Narada bhakthi suthra

                       

                          - Gospel of Divine Love

 

The sage Narada , known as Devarshi is the mAnasaputhra of Brahma and his story is told in detail in Bhagavatha. Bhakthi is extolled by Krishna in the Gita and also in Bhagavatha. So Narada bhakthi suthra should be studied along with the two works.While the Brahma suthra  of Vyasa pertains to knowledge and the Dharmasuthra of Jaimini is about  karmamarga this work is about bhakthi without which jnana becomes dry and karma causes bondage.

 

Gita advocates jnanayoga,  karmayoga and bhakthiyoga, which purifies the intellect , will and emotion respectively and the blend of all the three is a sure means of speedy achievement of the goal, namely moksha.Narada bhakthi suthra , is a synthesis of all the three, the other two being made possible by bhakthi.

 

Ramakrishna has stressed the path of devotion as the best and easiest in kaliyuga and this work is the guide  book for sincere seekers that leads them by hand from the start to finish. This is not an intellectually

systematised thought process but an exposition that came out of experience.To follow the path of bhakthi one need not be well versed in sasthras or belong to high caste etc. The only requisite is sraddha and bhakthi.

 

What is bhakthi? Love of God, which is the ultimate stage of all other love commonly felt in the world, which are only a semblance of that love, whcih is bhakthi.You do not see him or speak to him but you feel that he is very close to you and he can see you and hear you and knows your innermost thoughts.Narada bhakthi suthra elucidates the concept of bhakthi, the supreme divine love and outlines the steps leading to it.

 

 

Naradabhakthisuthra-adhyaya-1-Parabhakthisvarupam

 

suthra-1

 

aTHAtho bhakthim vyAkyAsyAmah

 

Now,aTha, therefore,athah, we shall expound vyAkyAsyamah,the divine love, bhakthim.

 

Suthras are aphorisms which tell the truths in short form like a formula. Brahma suthra by Vyasa  serves the purpose of establishing the real purport of the upanishads while Dharmasuthra  by Jaimini relates to the karamamarga or ritualistic discipline and the Pathanjali yoga suthra outlines the yoga discipline.

 

Narada extolled the path of bhakthi to Vyasa to pursuade him to write Bhagavathapurana. He begins with  the words 'then therefore' as in the other works on the suthras. The word 'aTHa, then ,' denotes the Anantharya or the sequential action to something that precedes the knowledge of bhakthi. It refers to the necessary qualification of one who desires to follow the path of Bhakthimarga.Devotion cannot be instilled in any one at random but the person should already have the inclination for it.The arTHithva, intense desire to learn, the capacity shakthathva,to understand and exposure free from obstacles aparyudhasthathva should be present to make the study of any subject effective.

 

The path of bhakthi is open to all irrespective of caste,creed etc.who have belief in the grace of the Lord and faith in the path of devotion as an effective means of freeing one from the cycle of birth and death which causes the suffering in samsara.This fact is confirmed by Lord Krishna in Gita by saying that even those who have been born in lowliest of birth will attain the highest goal by taking refuge in Him.

 

Ramanuja mentions in sribhashya seven requisites for pursuing the path of devotion.They are:

1.vivEka, discrimination,

2.vimOka ,freedom from desires,

3.abhyAsa , practice,

4.kriya , doing good to others,

5.kalyaNa- auspicious qualities like nonviolence, straight forwardness, mercy etc.

6.anavasAdha,cheerfulness and

7. anuddharsha- absence of excessive hilarity.

 

These are explained exhaustively in sribhshya of Ramanuja.

 

The next word in the suthra athah,therefore gives the reason for explaining the bhakthi suthra by Naradha. Bhakthi is the easiest  means of attaining salvation . it is easily followed. it is the only path available to all. It is necessary even to those who acquire jnana for the simple reason that it softens heart of even a stoic vedantin without which he will  dry up.Narada who has experienced it, wishes to share the joy of it with the world.

 

Then he says 'bhakthim vyAkhyAsyAmaha, we shall explain the pathof devotion.' Here the word 'we' is not used in the sense of reverence but it means that he is going to explain something which has  been expounded and experienced by others before him and hence it is used in the plural sense only.By this it is implied that this is not a discourse on principles based on reason but an exposition based on  actual experience.

 

suthra-2

 

 

sAthvasmin paramaprEma rupA

 

 

sA- that(devotion); thu-indeed;   paramaprEmarupa- of the nature of supreme devotion  asmin- in that.

 

Bhakthi is of two kinds aparA and parAbhakthi. The devotion of an aspirant is the former and the same when fructified  into realisation of the goal it is parA bhakthi. The particle thu differentiates this parAbhakthi from the ordinary sense of the term commonly understood as bhakthi. the real devotion of saints like Meera, Andal and azvars is not the one which goes by the name of pooja, or observing rituals either for fulfilment of desired object or out of fear. Normally in the world people call one bhakthiman merely by his outward manifestations such as regularly going to the temples, doing ritualistic worship, observing vratas like ekadasi etc. But it is possible for one to do all this yet not to have real devotion at heart. Bhakthi is an attitude of the heart with or without external manifestations.

 

Then what is bhakthi? Ramanuja gives the answer in Sribhashya. It is Dhruvasmrthi, constant remembrance of the Lord, like thailadhaArA, the dripping of oil. It has been declared by PrahlAda, Uddhava and Narada that bhakthi is the feeling that the Lord is one's own. In gopAlapoorvathApini upanishad bhakthi is defined as 'bhakthirasya bhajanam; EthadhihAmuthrOpADHinairASyEna amushmin manahkalpanam,' Bhakthi is the adoring service with mind fixed on Him, without any expectation in this world or the next. The same idea is expressed by Thondaradippodi Azvar in ThirumAlai 'icchuvai thavira yAn pOy indhiralOkam ALum acchuvai perinum  vEnden arangamAnagaruLAnE.' " I do not wish for anything else including the rulership of heaven, except singing your names and stay here."

