Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

Opening Invocation

ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगदगुरुम पादपद्मे तयो: श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहु :

Om Jananim Saradam devim Ramakrishnam jagadgurum Padapadme tayoh shritva pranamami muhurmuhuh.

Discourse on Narada Bhakti Sutras - Chapter on Love (Prema)

Introduction to the Structure of Narada Bhakti Sutras

The Narada Bhakti Sutras have been divided into certain chapters. Actually, Narada himself did not do this division—it was done by other people later. However, it happens naturally that certain sutras deal with the same subject matter.

Some intelligent commentators have identified these themes. Here are the four main divisions:

Prema - What is love?
Nirvachanam - The definition of love

There are two types of love discussed: the supreme love and the secondary love—Nityā Bhakti and Gauṇa Bhakti. We will discuss these in detail.

The Indescribable Nature of Divine Love (Prema)

The Problem of Definition

In the Nirvachanam section, we encounter a fundamental problem: Prema (divine love) is impossible to describe in words.

Can you give an example? It is like a mute person who has tasted something extremely delightful. His whole face lights up, his eyes are shining, showing his true joy. Yet at the same time, he is mute—he cannot express what he has experienced.

The Paradox of Recognition

But if divine love is impossible to define, and yet people experience it, how do we know when someone else has it? Can it be experienced without having it ourselves?

The answer is yes—it is intuitive. You cannot prove certain qualities through direct perception. There are certain qualities, both good and bad—love, friendliness, generosity, or conversely, miserliness. These are not called objects, therefore they are not called pratyakṣa (direct perceptions).

Understanding Percepts vs. Concepts

What is a pratyakṣa (percept)? Whatever is perceived directly is a percept. I see a sofa—that is perception. But qualities like love are called pratyaya (concepts). These are ideas in the mind: "This person is a good person," "This person is a wicked person."

We cannot put our finger on these qualities and say "here they are," but we know them intuitively. What they call telepathically or intuitively, we can understand.

The Child's Intuitive Knowledge

How does a child understand that its mother loves it when there are so many strangers around? It runs straight to the mother. Suppose the child is able to talk and asks, "Mom, do you love me?" The mother says, "Yes." The child asks, "Prove it to me. Show it to me."

Can love be shown? It cannot be shown directly. Can hatred be shown? A person may appear wrathful outwardly but be cutting inside—that's called diplomacy. A diplomat is one who, when you go to meet him, even if he wants to cut your throat, will put it on a golden platter and present it as if saying, "This is my head I am offering to you."

Manifestations of Divine Love in Great Devotees

This is how we recognize great devotees like Purandara Dāsa, Tukārāma, Rāmprasād, and Mīrābāī. How do we know they possessed divine love? Because it was very clearly manifest in their lives and expressions.

Experiencing the Effects of Love

Most importantly, how do we experience love? We don't experience love directly, but we experience the effects of love—just like electricity.

One day, one of our Swamis was giving this example: "We cannot see electricity directly, but we can experience its effects." Then one devotee said, "Yes, yes, Swami, it can be seen. If I go and put my finger in the socket, I can see it!"

The Swami replied, "No, you don't see electricity itself. You experience its effects."

Universal Response to Love

Even plants respond to love. Jagadish Chandra Bose has conclusively proved that all plants have feelings. When somebody loves them, they respond positively. When someone hates them, they withdraw. This love is available everywhere.

The Universality of Love

Love in All Relationships

Another point we need to understand: we are talking about love here, but specifically about love of God. However, love is available everywhere—between man and woman, between mother and father, between parents and children, between brothers and sisters.

Show me one person who doesn't understand what love is—it's impossible. We would not be able to live in this world if we could not experience love.

Self-Love as Universal Proof

Even if you think nobody loves you, one love is absolutely certain: we love ourselves. For this, you don't need any proof—every second is proof. The way we sit when our back is aching, the way we care for our comfort—this proves that we love ourselves. We do not wish to be uncomfortable.

The Unity of Divine Love and Self-Love

The Non-Dual Perspective

But here we are talking about divine love. What is the difference between divine love and self-love? True love of the Self and true love of God are one and the same. That is why the scriptures say "Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi" (I am Brahman).

