Spirituality 13

The Royal Road To Love of God

http://www.vedabase.com/en/nbs

Narada Bhakti Sutra

Chapter 1: The Value of Devotion

NBS 1: Now, therefore, I will try to explain the process of devotional service.

NBS 2: Devotional service manifests as the most elevated, pure love for God.

NBS 3: This pure love for God is eternal.

NBS 4: Upon achieving that stage of transcendental devotional service in pure love of God, a person becomes perfect, immortal, and peaceful.

NBS 5: A person engaged in such pure devotional service neither desires anything for sense gratification, nor laments for any loss, nor hates anything, nor enjoys anything on his personal account, nor becomes very enthusiastic in material activity.

NBS 6: One who understands perfectly the process of devotional service in love of Godhead becomes intoxicated in its discharge. Sometimes he becomes stunned in ecstasy and thus enjoys his whole self, being engaged in the service of the Supreme Self.

NBS 7: There is no question of lust in the execution of pure devotional service, because in it all material activities are renounced.

NBS 8: Such renunciation in devotional service means to give up all kinds of social customs and religious rituals governed by Vedic injunction.

NBS 9: Renunciation also means being exclusively dedicated to the Lord and indifferent to what stands in the way of His service.

NBS 10: Exclusive dedication to the Lord means giving up all shelters other than Him.

NBS 11: Indifference toward what stands in the way of devotional service means to accept only those activities of social custom and Vedic injunction that are favorable to devotional service.

NBS 12: One must continue to follow scriptural injunctions even after one is fixed up in determined certainty that devotional service is the only means for reaching the perfection of life.

NBS 13: Otherwise there is every possibility of falling down.

NBS 14: For as long as the body lasts, one should engage minimally in social and political activities and in such matters as eating.

Chapter 2: Defining Bhakti

NBS 15: Now the characteristics of devotional service will be described according to various authoritative opinions.

NBS 16: Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the son of Parāśara Muni, says that bhakti is fond attachment for worshiping the Lord in various ways.

NBS 17: Garga Muni says that bhakti is fondness for narrations about the Lord, by the Lord, and so on.

NBS 18: Śāṇḍilya says that bhakti results from one's removing all obstructions to taking pleasure in the Supreme Self.

NBS 19: Nārada, however, says that bhakti consists of offering one's every act to the Supreme Lord and feeling extreme distress in forgetting Him.

NBS 20: Bhakti is, in fact, correctly described in each of these ways.

NBS 21: The cowherd women of Vraja are an example of pure bhakti.

NBS 22: Even in the case of the gopīs, one cannot criticize them for forgetting the Lord's greatness.

NBS 23: On the other hand, displays of devotion without knowledge of God's greatness are no better than the affairs of illicit lovers.

NBS 24: In such false devotion one does not find pleasure exclusively in the Lord's pleasure.

NBS 25: Pure devotional service, on the other hand, is far superior to fruitive work, philosophical speculation, and mystic meditation.

NBS 26: After all, bhakti is the fruit of all endeavor.

NBS 27: Furthermore, the Lord dislikes the proud but is pleased with the humble.

NBS 28: Some say that knowledge is the means for developing devotion.

NBS 29: Others consider bhakti and knowledge interdependent.

NBS 30: But the son of Brahmā says that bhakti is its own fruit.

NBS 31-32: This is illustrated by the examples of a royal palace, a meal, and so on. A king is not really satisfied just by seeing a palace, nor can someone placate his hunger just by looking at a meal.

NBS 33: Therefore seekers of liberation should take to devotional service alone.

Chapter 3: The Means of Achievement

NBS 34: Standard authorities have described the methods for achieving devotional service.

NBS 35: One achieves bhakti by giving up sense gratification and mundane association.

NBS 36: One achieves bhakti by worshiping the Lord ceaselessly.

NBS 37: One achieves bhakti by hearing and chanting about the Supreme Lord's special qualities, even while engaged in the ordinary activities of life in this world.

NBS 38: Primarily, however, one develops bhakti by the mercy of great souls, or by a small drop of the Lord's mercy.

NBS 39: The association of great souls is rarely obtained, difficult to understand, and infallible.

NBS 40: The association of great souls can be attained — but only by the Lord's mercy.