 

Affection for one's Chosen Ideal matures into extreme love and when it is absorbed totally in the object of love  it is called bhakthi. Sankara says in Vivekachaadamani 'svasvarupanusanDHAnam bhakthirithybhidheeyathe;svAthmathathvAnusanDHAnam bhakthirithi aparE jaguh.' Devotion is defined by some as an enquiry into oneself and by others it is said to be an enquiry into  the truth of one's own nature. As the supreme being is the inner self of all, this is also true. ChandhOgya upanishad says that Brahman is to be worshipped and realised,  is the same as the Atman in the heart. Thus love of God is nothing but the love of the Reality or the higher self, the indwelling self of man.

 

The word in the suthra paramaprEmAkhyA defines bhakthi in order to distinguish it from the common view of bhakthi. It is not fevered imagination or emotional excitement. It is not also hallucination which defies all scientific explanations but it is  real and the transcendental experience of bliss. It is also a far cry from fanaticism or blind faith that often leads to sectarian fights. It is not selfish or egoistic and removes any other love of the world or desire for worldly gains and is accompanied with complete self-effacing forgetfulness and the love that lacks all these qualities is not bhakthi.

 

In srimadbhagavatham we find Krishna telling Uddhava about the gopis-

thA nAvidhan mayyanushangabaddhaDHiyah

svamAthmAnam adhasthaTHEdham

yaTHA samAdhOU munayO abDHithOyE

nadhyah pravishtA iva namarupE (Bh.11.12)

 

With their thoughts firmly fixed on Me they were not aware of their body or what was far or near, just like sages in samadhi or the rivers losing their name and form on merging with the sea.

 

Suka describing the state of the gopis says, 'thadhmanaskAh thadhAlApAh thadhvichEshtAh thadhAthmikAh; thadhguNAnEva gAyanthyah nAthmAgArANi sasmaruh.'(Bh.10.30.44)

 

With their hearts absorbed in Krishna they talked only about him, acted like him, thought of themselves not different from him, singing only about his qualities ,they forgot even their own homes.

 

The word asmin in this suthra is significant as it does not denote any metaphysical or theological designation. In the initial stages the divine spirit is conceived as something different from oneself and the mind is investing that spirit with all divine qualities which the individual gradually acquires himself in course of devotion until there is no separation from his ideal and realises that as his own self.

 

This is expressed in the famous lines presumably spoken by Hanuman,

'dhEha budDHyA thu dAsOham jeevabuDHya thvadhamSakah;AthmabudDHyA thvamEvAham ithi mE nischithA mathih.'

"when I identify myself with  my body I am your servant. When I consider myself as a soul I am a part of you. But when I think of myself as the Athman I am one with you."

 

In srimadbhagavatham it is said that the sages , though they have become one with the supreme self, wilfully retain their identity in order to enjoy the bliss of the company of the supreme self because they want to remain separate and taste the sugar rather than merging wih it.

 

But there are another kind of bhakthas who never bother about retaining or giving up their individuality but surrender themselves to God and let Him do whatever He likes with them. But the individuality of those, changes irrevocably and they remain divine in all their thoughts words and deed.

 

Thus the supreme divine love indicated by Narada is different from the term  bhakthi used normally in everyday life. It is the culmination of all yogas, ending in the complete selfless love for the sake of love alone.

 

suthra-3-amrthasvarupA cha

 

Also of the nature of immortality.

SA-that bhakthi is, amrtha svarupA-having the essential form of amrtha, cha- also.

 

This suthra gives a description of the nature of bhakthi. In its own essential nature bhakthi is no less than mukthi, a state of immortal bliss and hence is called amrtha.

 

The joy experienced in this world or the next, that is, heaven , is not permanent. The sukha in this world is always mixed with or followed by sorrow and that in the other world is also temporary as Krishna  says, 'ksheenE puNyE marthya lokam viSanthi, when the merit, puNya is exhausted the soul riverts back to the mortal world,' in Bhagavtgita.

 

 Hence the immortal bliss ,amrtha is possible only in the state of mukthi. Amrtha translated as nectar is also relevant because the joy experienced through bhakthi is like nectar to the devotee, an extremely blissful experience of the Lord who is termed by NammazvAr as ArAvamudhan, ceaseless nectar.

 

Narayanabhattadhri says in Narayaneeyam that the devotion to the Lord is sweet in the beginning, in the middle and in the end. All the saints in all countries, regions and in all languages  have expressed the  experience of devotion as nectar-like.

 

Bhakthi is not losing individualtiy but delving deep into the divine, transcending the individuality and regaining  the natural self of uinfinite joy. Sri Ramakrishna describes God as a liquid sweet. He asked Vivekanandha that, suppose he was a fly and there is a vessel full of  syrup of sugar where will he sit and drink it and Vivekanandha replied that he will sit at the rim lest he will be drowned. Sri Ramakrishna said that diving into the divine sea called sacchidhAnandha one does not drown but gets immortality.