Now, I think I am not Brahman—I think I am the body, I am the mind. When a person really realizes "I am God," then what happens?

The Distinction Between Object and Subject

Among these two concepts of God—the God whom we think of as an object, and the God who is our true Self—can you understand the distinction?

There is a sofa there. I am thinking of the sofa. The object of my thinking is out there—it is an object. But the thought of that object is where? Inside my mind.

That is why even the thought of God is only a mental object and has to be transcended. In other words, through sādhana (spiritual practice), the difference between subject and object is completely obliterated.

The Psychology of Extended Self-Love

In ordinary, non-spiritual consciousness, this difference always exists. A mother loves her child. Whom is she loving? When a mother says "I love my child," whom is she really loving? Herself. Because if it were not her child, she wouldn't feel the same love.

So the child is an extension of herself—this is the greatest psychological truth. If you want to love the whole world, you must think it is not the world separate from you, but it is you yourself.

God as a Euphemism for Universal Self

Since we do not dare to think that the whole world is ourselves, we give it another euphemistic word—that is called God. "I love God." But what is God? God means everything.

You don't say that this tree is not God if you truly love God. But if someone says "I love God" yet "I hate this tree," then they don't truly love God. Why? Because how can you destroy a tree if you cannot destroy God?

Do you follow what I am saying? If someone hates a tree but claims to love God, what are they actually saying? That God is everywhere except in this tree. Otherwise, they could not bring opposite emotions to that object.

The Inevitable Conclusion

When you analyze it this way, every single object in this world must be identified with God. And if that idea of God as everything is there in our mind, and if God is everything, then the inevitable conclusion must be: I am everything.

This is what we are understanding here.

The 54th Sutra: Attempting Description

The 54th Sutra attempts to give some description of divine love. "But Baba," one might ask, "give some description. Otherwise, how do we understand anything of what you are talking about?"

The sutra responds: "It cannot be defined. It is like a mute person [experiencing something indescribable]." But it is available, it can be experienced.

Why don't we examine the characteristics given? The sutra describes it as "Anubhava-rūpam"—of the nature of direct experience.

Understanding Distinctions (Bheda)

The Three Types of Distinctions

Bheda means distinction. What is distinction? The mechanism by which we distinguish one thing from another is called bheda—the quality by which we distinguish any two given objects.

This distinction is of three types:

Vijātīya Bheda (Species-level distinction): Vijāti means different species. There is a coconut tree, there is a mango tree—crystal clear difference.
Sajātīya Bheda (Within-species distinction): This is subtler. This is also a mango, this is also a mango, but this is one variety, this is Alphonso, this is another variety. You can distinguish clearly.
Svagata Bheda (Internal distinctions): Even within one mango tree, infinite internal differences exist—the root, the trunk, big branches, small branches, smaller branches, leaves, blossoms, fruits, small fruit, larger fruit, ripe fruit, unripe fruit.

The Necessity of Distinctions

Why are all these distinctions necessary? For us to interact in this world. If I tell you "bring a coconut," you need to distinguish it from a mango tree. If there are two mango trees and I say "bring Alphonso fruit, don't bring the other variety," you need to make that distinction.

Even if there's only one fruit on each tree, if both of us like different varieties, you need to know which is which, or else you might keep the Alphonso for yourself and bring me the variety I don't prefer!

The Nature of Supreme Love (Para-bhakti)

No Distinctions in Pure Love

But in divine love—what is the difference between Śrī Rāmakṣṇa's love for God and Ramaṇa Maharṣi's love for God? You cannot make any difference whatsoever. In love itself, there is no difference.

If you remove the object of love, there is nothing called worldly love and spiritual love. When love is directed toward a worldly object, you call that person worldly. When directed toward God, you call them spiritual. But the love itself is the same.

Beyond the Three Guṇas

This supreme love is completely guṇa-rahita (beyond the three guṇas). Guṇa means the three qualities: sattva, rajas, and tamas. Supreme devotion (para-bhakti) is not affected by these qualities.

In lower devotion (gauṇa bhakti), there are differences. But we are talking about supreme devotion, para-bhakti. In para-bhakti, there is no difference.