NBS 41: [One can attain bhakti either by the association of the Lord's pure devotees or directly by the Lord's mercy because] the Lord and His pure devotees are nondifferent.

NBS 42: Strive, strive only for the association of pure devotees.

NBS 43: One should give up all kinds of degrading association.

NBS 44: Material association is the cause of lust, anger, confusion, forgetfulness, loss of intelligence, and total calamity.

NBS 45: Rising like waves from material association, these bad effects mass into a great ocean of misery.

NBS 46: Who can cross beyond illusion? One who abandons material association, serves the sages, and becomes selfless.

NBS 47: [Who can cross beyond illusion?] That person who stays in a secluded place, cuts off at the root his attachment to mundane society, becomes free from the influence of the three modes of nature, and gives up hankering for material gain and security.

NBS 48: [Who can cross beyond illusion?] That person who renounces material duties and their profits, thus transcending duality.

NBS 49: That person who renounces even the Vedas obtains exclusive and uninterrupted attraction for God.

NBS 50: Such a person, indeed, is delivered, and he also delivers the rest of the world.

Chapter 4: Pure and Mixed Devotion

NBS 51: The true nature of pure love of God is beyond description.

NBS 52: [Trying to describe the experience of pure love of God] is like a mute's effort to describe what he tastes.

NBS 53: Nonetheless, from time to time pure love of God is revealed to those who are qualified.

NBS 54: Pure love of God manifests as the most subtle consciousness, devoid of material qualities and material desires, increasing at every moment, and never interrupted.

NBS 55: Having obtained pure love of God, one looks only at the Lord, hears only about Him, speaks only of Him, and thinks only of Him.

NBS 56: Secondary devotional service is of three kinds, according to which of the three material modes predominates, or according to which material motivation — distress and so on — brings one to bhakti.

NBS 57: Each earlier stage should be considered better than the one following it.

NBS 58: Success is easier to attain by devotional service than by any other process.

NBS 59: The reason devotional service is the easiest of all spiritual processes is that it does not depend on any other authority for its validity, being itself the standard of authority.

NBS 60: Furthermore, bhakti is the embodiment of peace and supreme ecstasy.

NBS 61: After consigning to the Lord all one's mundane and Vedic duties, one no longer need worry about worldly loss.

NBS 62: Even after one has achieved devotional service, one should not abandon one's responsibilities in this world but should rather continue surrendering the results of one's work to the Lord. And while still trying to reach the stage of pure devotion, one must certainly continue executing prescribed duties.

NBS 63: One should not find entertainment in news of women, money, and atheists.

NBS 64: One should put aside false pride, hypocrisy, and other vices.

NBS 65: Offering all one's activities to the Lord, one should feel desire, anger, and pride only with regard to Him.

NBS 66: After breaking through the aforementioned coverings of the three modes of nature, one should act only in pure love of God, remaining perpetually in the mood of a servant serving his master, or a lover serving her beloved.

NBS 67: Among the Lord's devotees, the greatest are those who are dedicated to Him solely as His intimate servants.

NBS 68: Conversing among one another with throats choked, hair standing on end, and tears flowing, the Lord's intimate servants purify their own followers and the whole world.

NBS 69: Their association makes holy places holy, works auspicious, and the scriptures authoritative.

NBS 70: The intimate servants of the Supreme Lord are fully absorbed in loving Him.

NBS 71: Thus the pure devotees' forefathers become joyful, the demigods dance, and the world feels protected by good masters.

NBS 72: There are no distinctions among such pure devotees in terms of social class, education, bodily beauty, family status, wealth, occupation, and so on.

NBS 73: Pure devotees are not distinguished by externals like social class, for they belong to the

Lord.

Chapter 5: Attaining Perfection

NBS 74: One should not indulge in argumentative debate.

NBS 75: Such argumentation leads to excessive entanglements and is never decisive.

NBS 76: One should respect the revealed scriptures of devotional service and discharge the duties they prescribe.

NBS 77: Patiently enduring till the time when one can put aside material happiness, distress, desire, and false gain, one should not waste even a fraction of a second.

NBS 78: One should cultivate such good qualities as nonviolence, truthfulness, cleanliness, compassion, and faith.

NBS 79: Those who are free of doubts should constantly worship the Supreme Lord with all their hearts.

