or object is removed. One also becomes satisfied in a short time by sense enjoyments. One can never become satiated with devotion or divine love. It can be experienced for all times. Devotion is independent of causes, exactly in the same way our srutis describe Brahman as cause less.

Its content is a perennial fountain of eternal bliss. Therefore it becomes more and more enjoyable as it deepens, strengthens in course of time. 

Love.