Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 8

Dear All,

In the last post, we dealt with the expression "Parama Prema", in 2nd sutra.

Bhagwan Baba explains this "Parama Prema" further, as under:-

"The Lord is Love, His Form is Love, All beings are Love, Love saves and serves, Through Love alone can Good arise.

Love reveals the God in all.

Love binds one person to another. Love attaches one thing to another. Without Love the Universe is naught. The highest Love makes us aware of the Lord in every one. The Lord is equally present in all. Life is Love; Love is Life. Without God, deprived of God, nothing and nobody can exist. We live on and through the Divine Will. 

It is His will that operates as Love, in each of us. It is He who prompts the prayer, "Let all the worlds be happy." For, He makes us aware that the God we adore, the God we love, the God we live by, is in every other being as Love. Thus Love expands and encompasses all creation.

Looking a little closer, we discover that life itself is Love. They are not two but one. Love is the very nature of life, as burning is the nature of fire, or wetness of water, or sweetness of sugar. 

We tend a plant only when the leaves are green; when they become dry and the plant becomes a life-less stick, we stop loving it. Love lasts as long as life exists. The mother is loved as long as there is life in her; when life departs, we bury her without the least compunction. 

Love is bound with life. In fact, Love is Life. The person with no Love to share is as bad as dead. This is the reason why love expands in an ever widening circle.

Love is the fruit of life. 

The fruit has three components

-the skin, 

-the juicy kernel and 

-the seed. 

Skin

To experience the fruit, we have first to remove the skin. The skin represents egoism, the 'I' feeling, the excluding, limiting, individualizing principle. 

(Author's note- This is the first Ego, the I feeling, associating ourselves with our body, mind and intellect)

Seed

The seed represents 'selfishness', the 'mine' feeling, the possessive, the greedy, desireful principle. This too has to be discarded. 

(Author's note- This is the result of the first ego, I. Since we have associated ourselves with our body, mind, intellect, the feeling of mine (all those things which glorify, which are favorable to our individual ego) and not mine (all those things which do not favor, which do not glorify our individual ego, our identity with our Body, mind and intellect)

Sweet Juice 

What remains is the sweet juice, the rasa, which the Upanishads describe as Divine, the Love Supreme. 

Parama prema is Jyothi, Amrutham, Brahma: "Aapo Jyotheeraso Amrutham Brahma." Everyone has the right to partake of this nectarine prema and to share it with others. 

No one is excluded on the basis of race, caste, creed or place of origin. The only condition is: “Have the skin and the seed been removed?" 

(Extract from Divine discourse delivered on 1981 Christmas Day)

(Author's note- Once the seed and the skin are removed, i.e, the identification with our body, mind and intellect and accordingly, segregating everything, every experience, every relationship as Mine and Not Mine, the juice is and was always there, which is supreme, unselfish, Pure Love for God/ Pure Love of God)

Love.

Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 7

Dear All,

Now to the remaining expressions in verse 2.

Tu - is used to differentiate the highest Bhakti which Maharshi Narada alludes to in this Sutra from the lower type of devotion which is actuated by ulterior motives and desires or fear of God, etc.

You should know the difference between ordinary love, the love between wife and husband, children and parents, friends and relations.

Asmin - The word  asmin in this, is used in this Sutra to denote the object of love. Narada’s teaching is non-sectarian. He did not use the word, Brahman, Ishwar, Rama, Krishna, Siva, etc.

The various objects which devotees worship according to their spiritual development are:-

1. a personal God, Vishnu, Siva, Jesus or Buddha  etc.

2. An idol or image of the personal God which will remind him of the Personal God.

3. An Avatara like Lord Rama or Lord Krishna or Sai.

4. Guru or one’s spiritual guide.

5. Humanity in general.

6. The whole world (Viswarupa) conceived as the manifestation of the Supreme Being.

7. The Antaryamin or the inner Ruler or controller of all the objects in the world.

8. One’s own Atman . 

Parama Prema Rupa: There is no trace of selfishness or egoism or any motive or fear in this kind of supreme love. Do not mistake emotion or fanaticism for devotion or supreme love. It will pass away soon. Blind faith also is not supreme love.

Bhakti is love for love’s sake. The devotee wants God and God alone . There is no selfish expectation here. There is no fear also. Therefore it is called “Parama Prem Rupa”. 

