Naradabhakthisuthra Part 2-parabhakthimahatthvam

 

Suthra 25

 

Saa thu karmajnaanayogebhyaH api aDhikatharaa

 

The highest bhakthi, supreme love, is something more than karma,

spiritual work, jnana, Self knowledge and yoga, disciplined

contemplation.

 

By highest bhakthi is paraabhakthi or ananyabhakthi where the body, mind

and intellect are fully engrossed in the love of the Lord.

 

Karma denotes karma yoga, work without attachment to fruit, jnana is

jnanayoga , exercise of intellect and reason. The term yoga used as the

third, may mean disciplined contemplation such as rajayoga or it could

be taken to mean bhakthiyoga which is different from paraabhakthi, the

reason for this being the fact that bhakthi yoga is the exercise of the

mind whereas the paraabhakthi transcends body, mind and intellect. That

is there is no awareness of the three in complete engrossed state of

love.

 

The Lord says in srimadbhagavatham ,

 

Yogaasthrayo mayaaprokthaa nruuNaam Sreyo viDhithsayaa

 

Jnaanam karma cha bhakthiScha nopaayo anyoasthi kuthrachith (Bh.

11-20-6)

 

"For the liberation of men I have formulated three paths ,namely,

jnaanayoga, karmayoga and bhakthiyoga."

 

He further specifies the qualifications for the three by saying,

 

nirviNNaanaam jnaanayogaH, for those who have given up all attachments

and renounced all karmas jnanayoga is prescribed and for others

karmayoga. Yet there are others who are naturally inclined to listen to

the stories of the Lord and feel attracted towards Him. For them

bhakthiyoga is prescribed.

 

But the point is that all the three yogas are disciplines leading to the

goal while the paraabhakthi is the goal itself. The next suthra makes

this clear.

 

 

 

 

26. phalaroopathvaath

 

Being the goal itself.

 

The paraabhakthi is the goal itself. All the yogas represent a lower

stage whereas parabhakthi means the highest stage of evolution. It is

because the parabhakthi is not attained by sadhana which is only for

purification of the anthahkarana. It happens through the will of the

Lord.

 

Some commentators interpret the three yogas as karmayoga, jnanayoga and

rajayoga or kriyaayoga and extol bhakthi alone as leading to

paraabhakthi. It is because for all the other disciplines there are

certain basic requisites such as yama, niyama etc. But for bhakthi

nothing is needed except the love for the Lord. If one has it He Himself

will do the rest.

 

The Lord is worshipped easily as it is said in Mahabharatha,

 

anyathpoornaadhapaam kumbhaath anyath padhaavanejanaath

 

anyath kuSalasampraSnaath na checchathi janaardhanaH

 

The Lord does not expect anything else except a pot full of water,

washing His feet, or words of concern, meaning that He cares for the

heart only which is full of love for Him. That is why it is said in the

Gita, 'maam hi paarTha vypaaSrithya ye api syuH paapayonayah,

sthriyO vaiSyaah thaThaa SudhraaH the api yaanthi paraam gathim,' to

denote that irrespective of caste, sex and birth, any one can attain

salvation through ananyabhakthi., unswerving devotion.

 

27. eesvarasyapi abhimaanadheshithvaath dhainyapriyathvaath cha

 

Also because of the dislike of the Lord for egoism and His love for humility.

 

This suthra is consequential to the previous two in which it is said that  bhakthi is superior to jnana and karmayogas. It is declared as the goal as well as the means. The reason is given in this suthra that the parabhakthi gives rise to humility while the other means may result in egoism.

 

Paraabhakthi is equivalent to prapatthi or surrender to which humility that one is utterly powerless and totally depends on the grace of the Lord is one of the requisites. The devotee who surrenders with a conviction that the Lord is the only refuge, the faith being complete and becomes aware of his own helplessness without the grace of the Lord and this is what Narada means by dhainyam and the Lord is pleased with it.