The Unity of Bhakti and Jñāna

Why is there no difference? Because supreme devotion and supreme knowledge (jñāna) are the same. You must understand: bhakti and jñāna are just two different words for the same reality.

You cannot have bhakti without jñāna—jñāna means knowledge. You cannot have true knowledge without bhakti. Some people prefer to call their path bhakti, others prefer to call it jñāna, but at the supreme level (para-bhakti, para-jñāna), they are identical.

Sat-Cit-Ānanda: Different Approaches to the Same Goal

Swami Vivekānanda explained: God's nature is Sat-Cit-Ānanda. Sat (existence) is common—God exists. This is accepted by Christians, Muslims, Hindus, everybody.

Where is the difference? Some people prefer to meditate more on Ānanda (bliss)—they are called devotees (bhaktas). Some people focus upon Cit (consciousness/knowledge)—they follow the path of knowledge (jñāna-mārga).

Sat is the common platform. Standing on this platform of Sat, some focus on Ānanda, some focus on Cit—hence Jñāna-mārga and Bhakti-mārga.

The Ultimate Unity

Gauṇa bhakti (secondary devotion) appears as a different path initially. But once both devotee and philosopher reach the ultimate goal, what difference does it make? You can call God Sat, you can call God Cit, you can call God Ānanda—"Sac-cid-ānanda-rūpāya viśva-uttaraṇa-hetave | namaḥ śrī-guru-nāthāya haraye paramahaṃsāya."

The Ocean Metaphor

Why is there no difference at the ultimate level? When a devotee truly reaches God, his individuality dies—it's like two drops of water falling into the ocean. The way they fall makes the apparent difference.

There are two drops: one drop says, "I am a devotee, I am helpless, I am weak. I surrender myself to God. God will slowly lift me up and merge me into the ocean."

The other drop says, "Who is this God? I am God! Let Him come to me—I am the ocean, let Him fall into me!"

The ocean might get angry: "This arrogant fellow! I'll fall upon him and absorb him!"

Whether the drop falls into the ocean or the ocean falls upon the drop, the result is the same. As they say in Telugu: "Whether the drop falls into the ocean or the ocean falls on the drop, the result is the same."

The Knife and Pumpkin Analogy

It's like a knife falling on a pumpkin, or a pumpkin falling on a knife—the result is the same: the pumpkin gets cut. The knife is God, the individual soul (jīva) is the pumpkin.

What does God do? In the form of a knife, He cuts the ego into pieces. If there's still ego remaining, He boils it, then fries it, and finally swallows it completely until no trace of separate identity remains.

Characteristics of Supreme Love

Desirelessness (Kāmanā-rahita)

Supreme love is completely desireless (kāmanā-rahita). Why is it desireless?

When a person drinks one drop of water, or ten drops, how long do they last? A few hours. After that, he becomes thirsty again and again. But suppose he becomes the ocean itself—when is he ever thirsty again?

There's a beautiful example: In the rainy season, small pools form that are completely separate from rivers. Very soon, when the sun rises, these pools completely evaporate and dry up. But if that pool becomes part of the river—if the river expands and merges the pool into itself—then the pool will remain ever full.

Having vs. Being

What's the explanation? We all love something to get happiness. But when you have become happiness itself, the question of getting happiness doesn't arise.

The difference is between getting happiness from different objects versus being happiness. In the former, happiness is an object, and every object has some limited quantity of happiness.

Even poison has both happiness and unhappiness aspects. Do you love poison? No. But you do relate to it in complex ways. It gives terrible unhappiness when it harms, but it can also give happiness in certain contexts.

The Saintly and Wicked Person Example

Tulasī Dāsa used to say: "Two types of people give me the greatest happiness—the saintly (sat-jana) and the wicked (dur-jana). When the saintly come to me, they give me the greatest happiness. When the wicked go away from me, they also give me the greatest happiness!"

If somebody brings poison to you, naturally you won't be happy. But suppose there's somebody you dislike—if poison removes that person, then even poison gives you happiness for two reasons:

The object of your hatred disappears, so your hatred also disappears
If you had been planning something against that person, the poison accomplishes it without your sin

The Mahābhārata Example

We see this in the Mahābhārata: The Pāṇḍavas were living in exile in the forest. Duryodhana wanted to increase their suffering, so he went to the other side of a river where the Pāṇḍavas were camping and set up elaborate entertainment—music halls, dance halls, dining halls.

