The Narada Bhakti Sutras

Written by sage Narada

With my Commentaries (C:)

THE NARADA BHAKTI SUTRAS

Sutra 1. Now we expound the love of God.

C: Hindu scriptures in general start with the word “now.” This represents a new beginning, a new chapter in the teachings on the path to Self-realization. Different scriptures deal with various aspects of this path. Here we are dealing with the important subject of love of God, the One.

Sutra 2. It is the higher love for “This.”

C: “This” indicates all that can be experienced in this world. “This” is manifest aspect of the One. The higher love for “This” is the love for the most subtle aspect of existence, for the One, the metaphysical aspect, the creator behind all of this.

Sutra 3. The nature of the love is Amrita.

C: Amrita is nectar, blissful and divine nectar. It is sweet and all-fulfilling, all-satisfying, completely without darkness, deeply satisfying, and it is making the recipients immortal in their words and deeds. Immersed in this Amrita they become one with ever-expanding love.

Sutra 4. By attaining It, a person becomes perfect, immortal, and fully satisfied forever.

C: Fully embrace one of the many forms of the One. Let the love carry you beyond the surface of this form to its divine aspect, the innermost light and radiance within.

Sutra 5. On obtaining That one does not desire anything else; one does not grieve; one does not hate nor delight. One is without enthusiasm for any material end.

C: Once the divine Light gets revealed in your chosen object, you give up the search for it in all objects and remain focused on It alone, being fully satisfied in body, mind, and spirit.

Sutra 6. By knowing “That,” the devotee becomes intoxicated, peaceful, and delights always in the Self.

C: Nothing else is needed to bring complete satisfaction to the devotee. “Devotee” is used here in the sense of someone being truly devoted to one particular form of creation. This form could be a person, a statue, a rock, a plant, or any other manifestation that you can experience through the senses and mind.

Sutra 7. Devotion to the One is not for one’s own gain; its basis is self-restraint.

C: Gaining power, money, or influence can never be the reason why someone worships a particular form of the creator. In fact, renunciation of attachments to all forms will result from pure devotion to the One. When liberation occurs, the cage opens and you find yourself in utter freedom.

Sutra 8. Self-control means renunciation of worldly and ritualistic practices.

C: Finding complete satisfaction in one’s blissful Self results in a natural giving up of all worldly and spiritual practices and activities. The need for them simply is not there any longer.

Sutra 9. Otherlessness to the One and indifference to the opposite.

C: Self-control also means seeing no more separate aspects in this creation and therefore the power of the opposite to pull you away from the One vanishes. You steadfastly remain in the light.

Sutra 10. To give up all other dependence is called otherlessness.

C: Attachment to the notion of “another” leads to feelings of pleasure and pain. Pleasure, when the attachment is formed; pain, when the attachment is broken. However, if only the one Self is seen in all, no more pleasurable or painful attachments can form.

Sutra 11. To act in accordance with the One’s injunctions, ignoring what is against them, is detachment.

C: The One’s main injunction is to only see the One everywhere. This leads to complete detachment from all the tempting forms the One emanated.

Sutra 12. Practice the law by following the scriptures even when you are rooted in them.

C: Don’t confuse other devotees by advising them against what they read in the scriptures. Let them follow their own path to Self-realization.

Sutra 13. Otherwise, you stand in danger of falling back.

C: Believing yourself to stand above the scriptures and therefore above their writers can reignite attachment to your ego, making you feel superior to others.

Sutra 14. While in the world, attend to the necessities of life like other people.

C: Don’t make a big show of your accomplishments on the spiritual path. Remain humble and live your life as before.

Sutra 15. Now are described the marks of the love of the One according to various schools.

C: Various teachers have described certain marks of the love of the One in various devotees/followers.

Sutra 16. Great delight in worship is the chief characteristic of love of the One according to Vyasa.

C: Dedicating one’s actions as worship to the One is the most all-incumbering worship a devotee can do.

Sutra 17. Great joy in hearing the sacred stories of the One constitutes the mark of love, according to the teacher Gargya.

C: All religious scriptures have stories about the One and the One’s representative amongst the people. These are a true delight to listen to.

Sutra 18. According to Shandilya, delight in the actions of the One is a mark of devotion, if it does not interfere with the delight in Self.

