The last couple of months, I have been reading on the art and science of Supreme Devotion in the treatise ‘Narada Bhakti Sutra’. Though the name of the ever green Narada is associated with this treatise, the actual author for this compilation is unknown. Narada is widely held in reverence for his perennial and un-wavering Bhakthi (devotion) for Lord Vishnu and hence it is no surprise that the honor of authorship on the best known writing on the philosophy of Bhakthi should be surrendered to him.
The term ‘Sutra’ means a ‘string’ - a string on which the pearls of ideas and thoughts on the highest principles of a philosophical thought are held together for the easy reach of the common man. Sutras are also exploratory statements with deeper imports and meanings. The work of Narada Bhakti Sutra consists of 84 sutras divided into 10 chapters and is in a wonderful poetic form.
The path of ‘Bhakthi’ is one of the three important paths for humans to attain Self Realization, as explained in the Bhagavad Gita and our Upanishads. The other two paths are the ‘Karma’ and ‘Jnana’ yogas (paths). Depending on the mental and intellectual makeup, development and capability, a person is initially driven to one of these paths automatically by his/her instincts and interests. Though the starting path may be different, as the ‘Sadhana’ (spiritual practice) progresses, we realize all paths are important and needed for discovering the the Unique Supreme Power (USP) which is the ‘Atman’ within ourselves. No path is higher or lower than the others – all are equally needed and merge into one another eventually.
Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda has explained it very nicely and clearly in his discourse on Kaivalyopanishad where he says that Bhakthi (Devotion) and Sraddha (faith through knowledge) are like the two wings which will take a person on a flight to the Supreme. If any of the wings is clipped or not fully developed, it hampers the person’s flight.
It is important to realize that Bhakthi is not a sapless, figurative love or affection on the picture of a God or symbol, as is commonly seen nowadays in the places of worship. Nor is it an order of blind faith which should not be questioned. Bhakthi towards an ideal arises from an integrated personality through knowledge gained through ‘Svadyaya’ (स्वाध्याय -study) as well as ‘Sravanam’ (श्रवणं - hearing) of the scriptures, ‘Mananam’ (मननं) or contemplation of the knowledge gained as well as ‘Dhyanam’ (ध्यानं)or Meditation on the principles of the scriptures so as to integrate those principles into our personality. The contemplation and meditation are the crucial steps in this process where the devotee comes to convincingly realize the value and significance of the philosophical truths within him/her and those principles show through their activities in their life. Nowadays, we unfortunately see the population reading blindly on the scriptures of their religions, but do not follow the other crucial steps of integrating those into their personality.
In my next few postings in this blog, I will try to capture the wonderful poetic verses from each chapter from the Narada Bhakti Sutra in its English translation and try to bring out the meanings as I understood them.
Hari Om.
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