NBS 80: When He is glorified, the Lord swiftly reveals Himself to His devotees and allows them to know Him as He is.

NBS 81: Devotional service is the most precious possession of a person who honestly uses his mind, body, and words.

NBS 82: Although devotional service is one, it becomes manifested in eleven forms of attachment: attachment to the Lord's glorious qualities, to His beauty, to worshiping Him, to remembering Him, to serving Him, to reciprocating with Him as a friend, to caring for Him as a parent, to dealing with Him as a lover, to surrendering one's whole self to Him, to being absorbed in thought of Him, and to experiencing separation from Him. This last is the supreme attachment.

NBS 83: Thus say the founding authorities of devotional service: the Kumāras, Vyāsa, Śuka, Śāṇḍilya, Garga, Viṣṇu, Kauṇḍilya, Śeṣa, Uddhava, Aruṇi, Bali, Hanumān, Vibhīṣaṇa, and others — speaking without fear of worldly gossip and sharing among themselves one and the same opinion.

NBS 84: Anyone who trusts these instructions spoken by Nārada and is convinced by them will be blessed with devotion and attain the most dear Lord. Yes, he will attain the most dear Lord.

The Eternal Quest:

The Fulfillment of All the Needs of All Beings through Ethical Means

theoneeternalquest.blogspot.ae/2016/05/the-eternal-quest.html

Spirituality 12

The Great Eternal Dance 1

The Great Eternal Dance 2

The Eternal Quest:

The Fulfillment of All the Needs of All Beings through Ethical Means

theoneeternalquest.blogspot.ae/2016/05/the-eternal-quest.html

Spirituality 11

Effortless Attainment of The Supreme

The Eternal Quest:

The Fulfillment of All the Needs of All Beings through Ethical Means

 theoneeternalquest.blogspot.ae/2016/05/the-eternal-quest.html

Spirituality 10

The Yoga of Divine Love

Chapter 29: Bhakti-yoga

SB 11.29.1: Śrī Uddhava said: My dear Lord Acyuta, I fear that the method of yoga described by You is very difficult for one who cannot control his mind. Therefore please explain to me in simple terms how someone can more easily execute it.

SB 11.29.2: O lotus-eyed Lord, generally those yogīs who try to steady the mind experience frustration because of their inability to perfect the state of trance. Thus they weary in their attempt to bring the mind under control.

SB 11.29.3: Therefore, O lotus-eyed Lord of the universe, swanlike men happily take shelter of Your lotus feet, the source of all transcendental ecstasy. But those who take pride in their accomplishments in yoga and karma fail to take shelter of You and are defeated by Your illusory energy.

SB 11.29.4: My dear infallible Lord, it is not very astonishing that You intimately approach Your servants who have taken exclusive shelter of You. After all, during Your appearance as Lord Rāmacandra, even while great demigods like Brahmā were vying to place the effulgent tips of their helmets upon the cushion where Your lotus feet rested, You displayed special affection for monkeys such as Hanumān because they had taken exclusive shelter of You.

SB 11.29.5: Who, then, could dare reject You, the very Soul, the most dear object of worship, and the Supreme Lord of all — You who give all possible perfections to the devotees who take shelter of You? Who could be so ungrateful, knowing the benefits You bestow? Who would reject You and accept something for the sake of material enjoyment, which simply leads to forgetfulness of You? And what lack is there for us who are engaged in the service of the dust of Your lotus feet?

SB 11.29.6: O my Lord! Transcendental poets and experts in spiritual science could not fully express their indebtedness to You, even if they were endowed with the prolonged lifetime of Brahmā, for You appear in two features — externally as the ācārya and internally as the Supersoul — to deliver the embodied living being by directing him how to come to You.

SB 11.29.7: Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thus questioned by the most affectionate Uddhava, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the supreme controller of all controllers, who takes the entire universe as His plaything and assumes the three forms of Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, began to reply, lovingly displaying His all-attractive smile.

SB 11.29.8: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Yes, I shall describe to you the principles of devotion to Me, by executing which a mortal human being will conquer unconquerable death.

SB 11.29.9: Always remembering Me, one should perform all his duties for Me without becoming impetuous. With mind and intelligence offered to Me, one should fix his mind in attraction to My devotional service.