C: As long as only the One is seen, this delight is unsullied. Once one sees “another” in the One’s actions, then one has lost the connection to one’s true Self.

Sutra 19. Narada says that the mark of devotion is a dedication of all outer and inner actions to the One and feeling of great pain in the event of forgetfulness of the One.

C: The current only flows one way. Being carried away by it is true bliss. Once one steps out of it because of inattentiveness, then one longs to be back in the river of devotion. This longing is truly agonizing.

Sutra 20. So it is.

C: So is the mark of love of the One described by several teachers.

Sutra 21. As the Gopis of Brindavan.

C: The devotion of the gopis of Brindavan was extraordinary. All they could think about was Krishna. He was the only object of their love. In their hearts and minds there was no room for anyone or anything else. They were completely lost in his overwhelming beauty.

Sutra 22. In their case there was no ignorance of the divine majesty or forgetfulness of the knowledge of the One.

C: They were simple milkmaidens with no knowledge of scriptural subtleties. They only knew that they loved Krishna with all their hearts. It was a deep and honest bond that left no room for another. Krishna was theirs and they were Krishna’s.

Sutra 23. Without these conditions, it would be an affair of the senses.

C: There was nothing sensual about their affair. It was pure love exchanged in millions of innocent ways.

Sutra 24. In the case of sensual love, a lover is not happy in the happiness others find who love the same object.

C: Love that demands anything in return is a business where goods change hands. When there is pure love, then one’s only desire is for the beloved to be genuinely happy and at peace.

Sutra 25. Devotion is better than rituals and better than dry intellectual knowledge of the nature of the soul and the One.

C: Devotion is the sweet fuel that helps propel one’s spiritual progress. Dry intellectual and analytical studies of scriptures lead to fatigue, frustration, and dissatisfaction.

Sutra 26. Love of the One is its own reward.

C: Love is the longing to be with the beloved. Since the One is identical with one’s own Self, therefore this longing is to be with oneself.

Sutra 27. The One does not favor the proud; the poor are the One’s favored ones.

C: Egotism is not a mental state that moves spiritual progress forward. The humbler one is, the quicker one advances on the path to liberation.

Sutra 28. According to some philosophers, release is only possible through knowledge.

C: True knowledge comes only after one experiences the Self. Before that, knowledge is dry and can lead to conflict.

Sutra 29. Some philosophers declare that knowledge and love depend on each other.

C: If there is true love for one of the manifestations of the One, then there is deep knowledge and understanding of it.

Sutra 30. The holy son of Brahma (Narada) holds that devotion is both the end and the means.

C: The author of the Narada Sutras again stresses the importance of true devotion on the spiritual path.

Sutra 31. As is evident in the case of the palace of a king and food, etc.

Sutra 32. You do not please the king by knowledge of the palace, nor does a knowledge of food satisfy your hunger.

C: One must come before the king and deal with him personally. One must eat the food to satisfy one’s hunger.

Sutra 33. Therefore, by the candidates to liberation, love is ever to be pursued.

C: What more can be said? Pure love is the path, and pure love is the goal.

Sutra 34. The holy teachers sing of the paths to that love.

C: Love the One incessantly and It will reveal Its all-consuming love to you.

Sutra 35. Renunciation of sense-pleasures and also of attachment and association is a means.

C: Freedom from all encumbrances is the means and the goal of the spiritual path.

Sutra 36. Ceaseless worship is another.

C: Never stop honoring the divine creation that exists and that you are a part of.

Sutra 37. To hear of the holy attributes of the One and sing of them with others, is also a means.

C: Fill your mind with thoughts of the One and share them with others. This is true worship of the One.

Sutra 38. But the chief means is the favor of the spiritually great or the grace of the One.

C: On the spiritual path the fastest progress is possible through the grace of the guru instigated by the grace of the One. It is said that when the One is pleased, It will show you the guru, and if the guru is pleased, they will show you the One.

Sutra 39. The company of a holy person is rare, difficult to access, but ever fruitful.

C: The company of the guru is invaluable. It involves commitment but it is always fruitful, even if one is only engaged half-heartedly.

Sutra 40. The One is found only by the One’s grace.

C: Grace is the reward for your dedicated efforts on the spiritual path.

Sutra 41. Holy persons abide in the One. They are identical for want of difference.