 

The state of bhakthi attainable in this life itself is parAbhakthi which is akin to mukthi. So Narada accepts immortality in this life itself through bhakthi, which means not the continuation of this embodiment but freedom from misery and experience of eternal bliss. In Katopanishad it is said, 'aTha marthyO amrthO bhavathi athra Brahma samaSnuthE (Kata.6-14) then the mortal becomes immortal and attains Brahman here.' In Purushasuktha we have the statement, 'thamEvam vidhvAn amrtha iha bhavathi, realising Him thus one becomes immortal here.'

 

The word amrtha, according to AmarakoSa, the sanskrit lexicon compiled by Amarasimha, has also other meanings besides nectar and immortal. It means alms unasked 'dhve yAchatha ayAchithayOh yaTHA sankhyaa mrtha amrthE, mrtha and amrtha mean asked and unasked respectively. So bhakthi is amrtha because the devotee is not interested in anything else except to enjoy the Lord's presence and His service. But the Lord gives mukthi unasked. The supreme cannot be attained through knowledge, meritorious acts like charity, austerity  etc. but can  be obtained by Divine grace alone which bhakthi secures for the devotee .'YamaivEshavrNuthE thEna labhyah, It(mukthi) is attained by him alone whom God chooses.'

 

Another meaning of amrtha  is yajnaSesha, the remains of an offering. This implies that sacrifice which gives the result is through self effort. Hence the word amrtha with respect to bhakthi means that even though supreme devotion is the grace of God resulting in mukthi it requires self effort. Unless one wishes for it and takes effort, the grace will not descend on him. This is what has been denoted by Krishna in the Gita by 'mA thE sangOsthu akarmaNi' which means that one should not  abstain from performing work,' though the result is not in his hands.

 

In short, immortality, bliss and freedom form the end while the grace of God and self effort form the means.

 

 

Suthra-4-yallabDHvA pumAn siddhObhavthi amrthObhavathi thrupthObhavathi

 

yath=that which(bhakthi); labDhvA=having gained;pumAn=man; bhavathi=becomes siddhah=perfect;amrthah=eternal;thrupthah= contented

Attaining  bhakthi a devotee becomes perfect being, becomes immortal and contented.

 

Bhakthi is the only thing a devotee asks for, but the Lord gives him mukthi as well, which is denoted by the word amrtha. Bhakthi alone gives full satisfaction to the devotee and  hence he become thruptha, contented. The word siddha does not mean the ashtamAsiddhis, the occult powers which are eight in number, but it means that the devotee becomes  perfect in all respects. When one is an aspirant he is a sadhaka and when he attains the goal he is siddha.It is in this sense the word siddha is used here. He feels a krthakrthya, one who has accomplished what has to be accomplished.

 

Shankara in his sivanandhalahari says in a beautiful sloka,

 

narathvam dhevathvam nagavanamrgathvam maSakathA

paSuthvam keetathvam bhavathu vihagathvAdhijananam

sadhA thvadpAdhAbjasmaraNaparamAnandhalaharee

vihArAsaktham cheth hrdhayamiha kimthEna vapushA.

 

'Let me be born as a man or god, animal or a tree, a mosquito, a worm, a bird. If my heart is immersed in the waves of bliss of remembering your lotus feet what do I care for the kind of body I have?'

 

Kulasekhara in Mukundamala expresses the same idea  in praying for bhakthi alone, irrespective of where he is , in heaven or in hell or on earth.'avismrtih tvaccharaNAravindhE bhavE bhavE mE asthu thava prasadhAth,may I have the remembrance of your lotus feet by Your grace, in all my lives to come.' And 'dhivi vA bhivi va mamAsthu vaso narakE vA , whether I am in heaven, earth or hell.'

 

In srimadbhagavatham Krishna tells Uddhava that the one who has surrendered his heart to the Lord will not desire either the post of Brahma, Indra or to become a ruler on earth or in netherworld,nor will he desire  yoga siddhi or moksha, except the Lord Himself.

 

The word pumAn is significant in as much as the qualification for attaining devotion is being a pumAn or a man, which includes woman, as the word denotes a human being in general. It eliminates the necessity of being a brahmin or kshathriya or a srothriya, wellversed in vedas, to be a devotee and includes all who have faith in,  and love for, the Lord.

 

Krishna says in Bhagavatgita, 'mAmhi pArTha vyapAsrithya yepi syuh papayOnyah; sthriyO vaisyAh thaTHASudhAh thEpi yAnthi parAm gathim.' This means, those who resort to the Lord will attain salvationmay they be of low birth or women or visya , implying that they need not be brahmins or kshathriyas for whom alone the learning of the vedas is prescribed. Many saints and women like Meera and Andal are examples of this.

 

Thruptha means one who is perfectly sarisfied and a devotee is so, with his devotion alone and does not seek anything else except the smaraNam, kirthanam and padhasevanam as the Azvar in Thirumalai puts it,

pacchaimamalai pol Eni pavazavAi kamalacchengaN

 achuthA amarar ErE Ayar tham kozundhE ennum

 icchuvai thavir yAn pOy indhirlokam ALum

 acchuvaiperinum vEnDEn rangamAnagaruLAne

 

I do not want even the rulership of heaven except singing your glory, your form like the green mountain, coral lips, lotus like eyes, and your names Achyutha, Lord of devas, and the child of yadhavas, Oh the Lord of Srirangam.

 

 

suthra-5-yath prApya na kinchith vAncchathi,na SOchathi,na dhvEshti, na ramathE ,nOthsAhee bhavathi

 

Attaining that one is not desirous of anything more, does not grieve has no hatred towards  nor rejoices over anything and does not exert himself on self interest.