SB 11.29.10: One should take shelter of holy places where My saintly devotees reside, and one should be guided by the exemplary activities of My devotees, who appear among the demigods, demons and human beings.

SB 11.29.11: Either alone or in public gatherings, with singing, dancing and other exhibitions of royal opulence, one should arrange to celebrate those holy days, ceremonies and festivals set aside specially for My worship.

SB 11.29.12: With a pure heart one should see Me, the Supreme Soul within all beings and also within oneself, to be both unblemished by anything material and also present everywhere, both externally and internally, just like the omnipresent sky.

SB 11.29.13-14: O brilliant Uddhava, one who thus views all living entities with the idea that I am present within each of them, and who by taking shelter of this divine knowledge offers due respect to everyone, is considered actually wise. Such a man sees equally the brāhmaṇa and the outcaste, the thief and the charitable promoter of brahminical culture, the sun and the tiny sparks of fire, the gentle and the cruel.

SB 11.29.15: For him who constantly meditates upon My presence within all persons, the bad tendencies of rivalry, envy and abusiveness, along with false ego, are very quickly destroyed.

SB 11.29.16: Disregarding the ridicule of one's companions, one should give up the bodily conception and its accompanying embarrassment. One should offer obeisances before all — even the dogs, outcastes, cows and asses — falling flat upon the ground like a rod.

SB 11.29.17: Until one has fully developed the ability to see Me within all living beings, one must continue to worship Me by this process with the activities of his speech, mind and body.

SB 11.29.18: By such transcendental knowledge of the all-pervading Personality of Godhead, one is able to see the Absolute Truth everywhere. Freed thus from all doubts, one gives up fruitive activities.

SB 11.29.19: Indeed, I consider this process — using one's mind, words and bodily functions for realizing Me within all living beings — to be the best possible method of spiritual enlightenment.

SB 11.29.20: My dear Uddhava, because I have personally established it, this process of devotional service unto Me is transcendental and free from any material motivation. Certainly a devotee never suffers even the slightest loss by adopting this process.

SB 11.29.21: O Uddhava, greatest of saints, in a dangerous situation an ordinary person cries, becomes fearful and laments, although such useless emotions do not change the situation. But activities offered to Me without personal motivation, even if they are externally useless, amount to the actual process of religion.

SB 11.29.22: This process is the supreme intelligence of the intelligent and the cleverness of the most clever, for by following it one can in this very life make use of the temporary and unreal to achieve Me, the eternal reality.

SB 11.29.23: Thus have I related to you — both in brief and in detail — a complete survey of the science of the Absolute Truth. Even for the demigods, this science is very difficult to comprehend.

SB 11.29.24: I have repeatedly spoken this knowledge to you with clear reasoning. Anyone who properly understands it will become free from all doubts and attain liberation.

SB 11.29.25: Anyone who fixes his attention on these clear answers to your questions will attain to the eternal, confidential goal of the Vedas — the Supreme Absolute Truth.

SB 11.29.26: One who liberally disseminates this knowledge among My devotees is the bestower of the Absolute Truth, and to him I give My very own self.

SB 11.29.27: He who loudly recites this supreme knowledge, which is the most lucid and purifying, becomes purified day by day, for he reveals Me to others with the lamp of transcendental knowledge.

SB 11.29.28: Anyone who regularly listens to this knowledge with faith and attention, all the while engaging in My pure devotional service, will never become bound by the reactions of material work.

SB 11.29.29: My dear friend Uddhava, have you now completely understood this transcendental knowledge? Are the confusion and lamentation that arose in your mind now dispelled?

SB 11.29.30: You should not share this instruction with anyone who is hypocritical, atheistic or dishonest, or with anyone who will not listen faithfully, who is not a devotee, or who is simply not humble.

SB 11.29.31: This knowledge should be taught to one who is free from these bad qualities, who is dedicated to the welfare of the brāhmaṇas, and who is kindly disposed, saintly and pure. And if common workers and women are found to have devotion for the Supreme Lord, they are also to be accepted as qualified hearers.

SB 11.29.32: When an inquisitive person comes to understand this knowledge, he has nothing further to know. After all, one who has drunk the most palatable nectar cannot remain thirsty.