C: The same Self dwells in all of them and they only reveal the One to you, even if they have different methods.

Sutra 42. Work for – strive after the grace of the One.

C: The manifestations of the grace of the One are the true teachers. To be in their good graces means to have an in with the One. Being in their company is like being in the company of the clear reflection of the One.

Sutra 43. Everywhere and at all times avoid the company of the wicked.

Sutra 44. Such company will give rise in your heart to pleasure desire, anger, delusion, forgetfulness of the truth, death of discriminative reason, and further rebirths.

Sutra 45. Like waves which swell rapidly in the sea at the time of the incoming tide, the above psychological aberrations grow in the soul, as a result of the company of the wicked.

C: Like a rotten apple can spoil all other apples in a fruit bowl, so the company of bad people can corrupt the mental state of those who are pure and wholesome.

Sutra 46. Who goes beyond Maya? Who goes beyond Maya?? They who give up mundane association; they who serve the great-hearted ones; they verily become spiritually unselfish.

C: Going beyond Maya is seeing beyond the physical reflection in the mirror and perceiving the pure state of the One. Service and devotion are essential elements on the spiritual path.

Sutra 47. They who love the solitary place; who root out the binding forces of the world; who go beyond the function of the three gunas; who are indifferent to the maintenance of their possessions and are unconcerned about what they do not possess.

C: The true solitary place is found at the center of the mind, where stillness and equanimity reign supreme. The qualities of the three gunas are like a person’s blueprint, inherited from their parents. Possessions are what someone has acquired in this life, and which will have to be given up at some point, voluntarily or by force. Detachment is called for on the spiritual path.

Sutra 48. They who renounce the fruit of their actions, and also give up performance of rituals, they pass beyond the pair of opposites.

C: It seems like a contradiction from a previous sutra. On the path to liberation all fruit of one’s actions must be renounced, and one’s hope for help from higher forces by performing rituals also needs to be given up.

Sutra 49. They who give up even the scriptures, and practice absolute devotion,

C: The scriptures are roadmaps established by experienced travelers in the spiritual domain. But, they are the view of those particular people. Once the truth has been found, the roadmap is no longer needed. One does not go against such scriptures, however, so as not to confuse other seekers.

Sutra 50. They go beyond and help others to go beyond (the ocean of suffering).

C: Once someone has found the way out of the birdcage of restrictions, one wants nothing more than to help others find their way into freedom also.

Sutra 51. The nature of love is indescribable.

C: Love can only be experienced. It cannot be explained to someone else.

Sutra 52. It is like the tasting of delicious food by a dumb person.

C: Once someone tastes sugar, one knows its true nature. The same with love. Feelings of love leave a very long aftertaste in someone’s mind and heart.

Sutra 53. To some, who are deserving, it can be revealed.

C: Those who have practiced Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of love, in a selfless way, will experience the ecstasy of the bliss of the One.

Sutra 54. The love (of the One) is without attributes, based on no desire, increasing every moment, unconditioned, highly subtle, and in the form of experience.

C: It may sound strange that this love is described as without attributes. But attributes would be restricting this love, and this love is without restrictions. The only attribute it allows is fathomless bliss.

Sutra 55. Having attained it, one sees it (only), hears it (only), and thinks of it (only).

C: It is as if a drop of water fell into the ocean and now is completely immersed in water from all directions. Whereas before it was a separate entity, falling from the clouds, but now it is resting in the comfort of its boundless natural home.

Sutra 56. Devotion is of three kinds, according to the threefold nature of people and the threefold nature of devotion.

C: Expansion (sattva), Activity (rajas), and Contraction (tamas) are the three natural forces that are found everywhere in nature.

Sutra 57. The first of these conditions produces higher spiritual good than the second, and the second is superior to the third.

C: People with all three attributes can attain the divine love. Sattvic people are more open, rajasic people are more active, and tamasic people are more reclusive.

Sutra 58. Love of the One is easy to attain by the devotee.

C: Love is an easy path to go on. Most people are familiar with it. Most people have loved someone or something in their lives. Therefore, it is easy for them to focus their love on an aspect of the One.

Sutra 59. Love does not stand in need of proof because it itself is proof.

C: Love is an experience. Therefore, there is no need to proof that it is real because a person is feeling it and is aware of it. Therefore, it is real.