 

This description is that of the sThithaprjna, the one who is established in the Self, outlined in the second chapter of Gita.(BG-II-55 to76) He is duhkhEshu anudhvighna manAh, not perturbed in sorrow, sukhEshu vigathasprhaH, nor jubilant over happiness because he is veetharAgabhayakrOdhaH, devoid of attachment, fear and anger.

 

This state of realisation is shown to  be achieved through bhakthi in the twelfth chapter of the Gita in the sloka, 'adhvEshtA sarvabhoothAnAm maithrah karuNa Eva cha  nirmamO nirahankAraH samaduhkh sukha kshamee; santhushtassathatham yOgee yathAtmA dhrDanischyah mayyarpithamano buddhiH,'(BG XII-13,14) One who is always thinking of the Lord,with his mind engrossed in Him,is always contented,devoid of ego and sense of possessions, equanimous, patient forgiving, full of mercy, being friendly towards all with hatred towards none and has self control and descrimination.

 

In the previous suthra the word labDHvA is used while in this it is prApya and they look synonymous but actually not so. The former word is used in the sense of gaining as the devotion is to be gained through divine grace only. In this suthra he word prapya is used to mean 'attaining.' to attain something one has to make effort. When the bhakthi dawns in the heart the ego disappears and the perfection is attained through the exercise of devotion. a devotee is not desirous of anything above devotion itself, even moksha. they are immersed in th joy of experiencing the lord in their heart and as Sankara says in bajagovindam such a devotee is all the time elated , 'nandhathi nandhathi nandhathi Eva.' That is why it is said here that he does not desire anything else except bhakthi.'na kinchith vAnchathi.'

 

na Sochathi, he does not grieve because he has no worldly desire. Sorrow arises only as a cause of desire which when fulfilled brings joy but it is short lived as everything in this world is transitory. So all worldly happiness brings sorrow in its wake. Hence a devotee has no grief apart from being separated from the Lord, which predicament is ruled out when his heart is united with the Lord through bhakthi.

 

He has no hatred , na dhvEshti, because he sees the Lord everywhere. Hatred is born out of anger when something goes against our wish, which is the result of kAma, desire. So when desire is absent there could be no anger and no hatred. The attitude of a bhaktha is vasudhaiva kutumbakam. After having transcended the notion of 'I' and 'mine,' he has samadhrshti towards everything and has neither hatred nor rejoices towards any happenings of the world, na ramathE. Sankara says on who sees the divine self inside is always has the same bliss whether he is enjoying the worldly pleasures or engaged in spiritual practice, 'yogaratho vA bhogarathO va,' whether he is in the midst of the world or away from the society, 'sangaratho va sangaviheenaH.'

 

na uthsAhee bhavathi, a devotee does not take up any action for his self interest. This is described in the Gita by the word sarvArambhaparithyAgee, used to denote a bhaktha. (BG XII-25) this does not mean that the devotee has given up all actions because Krishna Himself says in the third chapter of Gita that one cannot desist from performing karma that are prompted by his gunas. 'na hi kaschit kshaNamapi jAthu thishTathyakarmakrth.' But the bhaktha does not think that he is the agent of his action and functions as the instrument of the Lord. Hence he is not affected by the result of his karma and therefore whatever he does becomes the worship of the Lord.

 

 

Suthra-6-yath jnAthva mattho bhavathi, sthabdhO bhavathi AthmAramo bhavathi

 

Knowing the Self one becomes like an intoxicated or madman, and like a numb or fascinated man , enjoying the bliss of the self continuously.

 

The picture of the  man of realisation, sThithaptajna, through bhakthiyoga continues. One who is completely immersed in devotion has no ego and functions only as an instrument of God. He may look normal outwardly and may do all his duties as expected but his attitude differs from that of an ordinary person acting with a  selfish motive. Sometimes he acts like a madman not conforming to the social standards because he is intoxicated with devotional fervour and acts like a lunatic. Most of the devotee-saints were considered as lunatics by their family and society. He can be described as mattha-madhupa, a bee intoxicated with honey of the Lord This is because his actions cannot be understood by others  He is under the influence of a higher power, the ways of which is inscrutable for the ordinary mind.sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa said that all are mad but while some are mad after money, power and other worldly things a devotee is mad after God.

 

Sthabdha on the other hand means inactivity due to enchantment. A devotee at the height of ecstasy may appear completely stupefied. Nammazvar while composing pasuram on the Lord being bound to the mortar said one word 'etthiram' meaning 'what a wonder' and became unconscious for six months. He sat motionless for many years under the tamarind tree deeply engrossed in the joy of the Lord.

 

AthmarAmA means immersed in the self, That is, the real Self of all, Brahman which arises from the jnana. This denotes that realisation of the Self is not attainment but knowing the reality. The upanishad says that the Self is inside the individual self, 'ya athmanaH antharah,' whom the individual self did not know,'  yam AthmA na vEdha,' and to whom the individual self is the body,'yasya AthmA Sareeram,' that  is the inner self of all. the immortal.

 

The suthra has a subtle suggestion that there is no real difference between jnana and bhakthi. They differ only in the method of approach and in their expression. In the Gita Krishna says,'thEshAm jnAnee nithyayukthaH EkabhakthirviSishyathE,'(BG.7.17) that the jnani, man of wisdom is always with the Lord, and devoted to Him only through yoga and he is the first and foremost among those who seek Him. the description of  a bhaktha in the 12th chapter and of jnani in the 13th chapter of the Gita are similar and reiterated again in the 18th chapter ,'bhakthyA mAm abhijAnAthi yaavAn yaschasmi thathvathaH thathO mAm thatthvathO jnAthvA viSathE thadhanantharam, through devotion he comes to know Me fully, who and what I am in reality; knowing Me thus in truth he forthwith enters into Me,'

 

When Sankara and Ramanuja speak of bhakthi and jnana being subservient to one another respectively it should be understood that they refer to the jnana and bhakthi at the level of sadhana, a means of attainment whereas  in the final stage both are the same. Besides bhakthi has a special merit in as much as it can be achieved by anyone while jnana cannot be without the necessary discipline.