SB 11.29.33: Through analytic knowledge, ritualistic work, mystic yoga, mundane business and political rule, people seek to advance in religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation. But because you are My devotee, whatever men can accomplish in these multifarious ways you will very easily find within Me.

SB 11.29.34: A person who gives up all fruitive activities and offers himself entirely unto Me, eagerly desiring to render service unto Me, achieves liberation from birth and death and is promoted to the status of sharing My own opulences.

SB 11.29.35: Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Hearing these words spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa, and having thus been shown the entire path of yoga, Uddhava folded his hands to offer obeisances. But his throat choked up with love and his eyes overflowed with tears; so he could say nothing.

SB 11.29.36: Steadying his mind, which had become overwhelmed with love, Uddhava felt extremely grateful to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the greatest hero of the Yadu dynasty. My dear King Parīkṣit, Uddhava bowed down to touch the Lord's lotus feet with his head and then spoke with folded hands.

SB 11.29.37: Śrī Uddhava said: O unborn, primeval Lord, although I had fallen into the great darkness of illusion, my ignorance has now been dispelled by Your merciful association. Indeed, how can cold, darkness and fear exert their power over one who has approached the brilliant sun?

SB 11.29.38: In return for my insignificant surrender, You have mercifully bestowed upon me, Your servant, the torchlight of transcendental knowledge. Therefore, what devotee of Yours who has any gratitude could ever give up Your lotus feet and take shelter of another master?

SB 11.29.39: The firmly binding rope of my affection for the families of the Dāśārhas, Vṛṣṇis, Andhakas and Sātvatas — a rope You originally cast over me by Your illusory energy for the purpose of developing Your creation — is now cut off by the weapon of transcendental knowledge of the self.

SB 11.29.40: Obeisances unto You, O greatest of yogīs. Please instruct me, who am surrendered unto You, how I may have undeviating attachment to Your lotus feet.

SB 11.29.41-44: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Uddhava, take My order and go to My āśrama called Badarikā. Purify yourself by both touching and also bathing in the holy waters there, which have emanated from My lotus feet. Rid yourself of all sinful reactions with the sight of the sacred Alakanandā River. Dress yourself in bark and eat whatever is naturally available in the forest. Thus you should remain content and free from desire, tolerant of all dualities, good-natured, self-controlled, peaceful and endowed with transcendental knowledge and realization. With fixed attention, meditate constantly upon these instructions I have imparted to you and assimilate their essence. Fix your words and thoughts upon Me, and always endeavor to increase your realization of My transcendental qualities. In this way you will cross beyond the destinations of the three modes of nature and finally come back to Me.

SB 11.29.45: Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thus addressed by Lord Kṛṣṇa, whose intelligence destroys all the suffering of material life, Śrī Uddhava circumambulated the Lord and then fell down, placing his head upon the Lord's feet. Although Uddhava was free from the influence of all material dualities, his heart was breaking, and at this time of departure he drenched the Lord's lotus feet with his tears.

SB 11.29.46: Greatly fearing separation from Him for whom he felt such indestructible affection, Uddhava was distraught, and he could not give up the Lord's company. Finally, feeling great pain, he bowed down to the Lord again and again, placed the slippers of his master upon his head, and departed.

SB 11.29.47: Thereupon, placing the Lord deeply within his heart, the great devotee Uddhava went to Badarikāśrama. By engaging there in austerities, he attained to the Lord's personal abode, which had been described to him by the only friend of the universe, Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.

SB 11.29.48: Thus Lord Kṛṣṇa, whose lotus feet are served by all great yoga masters, spoke to His devotee this nectarean knowledge, which comprises the entire ocean of spiritual bliss. Anyone within this universe who receives this narration with great faith is assured of liberation.

SB 11.29.49: I offer my obeisances to that Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original and greatest of all beings, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He is the author of the Vedas, and just to destroy His devotees' fear of material existence, like a bee He has collected this nectarean essence of all knowledge and self-realization. Thus He has awarded to His many devotees this nectar from the ocean of bliss, and by His mercy they have drunk it.

The Eternal Quest:

The Fulfillment of All the Needs of All Beings through Ethical Means

theoneeternalquest.blogspot.ae/2016/05/the-eternal-quest.html