Day and night, the sounds and smells would reach the Pāṇḍavas' simple camp. Poor fellows were eating the barest minimum food while Duryodhana was enjoying drinking, dancing, and every luxury. Their teeth were gnashing with envy.

But what happened? A Gandharva came with his wives to enjoy the beautiful river. Duryodhana, in his arrogance, told him: "Hey, you fellow, get out! This is my area!"

The Gandharva said: "Who are you?"

Duryodhana replied: "Don't you know who I am? I am going to smash you today!"

Within minutes, the Gandharva thoroughly defeated Duryodhana. Yudhiṣṭhira was watching and was very happy, thinking: "This is exactly what we wanted to do, but the Gandharva has done it for us!"

Later, Yudhiṣṭhira intervened to release Duryodhana (since the Gandharva was devoted to Yudhiṣṭhira), but Duryodhana, who had come to shame the Pāṇḍavas, was himself thoroughly shamed.

The Psychology of Love and Joy

The Inseparable Connection

Love and joy always go together. Where there is love, there is joy. Where there is joy, there is love. They are opposite sides of the same coin.

You cannot say "I love something but I am very unhappy with it." Even when you don't feel like eating due to illness, if your mother prepares your most favorite dish, you think: "Let the body suffer for 365 days, but let me not lose this opportunity. I'll postpone the suffering and first enjoy this!"

The Nature of Unbroken Bliss

When a person has supreme love, there is no other object he loves—only the one infinite object (God). Therefore, his ānanda (bliss) is also unbroken.

This is exactly opposite to what happens with worldly objects. With worldly objects, until you attain union with them, you experience anticipatory happiness. The moment you attain union, all happiness diminishes.

The Marriage Day Analogy

The happiest day related to marriage is often the day before the marriage ceremony! Once the marriage is done, problems start—not just between the couple, but all the relatives come with their expectations and complications.

The Food Example

You are very hungry and food arrives. You think about eating with great joy. But the moment food touches your tongue and goes inside, your initial joy diminishes. Every morsel (muṭṭha) that goes inside reduces your hunger and thus reduces the intensity of joy.

This is invariable with worldly love: the moment you become unified with the object, the anticipatory joy disappears.

The Infinite Nature of Divine Love

Ever-Increasing Hunger

But divine love is different. With this object (God), your love-hunger grows. Why does it grow? Because the more you love, the more your hunger increases. Where does it end?

It can end only when the finite completely becomes the infinite—the individual soul must become one with the infinite God.

The Mathematical Impossibility

Here's the equation: One finite object plus many finite objects does not become infinite—it remains a collection of finite objects.

Second, one finite object can unite with another finite object only for a short time, then it moves to another finite object. As soon as one finite object unites with a second finite object, its connection with the first finite object is severed.

The Five Dishes Example

Imagine five wonderfully prepared dishes are before you. You start with one dish and enjoy it completely. As soon as you become one with that dish (or it becomes one with you), that particular joy comes to an end.

If you force yourself to continue, you'll need a stick to make yourself eat more! Suppose you're very thirsty and someone gives you a beautiful cup of coffee—how enjoyable is that first cup! But the enjoyment decreases: first sip gives 100%, second sip 75%, third sip 50%, and so on.

Seeing that you enjoyed it, your host gives you a second cup. Compared to the first cup, does the second cup give equal happiness? Not really. If your host insists on a third cup, what's your reaction? You feel like throwing it in his face!

The Infinite is Different

But Divine Love (Prema) is infinite. Because it is infinite, we have no idea what infinity truly means. Infinity means it never comes to an end.

That is why it is called "pratikṣaṇaṃ vardhamānam"—it increases every moment. Once you become one with infinity (God), you become Ānanda-svarūpa—you ARE bliss itself.

What's the crucial difference? Until now you had happiness—now you are happiness. Whatever we truly are can never be separated from us, not even for a millisecond. We cannot separate our essential nature from ourselves.