Sutra 60. Its nature is peace and supreme bliss.

C: Love is the intense longing to be with the beloved. It culminates when oneness with the beloved is experienced. Then natural peace and tranquility set in.

Sutra 61. Having surrendered themselves, their world and the Vedas, the devotees must take no notice of worldly gains or loss.

C: There is only the One. In the One there are no distinctions of high or low, gain or loss, coming or going. Nothing but the experience of ongoing bliss remains.

Sutra 62. The devotees need not give up their active life in the world on completion of their devotion; they are expected to surrender the fruits of their actions.

C: Actions must be performed for the maintenance of this creation. All of the One’s emanations are designed to produce humans in whom the One can witness Its own magnificence. There is nothing personal in these emanations and actions.

Sutra 63. Do not give yourself up to women of easy virtue or wealth or the atheistic doctrine.

C: Never give over your power to anything or anyone. Remain in your center at all times and at all places. See all as necessary emanations of the One, designed for a higher purpose that you may not understand right now.

Sutra 64. Egotism and domination must be given up.

C: Carving out your little corner of the world will not lead to true happiness and peace. Expand your circle of life to include all of existence. Then you will experience communion with the One.

Sutra 65. Submit your actions to the One and express your feelings of anger, pleasure, or egotism to It.

C: Consider the One a mirror in which all of your life can be seen and experienced. Talk with that mirror, yell at it, curse it, love it. Consider this mirror as your only companion in life. Other people and things are only emanations of the One that are here to help you advance on the spiritual path towards oneness with It.

Sutra 66. Love – love alone – love expressing itself in constant service, worship, and communion. Love which transcends its three forms.

C: The One emanated and developed all this so that It can be with Itself. It created objects and beings that you get attracted to, to love, so that you can find a way back to Itself and find the bliss of union with Itself.

Sutra 67. Devotees who have a community of their own are considered to be specially blessed.

C: To be surrounded by like-minded people helps to strengthen your resolve to find the One.

Sutra 68. Such devotees, living in a community, talking of the One with tears and deep feeling, purify their families and the whole world.

C: These devotees remind the people around them of the power of the One and of the need to follow a spiritual path to gain a true understanding of this creation.

Sutra 69. The devotees, by their intimate contact, add holiness to holy places, merits to right actions, and render sacred books doubly sacred.

Sutra 70. Because they have acquired identity with the One’s spirit.

Sutra 71. The spirits of their ancestors rejoice, the angels dance, the earth is blessed by them.

C: These devotees invigorate ancient holy centers and add to the present day understanding of religious scriptures.

Sutra 72. Caste, culture, beauty, wealth, birth, and profession are meaningless to believers in the One.

Sutra 73. Because they are all of the One.

C: When the One in all is seen and experienced, individual parts of this creation have very little meaning to the devotees.

Sutra 74. Do not depend on discussion.

C: Do not try to convince others that your path is the path for them. Show them by expressing your love without wanting anything else in return.

Sutra 75. For reasoning is endless and not always fruitful.

C: Discussions about the details of the One that can be found in religious and philosophical texts do not lead to the love of the One. Only love and devotion can bring you to It.

Sutra 76. Respect the scriptures of devotion and follow their directions on life in the light of that knowledge.

C: Listen to scriptures like this one with an open mind and practice what it suggests. The results will astonish you. Give up trying to understand the One before you have had the experience of the One. First experience, then understand.

Sutra 77. Giving up pleasure and pain, profit and loss, and waiting for time of consummation, even a fraction of a second must not be wasted.

C: You are looking for happiness, peace, and true bliss. Neither of those can be found in the realm of duality. Eagerly anticipate oneness with the One and soon you will find yourself immersed in It.

Sutra 78. Cultivate non-violence, truth, purity, compassion, and faith.

C: Purity of mind, purity of intensions, and faith in the One. That is all you need on the spiritual path. Hurting others only hurts you, because all there is, is the One.

Sutra 79. With all one’s mind, one must worship the One at all times.

C: Think of the One constantly. Meditate on the One persistently. See the One everywhere. That is the path and the goal.

Sutra 80. Thus worshipped the One speedily reveals Itself to the devotees and becomes an object of their experience.

C: There will come a time when the One reveals Itself to you in your chosen form. Then you will experience Its awesome power and powerful presence.