 

 

 

 

Suthra7- sA na kamayamAnA nirOdharoopathvAth

 

It is not desire because it is a form of renunciation.

 

Bhakthi is love for the Lord. The term love in modern times has come to denote only physical love which is kama. There are different kinds of love even in the worldly sense, such as that between, mother and child, between friends, between sister and brother, between  guru and sishya  etc. But the word denotes the love between man and woman because it is the most absorbing and more lasting if it is based on real affection and self sacrifice. That is why the kind of bhakthi known as madhura bhakthi is extolled by the saints and devotees in literature and music. The songs of Meera,  and the  pasurams of Andal and the azvars are examples of this.

 

 Meera seemed to have told the disciples of Roopgoswami, her guru, when she was prevented from seeing him in Brindavan, because he would not see women, that in Brindavan only Krishna is the man and all the rest are women only. Same idea is expressed by the scriptures . In this world of beings the Lord is the Supreme purusha and all the jivas are like His wives, because He is the bharthA of all. A devotee has the same outlook towards the  Lord and hence the expressions of madhura bhakthi like that of gopis to Krishna has no eroticism but is only beautiful.

 

In Hinduism even physical love is not considered as taboo unlike in other religions but is considered as something natural and instinctive. But the great saints and acharyas try to elevate us from the carnal level by transforming our physical love to the love of the Lord thus sublimating it. Hence To depict the Lord as a lover is the most beautiful and in fact the chapters describing the rasakreeda  in Bhagavatha are supposed to be the soul of the epic. The one who narrated it was a realised soul, Suka and those who heard it were rshis, who have renounced the world and it was told for the sake of a man approaching  his death who wished to concentrate his mind on the Lord during  his last days.

 

This is the explanation of the first part of the suthra, 'sa na kAmayamAnA.'  Now to come to the second part, bhakthi is said to be a form of renunciation. This is because the devotee renounces everything else except his love for the Lord, which is self- effacing, and pursued for its own sake.

 

Some may argue that to attain the Lord is also a desire. It may start with that because you cannot give up one without attaching yourself to something else.Thiruvalluvar says,'patrugapatratrAn patrinai appatrai patruga patru vidarku.' This , means, one should give up all desires except that about God which has to be pursued in order to detach from all other desires. But his desire matures in course of time into desirelessness because the devotee gets infinite bliss by his devotion alone when the Lord becomes part and parcel of himself and there is no desire even to attain him. The state is called by Thyagaraja as 'smaraNE sukham.'

 

Now is it wrong to pray to God for the fulfilment of one's desires and the one who does so is not a bhaktha? Krishna says in Gita, 'chathurvidDHA bajanthe mAm,' there are four kinds of devotees, the one who is suffering and wishes to be free from it (Artha), the one who is desirous of getting what he wants (arTHArTHee) , the one who thirsts for knowledge(jijnAsu) and lastly the wise man(jnAnee) The bhaktha described above belongs to the last class. "All of them are dear to Me," says Krishna , "but the jnani is my very self."

 

Now let us examine why man turns to God under normal cIrcumstances, not considering those who were born jnanis among devotees like Prahlada. A man thinks of God only when he is in trouble. This is the first stage of Artha.Then once free from his suffering he starts praying for this and that and it is the stage of arTHArTHEE. When he finds that he cannot get everything he wants or when he realises that no worldly thing can give him permanent happiness he turns towards spirituality and becames a jijnAsu.Finally he acquires the wisdom that the Lord is the only reality(vAsudevassarvam ithi) with  whom he is  in an inseparable relationship because He is the  inner self of all.This is the utmost limit of bhakthi(parA kAshTA). Then nothing else matters except his love for the Lord which itself is the goal attaining which nothing more is desired. So this stage is called renunciation.

 

 

suthra8-nirodhasthu lokavedavyApAranyAsah

 

This renunciation is the consecration of all activities vedic and secular.

 

The word nirodha mentioned in the last suthra is explained here. Nirodha is not the cessation iof all activities, spiritual and secular. As Krishna says in Gita,'na hi kachith kshaNamapi jAthu thishTathi akarmakrth,'(BG-3.5) no one can desist from action even for a moment. Even when physical action seems to have ceased, mind and intellect continues to act. So the renunciation of action means only nyAsa, consecration.

 

All sages and saints who had renounced the world continued to do the vedic karma like yaga etc., not for their own sake but for the welfare of humanity. Adisankara caused a shower of gold to help a poor couple and so did vedanta Desika to help a brahmachari who wanted to become a grhastha. Krishna says in the Gita that He Himself works incessantly as the world would come to a standstill if he does not do so.(BG-3.24)

 

So what is renunciation? It means dedicating all activities for the purpose of God-realisation and divine service, which implies complete consecration of body, mind and intellect to the Lord as made out in the Gita, 'yatlkaroshi yadhaSnAsi yajjohOshi dhadhAsi yath; yath apaSyasi kountheya thath kurushva madharpaNam.'(BG-9.27), which means that one should make whatever he does, eats, offers, gives or sees, an offering to the Lord.

