The Nature of Devotion

अथातो भक्तिं व्याख्यास्यामः ॥१॥

athāto bhaktiṃ vyākhyāsyāmaḥ ||1||

Now, therefore, we will explain devotion.

"Now, therefore" (athato) is the classic opening of a sutra text, used also by the Brahma Sutras. It signals that the reader is ready, and the subject begins. Devotion (bhakti) means loving dedication to God.

सा त्वस्मिन् परमप्रेमरूपा ॥२॥

sā tvasmin paramapremarūpā ||2||

It is supreme love for him.

"Him" refers to God, the Lord. The sutras never name a particular form of God, so readers of any devotional tradition can find their own beloved in the word.

अमृतस्वरूपा च ॥३॥

amṛtasvarūpā ca ||3||

And it is of the nature of immortality.

यल्लब्ध्वा पुमान् सिद्धो भवति अमृतो भवति तृप्तो भवति ॥४॥

yallabdhvā pumān siddho bhavati amṛto bhavati tṛpto bhavati ||4||

Gaining it, a person becomes perfect, becomes immortal, becomes content.

यत्प्राप्य न किञ्चिद्वाञ्छति न शोचति न द्वेष्टि न रमते नोत्साही भवति ॥५॥

yatprāpya na kiñcidvāñchati na śocati na dveṣṭi na ramate notsāhī bhavati ||5||

Having reached it, one wants nothing, grieves for nothing, hates nothing, delights in nothing else, and has no eagerness for other things.

यज्ज्ञात्वा मत्तो भवति स्तब्धो भवति आत्मारामो भवति ॥६॥

yajjñātvā matto bhavati stabdho bhavati ātmārāmo bhavati ||6||

Knowing it, one becomes intoxicated, becomes still, and delights in the self.

Three signs of a devotee: intoxicated with love, stilled by it, and finding joy within rather than outside.

सा न कामयमाना निरोधरूपत्वात् ॥७॥

sā na kāmayamānā nirodharūpatvāt ||7||

It is not driven by desire, because its nature is renunciation.

निरोधस्तु लोकवेदव्यापारन्यासः ॥८॥

nirodhastu lokavedavyāpāranyāsaḥ ||8||

Renunciation means giving up all worldly and ritual activity.

"Renunciation" (nirodha) here is not grim self-denial. It means that ordinary ambitions and religious duties stop being ends in themselves once love takes over.

तस्मिन्ननन्यता तद्विरोधिषूदासीनता च ॥९॥

tasminnananyatā tadvirodhiṣūdāsīnatā ca ||9||

It means single-minded devotion to him, and indifference to whatever opposes him.

अन्याश्रयाणां त्यागोऽनन्यता ॥१०॥

anyāśrayāṇāṃ tyāgo'nanyatā ||10||

Single-mindedness means giving up every other refuge.

लोकवेदेषु तदनुकूलाचरणं तद्विरोधिषूदासीनता ॥११॥

lokavedeṣu tadanukūlācaraṇaṃ tadvirodhiṣūdāsīnatā ||11||

Indifference to what opposes him means acting, in worldly and religious matters, in ways that support devotion.

भवतु निश्चयदार्ढ्यादूर्ध्वं शास्त्ररक्षणम् ॥१२॥

bhavatu niścayadārḍhyādūrdhvaṃ śāstrarakṣaṇam ||12||

Let one continue to protect the rules of scripture until one's resolve has become firm.

A practical caution. The freedom of mature love is not a license to drop discipline early. Until devotion is steady, the ordinary rules are a protection.

अन्यथा पातित्याशङ्कया ॥१३॥

anyathā pātityāśaṅkayā ||13||

Otherwise there is danger of falling.

लोकोऽपि तावदेव किन्तु भोजनादिव्यापारस्त्वाशरीरधारणावधि ॥१४॥

loko'pi tāvadeva kintu bhojanādivyāpārastvāśarīradhāraṇāvadhi ||14||

Worldly activity too should continue only so long, except for eating and the like, which go on as long as the body lasts.

तल्लक्षणानि वाच्यन्ते नानामतभेदात् ॥१५॥

tallakṣaṇāni vācyante nānāmatabhedāt ||15||

Its marks are described differently, according to different views.

पूजादिष्वनुराग इति पाराशर्यः ॥१६॥

pūjādiṣvanurāga iti pārāśaryaḥ ||16||

Parashara's son says it is love for worship and the like.

"Parashara's son" is Vyasa, the traditional compiler of the Vedas and the Mahabharata. In sutras 16–19, Narada sets out the views of three earlier teachers before giving his own.

कथादिष्विति गर्गः ॥१७॥

kathādiṣviti gargaḥ ||17||

Garga says it is love for sacred stories and the like.

आत्मरत्यविरोधेनेति शाण्डिल्यः ॥१८॥

ātmaratyavirodheneti śāṇḍilyaḥ ||18||

Shandilya says it is love that does not conflict with delight in the self.

नारदस्तु तदर्पिताखिलाचारता तद्विस्मरणे परमव्याकुलतेति ॥१९॥

nāradastu tadarpitākhilācāratā tadvismaraṇe paramavyākulateti ||19||

But Narada says it is offering all one's actions to him, and feeling the greatest anguish in forgetting him.

Narada's own definition, and the heart of the text: devotion is to dedicate everything one does to God, and to feel the absence of God as unbearable.

अस्त्येवमेवम् ॥२०॥

astyevamevam ||20||

It is exactly so.

यथा व्रजगोपिकानाम् ॥२१॥

yathā vrajagopikānām ||21||

As with the cowherd women of Vraja.

The gopis, the cowherd women of the village of Vraja, are the supreme example of devotion in the Bhagavata tradition. Their love for Krishna was so complete that they forgot everything else.

तत्रापि न माहात्म्यज्ञानविस्मृत्यपवादः ॥२२॥

tatrāpi na māhātmyajñānavismṛtyapavādaḥ ||22||

Even there, it is not that they forgot his greatness.

An important correction. One might think the gopis loved Krishna as an ordinary lover and did not know he was divine. Narada insists they knew. Their love was not ignorance but complete devotion with full knowledge.

तद्विहीनं जाराणामिव ॥२३॥

tadvihīnaṃ jārāṇāmiva ||23||

Without that knowledge, it would be like the love of illicit lovers.

नास्त्येव तस्मिन् तत्सुखसुखित्वम् ॥२४॥

nāstyeva tasmin tatsukhasukhitvam ||24||

In such love there is no joy in the beloved's joy.

The test of true love: it rejoices in the happiness of the beloved rather than seeking its own pleasure.