Anything that is not our nature will always remain separate. Body is separate, mind is separate. What remains is our true Self—that is called "Aham" (pure I). Whatever is added to this is called modification (vikāra), which inevitably brings affliction.

The Characteristics of Infinite Love

Beyond Interruption (Avichinnam)

Because divine love is infinite, there is no interruption (avichinnam). In the infinite, there are no boundaries, no divisions. Infinite is not a large number of objects—infinite is that which has no boundaries (paricchedā).

That which has no boundaries has no divisions of up, down, left, right, front, back. There is no separation—you cannot make any division in the infinite.

The Gyroscope Analogy

Pilots have a gyroscope in their planes that shows whether they are going east, west, up, or down. But sometimes, when they're flying through miles and miles of thick clouds, the gyroscope doesn't work properly.

Then the pilot doesn't know whether he's going up, down, left, right, front, or back—he's completely disoriented. This is a small illustration of what it means to be in a state where normal reference points don't exist.

The London Fog Example

In London, from November to January, it gets very foggy. By 3 o'clock in the evening, it's already getting dark. (That's why England was called the empire "where the sun never sets"—because they had conquered half the world, so somewhere in their empire, the sun was always shining!)

In foggy conditions, you don't know if you're going east, west, or north. You can't see landmarks. Only GPS can help you navigate, if it's functioning properly. Map reading becomes totally useless because the reference parameters are not visible.

The Subtlest of the Subtle (Sūkṣmataram)

Divine love is sūkṣmataram—subtler than the subtlest. We go from gross to subtle to subtler: the body is gross, the sense organs (indriyas) are subtle, the mind is subtler still.

Beyond the mind is buddhi (intelligence), which is even subtler. Beyond buddhi is the vijñānamaya layer, even more subtle. Beyond that is the ānandamaya layer, the subtlest of all coverings.

Beyond all these layers is the Ātman itself. This divine love (bhakti) exists at this deepest level. The deeper you go, the more expansive and infinite it becomes, until there is no distinction between the individual and God.

The Nature of Direct Experience (Anubhava-rūpam)

Beyond Verbal Proof

All these descriptions attempt to point toward divine love, but since there is ultimately no definition possible, how do we know it exists?

Anubhava-rūpam—it is of the nature of direct experience. If you have experienced something directly, let the whole world come and say "No, such a thing doesn't exist"—you will not believe them at all. You have your own experience.

The Ramakrishna Example

That is why when Narendranath (later Swami Vivekānanda) came to Śrī Rāmakrṣṇa and asked, "Have you seen God?" Rāmakrṣṇa gave the wonderful answer: "Yes, I have seen God more clearly than I see you."

But this alone is not sufficient proof for others. If you meet some swami and ask "Have you seen God?" and he says "Yes, I have seen God," how do you know whether he truly has or not? Until you yourself see, there is no way to verify—it remains a matter of faith.

The Problem of False Claims

Suppose someone wants to impress others or wants to "shrink" your bank balance (in America, psychiatrists are called "shrinks"—one who shrinks your bank balance!). Such a person might claim "Yes, I have seen God" just to gain followers or donations.

Many devotees ask, "Swami, have you seen God?" If I say "No, I have not seen God," they don't believe it. If I say "Yes," they also don't believe it! The question itself implies something that cannot be simply believed or disbelieved.

The True Test: Transformation

What is the real way to know? If we are in the presence of a truly godly soul, something changes in us. Something influences us positively.

Just as being in the presence of a loving person changes something in us, or being with a knowledgeable person affects us, so too with a person of divine realization.

By our own experience, we can say: "In the presence of other people, I don't experience this transformation. But in the presence of this person, I am experiencing something different." We cannot deny our own experience.

A truly realized soul brings about a change—and a permanent change—in those who come into contact with them.

Conclusion: The Nature of Direct Experience

Divine love (Prema) is ultimately Anubhava-rūpam—of the nature of direct, immediate experience that transforms the experiencer permanently.

It cannot be defined in words, yet it can be recognized by its effects. It is beyond all distinctions, beyond the three guṇas, desireless yet ever-increasing, infinite yet intimate, subtler than the subtlest yet more real than any worldly reality.

This is the mystery and the glory of divine love as described in the Nārada Bhakti Sūtras.

Closing Prayer