Sutra 81. The path of love is the highest path. Love of the One is supreme; devotion to the One is devotion to the eternal truth.

C: The path of love is the most fulfilling path. To experience the blissful unity with the One is the outcome of the spiritual path. Now you are at peace with yourself.

Sutra 82. There are eleven different phases of devotion: Love of the grandeur of the One, love of Its beauty, worship of the One, meditation on It, service to It, the love of It as a friend, a child, as a spouse, loving It in full self-surrender, awareness of unity with It, and the feeling you cannot live without It.

C: This devotion is all-encompassing. It begins in the morning when you again become aware of your surroundings and ends at night when you fall asleep and surrender your awareness to your sleep state.

Sutra 83. This is the unanimous opinion distinct from the babbling of immature souls, of such teachers of devotion as Kumara, Vyasa, Shuka, Shandilya, Gargya, Vishnu, Kaundilya, Shesha, Uddhava, Aruni, Bali, Hanuman, Vibhishana, and many others.

C: The babbling of immature souls wants to divide the world into power centers, based on individual desires. Truly great souls only want to unite and bring about the realization of the oneness of the One.

Sutra 84. Those who have faith in this gospel of all-including bliss, by Shri Narada, will have the love of the One. They will have the dearest love of the One’s heart.

May the blessings of Shri Dada also rest with the reader.

Om! Om! Om!

Purity

Purity in mind. Purity in Intentions. That’s where it’s at.

Whatever you are involved in, practice purity. Seek the purity in all situations. Don’t find the faults, find the purity. Elevate every discussion to the level of purity, no matter how trivial the subject might be. Nothing is too trivial to benefit from the search for purity.

Purity is the essence behind all words, all deeds, and all thoughts. When you cannot find the purity in your efforts and discussions, then you need to dig a bit deeper. Be assured, you will find it underneath all activities of body and mind.

All religions attempt to unearth this purity. So do all philosophical and political systems. Purity is always the essence in everything we do, think, desire, and create.

What is unconditional love but purity in heart, the unadulterated feeling of pure and selfless immersion in another? All spiritual paths prescribe purity as their main means of achieving lasting peace and happiness.

Pure thoughts are always encouraged. What are pure thoughts? They are, first of all, selfless thoughts. They are most certainly not greedy thoughts, or demanding thoughts. They are not thoughts of: “give me, give me, give me, I need, I want, I have to have.”

No, pure thoughts are: “what do you need? What can I do to make your life a bit better? How can I help you in achieving your dreams in life?”

Pure thoughts are always selfless thoughts. There are no hidden agendas in pure thoughts. Pure thoughts flow effortlessly from the higher self through the subconscious mind into the conscious mind. They are not in any way altered by the thought and emotion patterns in our mind. They flow in purity through us into the world.

Pure thoughts have only one agenda: to be helpful, to assist life in expressing itself fully. Pure thoughts are always extending a helping hand to others. They are also very much like a snowplow in removing obstacles from the path so that all can walk safely along the road of life.

That elusive Spark

From time-to-time new influences enter our lives. New thoughts arise. New or old acquaintances contribute some surprising information to our daily humdrum. We notice something out of the ordinary. We perk up. We take notice. A bright light flashes across our sky of understanding.

That “something” new or different could be anything. It could be a discovery or a new strain of understanding. It could be something that we see, hear, taste, touch, or smell.

Whatever it is, something about this “something” strikes a chord in us, in our deepest awareness of existence. It rattles us. It changes the trajectory of our lives forever. Our lives will not be the same afterwards. Something had hit us hard. And it left an ongoing impression in our being. We remember it periodically, with awe and reference.

This “something” is the spice of life. It is really what we are looking for in life. Without it there would only be monotony. There must be something in existence that wakes us from our comforting slumber. There has to be, otherwise we would still be slumbering as a single brain, single cell organism in the swamps of this planet. Something made us crawl out of the mud. Something powerful kicked us out and/or propelled us towards something greater.

The Center

The focus is always within. The Innermost. The Highest. Where there is stillness. Where there is peace. Where there is lack of movement. Where there is freedom. Where there is respite from the storm of life: the oasis in the inhospitable region of the dualistic mind. Where the wind of life cannot wreak havoc any longer.

