Day 8
If you do not know love at all, you cannot understand it at all. You have to know love, and when you know love, then you can understand what bhakti is. And there is not one creature on this planet that doesn't know what love is.
So how do you get to the goal? One needs to go to a saint, and one such saint was Narad. In ancient times Narada was known to be a troublemaker.
The name Narad means he is here, he is there also, he is on both sides. He is with this party, he is with the other party, also. He says something here, something there also and bridges them both.
Even today in India, if someone is playing both sides you say “Oh you are like Narad.” You are here, you are there, you are everywhere. But he always ends up doing good for both parties. That was the skill of Narad.
It means that two parties, which appear to be completely opposite, are both comfortable with Narada. And he somehow bridges them both. In the Puranas there are ample number of stories about Narada and his mischief.
Narada, the word itself means “the one who joins the centre and the circumference, who is the spoke.” See, when you are in love, you are not centred, you are out there. You are so spaced out.
When you are centred, you don’t seem to be so light and joyful. You are very serious. But Narada makes you different. He makes you centred and, at the same time, makes you light and expanded.
A centre without a circumference is no centre at all. What is it centre of? And a circumference without a centre simply cannot exist. Yet, though they are so apart, Narada bridges them both.
He makes love so practical in life, yet love is the most abstract thing in this universe. There is nothing as abstract as love, yet there is nothing as concrete as love. And Narada makes it evident.
Narada wrote these 84 sutras which came to be known as the Bhakti Sutras, the aphorisms on love. The first sutra begins : “I will explain what is devotion, the true love, Divine love is.” Athato and then now, he starts. When now? After what?
After you have searched for love here there, here there and you are tired. And also after you have known what love is, then I can tell you about divine love. Love has many manifestations such as affection that you have for those who are younger than you. With children you have affection.
With those who are of your age, you have friendship. With those elder to you, you have respect, honour. Similarly, you have love for objects, love for animals, love for trees, love for food and music, love for people and love for yourself.
To some extent you may Know all this. Your likes and dislikes are also based on love. When you become even a little bit aware of these tendencies in your life and there is a quest for something higher, the ultimate goal of your life, then Narad comes into the picture.