As long as one feels that he is capable of attaining salvation by his own efforts the Lord does not interfere but the moment the devotee feels that he is helpless the Lord rushes to his rescue like a mother who picks up the child the moment it starts crying for her. By saying that the Lord dislikes egoism Narada means that the Lord remains aloof  because it is not true that He dislikes anyone as He says in the Gita samo aham sarvabhootheshu na me dhveshyo asthi na priyaH. It is only the ego He despises because it prevents the aspirant to attain his goal.

 

Even in bakthi marga ego may raise its head. One may get arrogant about his being a bhaktha or in spite of being  a bhaktha, like Mahabali. Real bhakthi should be associated with humility not only towards the Lord but also towards other devotees and all beings seeing them as the Lord Himself.

 

 

28.thasyaaH jnaanam eva saaDhanam ithyanye

 

Some say that knowledge alone is the means of paraabhakthi.

 

29. anyonyaaSrayathvam ithyanye

 

Others say that both are interdependent. That is, bhakthi creates jnana and vice versa.

 

Both views are correct as without knowledge of what it is we cannot have adoration  on something. Bhakthi can result from the knowledge of the Lord from the scriptures and  by meditating on Him.  In Gita  the Lord first instructs Arjuna the knowledge of the Self and Brahman before telling him about bhakthiyoga. Later he says that only through bhakthi one can attain Him.

 

In the case of Sabari, Dhruva and others bhakthi was present before jnana , which followed as a result of bhakthi. Hence jnana can lead to bhakthi and in that sense it is the means of praabhakthi, the supreme devotion because with out jnana bhakthi will not culminate into parabhakthi as denoted in the sutra 27 where it is mentioned that egoistic devotee will not attain parabhakthi. Ego will disappear with jnana. On the other hand, jnana without bhakthi may also give rise to ego and hence  the view that the two are interdependent is correct .

 

30.svayam phalaroopathaa ithi brahmakumaaraH

 

Narada says that the fruit of bhakthi is itself. Some commentators think that the word brahmakumaraH means Sanathkumara.

 

Bhakthi is the means as well as the end because bhakthi is love towards the Lord, which, like the pure love seen in the world does not expect any fruit. The  selfless love of a mother  or of anyone towards another expects nothing in return and  the love itself is its reward. When such a love is turned towards the Lord it becomes bhakthi. The difference is that the love towards the Lord goes on increasing till it becomes paraabhakthi because the Lord unlike human beings returns the love thousand fold whether one expects it or not. the real devotee does not wish even to attain Vaikunta like Hanuman said to Rama when Rama ascended to Vaikunta after His incarnation was over.

 

31. raajagrhabhojanaadhishu thaThaiva dhrshtatvaath

 

It is seen in the instance of the king, home and food.

 

32. na thena raajaa parithoshaH kshuth saanthih vaa

 

The king does not become  king by that nor the traveler nor the hungry man.

 

These two sutras denote that mere jnana is not the means of salvation without bhakthi. The king is not a  king merely  because he is in the palace or eats royal food. He does so because he is the king. Similarly a house for a wayfarer is always a house and does not ceases to be so because he has gone away. The food likewise satisfies hunger only when it is eaten. Mere knowledge of a king or the house or the food is not enough.

 

33.thasmaath sa eva graahyaa mumukshubhiH

 

Therefore those desirous of moksha should hold on to bhakthi alone. This is because if the devotee takes one step towards the Lord , He takes ten steps towards the devotee. The path of devotion is easiest and does not require any strict disciplines or rigorous practices as in jnanamarga or yogamarga.  Even in karmayoga, it is easier to do all actions as an offering to the Lord rather than doing them as nishkamakarma without bhakthi.

 

Sabari, Prahlada, the gopis are all examples of this.

 

Thus the second chapter  of the nardabhakthisuthra ends. In the next chapter the sadhana marga or how to develop bhakthi is outlined.