Is the son afraid of his father, who is a Sessions Judge? Is the wife afraid of her husband? So also a devotee entertains the least fear of God. 

The fear of retribution vanishes in him. He feels, believes, conceives and imagines that his Ishtam is an Ocean of Love or Prem .

Bhakti is the slender thread of Prem or love that binds the heart of a devotee with the lotus feet of the Lord. Bhakti is intense devotion and supreme attachment to God. Bhakti is supreme love for God. It is the spontaneous out-pouring of Prem towards the Beloved. 

It is pure, unselfish, divine love or Suddha Prem. There is not a bit of bargaining or expectation of anything here. This higher feeling is indescribable in words. It has to be sincerely experienced by the devotee. Bhakti is a sacred, higher emotion with sublime sentiments that unites the devotees with the Lord.

Love.

Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 6

Sutra 2. Sa twasmin parama prema rupaa.

That (devotion), verily, is of the nature of supreme Love of God.

Sa: That (i.e., Bhakti)

tu: But;

Asmin: in this

Parama: Supreme

Prema: Love

Rupaa: Form.

SA - THAT (Bhakti)

Devotion or Bhakti is exclusive love for God. The devotee wants God and God alone. He is completely attached to God. He has no attraction or love for any object in this world. He is absolutely free from all mundane desires. He has no desire for the enjoyment of the next world. He does not want even Mukti. Supreme Love does not seek a return. It does not expect a reward. The lover wants his Beloved alone. The devotee is quite indifferent to the pleasures of this world. He has no interest in the affairs of this world.

Mark how love develops. First arises attraction. Then follows faith and after that Adoration leads to suppression of mundane desires. The result is single-mindedness and satisfaction. Then grow attachment and supreme love towards God.

In this type of highest Bhakti all attraction and attachment which one has for objects of enjoyment are transferred to the only dearest object, viz., God. This leads the devotee to an eternal union with his Beloved and culminates in oneness.

Bhakti is divided into two kinds, viz., Apara Bhakti or Gauna Bhakti and Para Bhakti. Apara Bhakti is the lower or initial stage of devotion of an aspirant following the path of Bhakti, while Para Bhakti is the highest stage of Bhakti.

The relationship of the devotee with the Lord in various stages is beautifully described here. Three stages of devotion (bhakti) are explained thus:

1.     Thamaivaaam (I am Thine) - affirms I am Yours,

2.     Mamaiva-thwam (You are mine) and

3.     Thwame-Vaaham (Thou art I) - You and I are One, the Same.

Each is just a step in the rising series and the last is the highest step of all. 

First Stage

Tham-eva-aham, the Lord is fully free and Devotee is fully bound (it is like the cat & the kitten). The cat shifts the kitten about as it wills; the kitten just mews and accepts whatever happens. This attitude is very gentle and is within easy reach of all.

Second Stage

In the second, Mama-eva-thwam, the devotee binds the Lord, who is to that extent un-free! Surdas is a good example of this attitude. "Krishna! you may escape from my hold, from the clasp of these arms; but you cannot escape from my heart I have bound You", challenged, the Lord just smiled and assented; for 'I am bound by My devotees'. The devotee can tie up the Lord with his Prema, by Bhakthi that overwhelms and overpowers his egoism. When man is full of this type of Bhakthi, the Lord will Himself bless with everything he needs; His Grace will fulfil all his wants.

Remember the promise the Lord made in the Githa 'Yogakshemam Vahaaamyaham', "I carry the burden of his welfare".

Third and Final Stage

Next about the third stage: "Thwamevaaham ithi thridhaa"; this is the Avibhaktha -Bhakthi, the inseparable devotion. The devotee offers all to the Lord, including himself, for he feels that he cannot withhold himself.

That completes his surrender. The thwa-me-vaaham feeling is the Adwaithic Saranagathi, based on the realisation that all this ('Idam') is Vasudeva and nothing else, nothing else. So long as the consciousness of the Deha or body persists, the bhaktha is the servant and the Lord is the Master. So long as the individual feels that he is separate from other individuals, the bhaktha is a part and the Lord is the Whole. When he progresses to the State when he gets beyond the limits of the body as well as of 'I' and 'Mine', then there is no more distinction; Bhaktha and Bhagavan are the same.

“when I think of myself as an embodied being. I am your servant; when I think of myself as an individual soul, I am part of you; but when I realize ‘I am Atman’ I am one with you. This is my firm conviction.” 

Continued........