 

The devotee is free from the desire for fruit and the sense of agency. He does everything to please the Lord and as His service and acts only as an instrument in the hands of the Lord. Hence he has no ego which is the cause of bondage. So what is renounced is not the action but the ego. All activities secular or spiritual are done as the worship of the Lord Bhakthi yoga results in jnana that all beings are part and parcel of the Lord, which is Brahmabhavana and the actions of such a devotee is nothing but karmayoga. Thus jnana, bhakthi and karma combine for a devotee.

 

Suthra9-thasmin ananyathA thadvirOdhishu udhAseenathA cha

 

The renunciation outlined in the previous suthra means a single-minded devotion to the chosen form of God, and exclusion of everything contrary to it with indifference.

 

A true devotee has no attraction for the outside world because his whole world consists of the Lord of his heart and everything he does is the service to the Lord as given in the  the sloka 'kAyEna vAchA manasEndhriyairvA buddhyathmanA va prakrthersvabhAvath karothi yath yath sakalam parasmai nArAyanAyethi samarpayami, I offer to the Lord Narayana whatever I do with my body, mind, intellect and the self ( means ego here) and by natural instincts,'

 

Thus he is neither influenced by joy nor by sorrow because he considers everything as the prasadha, blessing. Joy and sorrow pertain only to the body, mind and intellect and all the three are engrossed in the devotion of the Lord. This further explained in the next two suthras.

 

Suthra10-anyASrayANAM thyAgaH ananyathA

 

Renunciation of all other support(except that of the Lord) is whole-heartedness, ananyatha

 

In Ramayana, Visbheeshana says, 'thyakthvA puthrAmscha dhArAmascha rAhavam SaraNama gathah,'  that he has surrendered to Rama leaving behind his wife and sons. Sankara says in his HaricharaNashtakam,

na sodharO janakO janani na jAyA

naivaAthmajo na kulam vipulam balam vA

samdhrSyathE na kila kOpi sahAyakO me

thasmAth thvamEva SaraNam mama shankapANE 

 

The meaning of the sloka is as follows:

 

There is no one helpful to one who wishes to attain the Lord, may it be his brother, father, mother , wife or son or any other relative. So the only refuge is the Lord. No one or nothing pertaining to the world is conducive to spiritual welfare. Hence the devotee considers that the Lord is everything for him. This is ananyabhakthi.in which all the love ordinarily shown towards one's close relatives is directed towards the Lord alone. This comes out of the knowledge that God is the only supporter, the only friend and closest to the heart than any other relative  of the world.

 

suthra11-lokavedeshu thadhanukolAcharaNam thadvirOdhishu udhAseenathA

 

The term in the 9th suthra , indifference towards all that is contrary to devotion means performance of such secular and vedic actions only which are conducive to devotion.

 

When the devotee engages himself in the service of the Lord and his duties according to the varna and asrama, also done as a worship to the Lord, all the other activities secular as well as vedic naturally cease to be important to him without any conscious effort on his part  to avoid them. All the desire- motivated activities not only secular, but also vedic, such as doing rituals for the fulfilment of desire, even to go to heaven, are given up by the devotee since they cease to attract him.

 

Suthra12-bhavathu niSchayadhArDyath oorDhvam SasthralakshaNam

 

Even after the realization one should take care of the spiritual teachings.

 

A jnani has no need of sasthras as Krishna says in the Gita ‘thraiguNyavishayA vedAh nisthraiguNyo bhava arjuna,’  (BG-2-45)

 

This can be construed in two ways .To an enlightened one  the karmakanda of the veda  which  is the ritualistic portion  that secures enjoyment in this world and is like  water in the well when  the whole area is flooded as given in the subsequent sloka. But if we take veda to mean the entire scripture including  wisdom of  Upanishads it may be interpreted thus: Even when the entire land is flooded the well can contain only as much water as it can hold .So too one can comprehend only as much as his intellect can grasp, which fact has been proved by the controversies in interpreting the vedantic passages

 

But Krishna also says ‘yadhyadhAcharathi Sreshrah thath thath eva itharo janAh. Sa yath pramANam kuruthe lokasthadanuvat rthathe(BG-3-21) That is, the masses always tend to follow the footsteps of those whom they consider as leaders. So it is the duty of the wise to preserve the wisdom of the scriptures in order to guide others. The truth of the scriptures must be re-lived before our eyes and their usefulness demonstrated to all to induce the common man to adopt it for his enlightenment. The wise alone can give out the  values

That are relevant to the particular age and time sifting the grain from the chaff. This is the  real meaning of the Gita slokas. The protection of the sasthras mentioned in this suthra includes making the scriptural texts understandable to the ordinary man to cultivate a liking for them.

 

We have seen in the recent past that the scripture has been neglected as something irrelevant or meaningless even by the educated , not to mention  the illiterate. This is due to the reluctance of those who are well versed in the scriptures to part with their knowledge either due to mistaken idea of its being secret to be guarded or because they fear that it may not be appreciated. The spiritual knowledge is said to be guhya, secret in the sense that it is difficult to be understood and not because it should not be told to anyone.

 

It is true Krishna says in the Gita ‘idham the nAthapaskAya nAbhakthAya kadhachana na chASuSrooshavE vAchyam na cha mAm yO abhyasooyathi,’ (BG.18-67) meaning that this knowledge  should not be disclosed to one who  lacks the discipline nor to one who is either without faith or devotion and atheistic. But it is difficult nowadays for the  one who has the quest for knowledge to learn the scriptures by himself because the real implications will be lost unless guided by a guru. So it is the duty of the  knowledgeable persons to make it easy for all. Some of the acharyas have been doing the good work in the recent years and many are being benefited all over the globe.