The Center is:

The fountain of perfect radiance and bliss.

The cosmic black hole that subdues all vacillations.

The trusted lynchpin that secures my meditative realizations.

The curious conscious silent witness of my heroic existence.

The hidden unperturbed mysterious witness behind the thinking mind.

The unknowable substance that appears lifeless to the mind, but that is the root cause of all subsequent causes.

The gap you fall into between two activities, two thoughts, two fluctuations of the mind.

The hollow echo of the sound of being.

The quiet wisdom gained by distilling all acquired knowledge.

The sudden impact of a realization that shatters all preconceived notions.

The radiant pure love that emanates from a compassionate heart.

The flow of awareness into a place of stillness.

The flow of awareness into radiant emptiness.

The Emptiness

The emptiness is not really empty, it is filled with the presence. This presence is behind all the surface experiences life conjures up moment by moment. Life squeezes consciousness out of the forms it creates. It forces consciousness to emerge. Life’s will and determination brings about the sizzling experience of consciousness.

This drive towards consciousness is at first rudimentary. It is self-perpetuating and builds upon itself, which leads to higher and more and more sophisticated lifeforms. It coaxes the highest experience of consciousness out of what at first appeared to be lifeless chunks of a consortium of minerals hurtling through space. Consciousness: the highest, the most perfect, the unsurpassable, the purest, the most scintillating, the eternally blissful!

The drive – that is where the cause of it all lies. This drive is contained in every seed. The drive is in the seed; the tree emerges from the seed; the tree produces more seeds, containing more of the drive. That is how life moves forward from lower, simpler lifeforms to higher, more complex ones. Gradually. From simple to complex. From plants to animals. From animals to humans.

What comes after humans? So far, we have had several iterations of humanoids. Can there be another one? I don’t know. There will be one, if it is needed in the evolutionary drive of life.

The Truth

A particular philosophy that I came across states that since this creation is infinite, its parts or components can be arranged in infinite ways. Where does that leave the struggle for the truth? What is the truth at any given time and place, when the facts can be arranged in infinite ways to suit an infinite number of perspectives and needs?

A simple example would be a cow: to the butcher it only matters how many steaks and other cuts can be extracted from its body. To the shoemaker it only matters how much leather can be harvested. To the dairy industry, only the amount of milk the cow gives matters. In India, the cow is regarded as symbol for “mother” and therefore is sacred.

These are the various truths about the cow from various perspectives. The butchers’ truth is meat; the shoemakers’ truth is leather; the dairy industry’s is milk.

Same cow. Different truths for different needs.

This applies to the entire universe that surrounds us. This universe is like one enormous cow that means different things to different people at different times and different places.

The Day of Atonement

Today is the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. People are asked to atone. Atone for what, and ask forgiveness from whom?

Atone for the wrong they have done and ask forgiveness from them whom they have wronged in the previous year. Atonement has nothing to do with YHWH. YHWH does not ask for atonement from people. How could He? He himself always forgives people, all the time, irregardless of their circumstances. And He forgives immediately. He does not wait until October 4th to forgive them. No, He forgives them as soon as people have trespassed against Him, instantly. He does not remember from one moment to the next. He does not have a long memory. In fact, YHWH has the shortest memory in existence. He does not remember from one moment to the next. That is how He is able to forgive and forget the many wrongs people commit against Him constantly.

People commit crimes against YHWH all the time, in thought and deed. YHWH sees that and forgives it immediately, so that people have a chance for redemption. People commit constant trespasses against YHWH, but YHWH does not want to bind them with feelings of guilt. He wants people to see the error of their ways immediately. These trespasses against YHWH do not accumulate over one year and then get forgiven in bulk. Not at all.

What gets forgiven on the Day of Atonement is the trespasses against neighbors, friends, and acquaintances that people have accumulated over the course of the last year. In order for these trespasses to be truly forgiven, people need to approach the ones they have wronged and with sincerity ask for their forgiveness. Only then can the slate be wiped clean. Sitting in temple and feeling “atoned” is not doing the complete trick. It may make some people feel better about themselves, but that alone does not make the tension between the ones they have wronged and themselves go away.

Somewhere in the Bible is written that before approaching God and sacrificing to Him, one should clear the bad feelings with others so that one can approach God with a clear heart.