 

Most important fact to be remembered is that neither the sruti, ie.vedas nor the smrthi, namely Bhagavatgita has  restricted the spiritual knowledge to any particular sect of religion. It is common to the whole humanity.     

 

Suthra13- anyaThA pAthithyaSankayA

 

For otherwise there is a risk of fall.

 

To an enlightened person there is no risk of a fall as he has reached the stage of  sthithaprajna as outlined in the Gita. But it is the duty of such men to guide the rest of the humanity by imparting knowledge because to one follows the spiritual disciplines without proper understanding there is a risk of fall, meaning that he will lapse back into samsara.

 

Suthra14- lokopi thAvadheva ; bojanAdhivyapArasthu  ASareeraDhraNAvaDhi

 

The worldly activities of an enlightened man also is restricted to those that are necessary for the sustenance of life. But they have to follow the common way of life for the sake of others doing the same duties as the others do but without attachment. The same idea is expressed by the Lord in the Gita as follows:

sakthAh karmaNi avidhvAmsaH yaThA kurvanthi bhAratha

kuryAth vidhvAn thaThA askthaH chikeershuH lokasangraham (BG-3.25)

 

The wise do the same actions as the unenlightened but while the latter do them with attachment the former does it with detachment.

 

The Lord further says that even though there is no work for Him to do He still goes on working nonstop merely because if He ceases to work the worlds will collapse. The life of Lord Krishna was the best example to this. What he did He preached later. He tended the cattle and fed the horses during the war and did all the work expected of Him in the role He put on Himself.

 

 

 

Suthra15- ThallakshNAni vAchyanthe nAnAmathabhedhAth

 

The characteristics of bhakthi is described variously according to different viewpoints.

 

Bhakthi is a subjective experience and it has to be different for different individuals. In the following nine suthras Narada defines bhakthi as given by various devotees before him and also gives out his view point. Even an ordinary worldly love defies description as words cannot express clearly what the heart feels. The divine love which is bhakthi likewise differs from devotee to devotee and could only be experienced because it transcends verbal description. Still the sages and saints try to explain it for the sake of  all in order to give a taste of what it is. When the infinite bliss of devotion is expressed in words it becomes finite as the words are finite. The infinite can never be described by the finite. In the next nine suthras show the attempt of the bhakthas to define and describe what is devotion.

 

Suthra16-poojAdhishu anuragah ithi PArA Saryah

 

Vyasa, the son of Parasara is of the opinion that bhakthi is expressed through worship and other acts of love.

 

The three views on bhakthi given in the three suthras that follow are the expressions of bhakthi through act, word and thought. The first view is that of Vyasa according to which all physical acts such as worship, and service to the Lord are denoted as bhakthi provided it is accompanied with love. This means involving all our senses in the act of worship such as the devotion described in Mukundamala by Kulasekhara Azvar.

 

. jihve kirthaya kesavam muraripum chetho bhaja SreeDharam

      pANidhvandhva tham archaya achutha kaThAh Srothradhvaya thvam Srunu

    krshNam lokaya lochanadhvaya hareh gacchAnghriyugma Alayam

    jighra  ghrANa mukundha pAdhathulaseem moorDhan nam aDhokshajam

 

Azvar gives injunction to his senses to become engaged in the worship of the Lord.

 

Oh tongue, sing about Kesava., the slayer of Mura. Oh mind, think of SreeDhara. Two hands, you worship Him , Two ears, you hear the stories about Achyutha. Oh eyes, look at Krishna. Pair of feet, you go to the temple of Hari. Oh nose, you smell the tulsi leaves from the feet of Mukundha. Oh head, bow down to ADhokshaja.

 

When all the senses are thus engaged in the service of the Lord they will cease to be attracted by the worldly  sensual pleasures. This reminds one, of the KuraL of the famous Tamil sage Thiruvalluvar, who has given to the world maxims with deep meaning in short sentences.

Pattruga pattrattrAn pattrinai  appattrai

 pattruga pattru vidarku.

 

It means that in order to relinquish the attachment of the world one has to develop attachment towards the Lord. If we want to give up something it is easier to do so  by shifting our attachment to something else which is more desirable.

 

Suthra 17. kaThA Adhishu ithi gargah

 

The sage Garga thinks that devotion is hearing and telling others about the Lord and the stories of Him. This refers to all verbal expressions such as chants, prayers, study, and exposition of divine qualities and stories, Harikatha,  namasankirthana etc. In the Gita the Lord says about His devotees, ‘macchitthA  madhgathaprANAh boDhayanthah parasparam kaThayanthi cha mAm nithyam thushyanthi cha ramanthi cha,’ they minds are engrossed in the Lord, their lives dedicated to Him, talk to each other about he Lord and exchange the stories of Him revel  and rejoice in Him. In Srimadbhagavatham Parikshith, asking Suka to tell him the story of Krishna in detail, says that none else but a butcher will be reluctant to listen again and again to the recital of the glorious attributes of the Lord. 

 

Narada himself was the illustration of this as he always goes around singing the glory of the Lord. So were Valmiki,  Vyasa  and Tulsidas who composed epics of  Bhakthi and Meerayy, Andal, and the azvars and Jayadeva who composed lyrics about the Lord. Bhishma said at the end of Mahabharatha war that to sing the name of the Lord is the best of the dharmas. The Lord Himself in Gita, ‘yajnAnAm japayajno asmi.’(BG.10-25)

 

Suthra18-Athmarathi aviroDhena ithi sAndilyah

 

Sage Sandilya holds that reveling in the self without any thoughts to the contrary is bhakthi.

 

The expression of bhakthi must be accompanied with incessant thought of the Lord. Physical and verbal manifestations if not accompanied  by spiritual background that give rise to the joy of experiencing the Lord within as the inner self , and the self of all, will result in blind devotion which results in fanaticism and bigotry. In Srimadbhagavatham the Lord says that He does not accept the worship of one who has no feeling towards  his fellow creatures  and  other than Himself because all are the creations of the Lord. So without prejudice to other religions or sects one should love all as the Lord is in all beings.

 

 

 

 

Suthra 19-nAradhasthu thadharpitha akhilAchArathA thadhvismaraNe paramvyAkulatha  ithi

 

But Narada is of the opinion that bhakthi consists in all these activities with complete surrender to Him and extreme anguish in not remembering Him. Complete self surrender  is the prime characteristic of bhakthi and every action done in this spirit is the expression of bhakthi. Worship, chants and singing His glory and constant remembrance of Him are the expressions of deep seated ardour and sincerity. All this done with the attitude of surrender constitute bhakthi. All activities secular or sacred should be offered at His feet and any lapse of memory of Him creates extreme anguish in the mind of the devotee. there are several verses and slokas of Azvars and the saints to show this. The illustration of this is best seen in the love of the gopis for Krishna which is elaborated in the subsequent suthras.

 

Suthra20-asthu evam evam

 

Narada establishes his view saying that let this be exactly as described above. This is in-keeping with the literary style of suthras where the author  arrives at the conclusion after discussing the acceptability or otherwise of the views stated. This suthra clinches the argument by validating the views said above that the cardinal essence of devotion is the deep sincerity combined with ardent faith as claimed in the upanishats and the Gita.

 

Suthra 21-yaThA vrajagopikAnAm

 

Such indeed was the devotion of the gopikas of vraja.

 

Narada has said in the previous suthra that there are examples of this kind of bhakthi ‘asthu evam evam,’ and now he is showing the examples of it.

 

Sri Ramakrishna has said that the devotion of the gopis was the devotion of love, constant unmixed and unflinching. They loved Krishna more than anyone else and proved as the examples of the bhakthiyoga which Krishna  was going to preach in the battlefield in his discourse of the Bhagavatgita, ‘mayyeva mana Adhathsva mayi buddhim nivesaya,’ by thinking of him alone all the time. Swami Vivekananda said that rasalila is the acme of the religion of love, to which individuality vanishes and                                                       there is communion. This is understood by the unenlightened as being erotic. Even Parikshit was no exception to this misconception and raised the doubt that how could these women who thought about Krishna only as their lover attain the divine communion with him. Suka pointed out that the single pointed concentration on the Lord in whatever capacity is enough to attain Him. Krishna himself clarifies this doubt in Srimad bhagavatham  by saying that the desire of those, who approach him to satisfy the baser instincts, become like roasted seeds which never shoot up again,(Bh.10-22-28) In the 11th skandha Krishna remarks that the gopis attained that state which even the yogis find difficult to reach by their sheer love.(Bh.11-12-13). Swami Vivekananda has said that to understand the love of gopis it is first essential to make yourself pure as it could not be understood with impure minds. It is to be remembered that the one who told the story was Suka who was a self-realised  master and those who gathered to hear him were the sages who have renounced the world.

 

Suthra 22-  thathrApi na mAhAthmyajnAnavismrthi apavAdhaH

 

Even if the love was human it could not be construed that they were not aware of the divinity of Krishna.

 

The gopis were fully aware of the fact that Krishna was not human but the supreme purusha. They have witnessed his super human exploits and never thought of him as a mere human being.

 

Brahadaranyaka Upanishad declares that everyone and everything is loved only because one loves oneself. ‘na vA are pathyuh kAmAya pathih priyo bhavathi----Athmanansthu kAmAya sarvam priyam bhavathi ‘(Brhd.2-4-5)

 

The Lord is the inner self of the individual self and hence compared with  the love of Him everything else becomes secondary. This was the state of the gopis that they left everything and everyone and rushed to Krishna , the supreme self. This was the love of Meera in more recent times.

 

Suthra-23- Thadviheenam jArANAm iva

 

Had they been lacking in this knowledge of  divinity of Krishna  it would have been the love for a paramour.

 

This distinguishes between the earthly love and the divine. Even in the worldly sense a pure love should not be of the body but of the soul. A devotee loves all because he sees the Lord in all. Love is divine when there is no expectation or possessiveness. When you feel love for a person it is due to a momentary removal of a screen that veils the divinity in them which is in contact with the divinity within you. Detachment alone can give rise to real love, which does not require the presence or even any communication with the loved one.

 

Love in its ultimate state is the love of God .You  do not see Him or speak to Him but you feel that He is very close and that He can hear you and see you and knows your innermost thoughts. All other kinds of love is only a semblance of that love which is Bhakthi.

 

This idea is set out in the next suthra where Narada says that such worldly love which is of sensual nature is selfish  and does not please the one who is loved.

 

Suthra 24-nAsthyeva thasmin that sukha sukhithvam

 

The happiness of a selfish love does not consist in the happiness of the one who is loved.

 

The real love is when one does not care for his own happiness but willing to suffer to make the loved one happy. The gopis did not love Krishna for selfish motives and were ready to give up all for making him happy This suthra brings out yet another distinguishing feature of bhakthi which consists in selfless love forgetting oneself in serving the Lord.