The first verse of Narada Bhakti sutra is Athato Bhakti Vyakhyasyama (now, therefore, we shall expound bhakti.)
Narada begins the text with the word ‘atha.’ Atha means
anantara, after. That means there are certain conditions for attainment of
bhakti. Without certain psychological preparations or qualifications, there
cannot be any question of bhakti. The first qualification is intense
aspiration. If there is no aspiration, devotion will be merely a pretense, a show.
True aspiration is really the beginning of the path of devotion. It will not do
to say, ‘It will be very nice if I realize God.’ We must feel that without God,
or spiritual realization, life is meaningless; there is nothing else to be done
in life, except to realize God. The sadhaka must have such aspiration.
Aspiration or restlessness could arise as a reaction to
bereavement, loss, or some setback in life. This is not genuine. Genuine
aspiration is born out of anitya-bodha—that is, the conviction that
the world is unreal. This again must come from nitya-anitya vastu viveka or
discrimination between the eternal and the ephemeral. Aspiration must be based
on vairagya, and vairagya must be based on the knowledge of Reality, without
which all else is zero. Such knowledge alone conduces to real vairagya and real
aspiration in turn. Thus, the transcendental insight that the world is nothing
must be based on the knowledge of the reality of the One without a second.
Aspiration and insight alone are not enough if one simply
sits quiet and does not struggle. The aspirant must have a sincere pull for
sadhana. Just as we cannot live without eating and, hence, have a natural
desire for food, so also we must have a sincere desire for sadhana, with the
conviction that
without sadhana spiritual life is impossible. It is through sincere sadhana
that aspiration and in sight bear fruit. Sadhana means the attempt to experience
the ultimate Reality as the reality of our very being. Then alone will one be
able to proceed in spiritual life. A sincere desire and inclination for sadhana
further increases adhikara, the fitness of the aspirant. Only being a bhakta
won’t do; you
must be a sadhaka too. Sadhana will intensify and purify your psychological
frame and your adhikara
for spiritual life will increase. Adhikara is the capacity to feel the Reality.
Even when all these conditions are fulfilled, maya might
attack the sadhaka with egotistical thoughts: ‘I am a sadhaka, I am different
from others’; then all preparations become futile, like a bowlful of rice
pudding contaminated by a drop of urine. Therefore, the Bhakti Sutra later
addresses the need for egolessness behind all spiritual practice. The sadhaka
must feel the divine grace, or in other words, egoless consciousness: ‘I have
no reality, I have no power of my own, so how can I say I am doing sadhana?’
Such I lessness is designated in bhakti as divine grace.
Divine grace does not mean sitting idle. There should be
sincere sadhana together with the consciousness of divine grace and with the
feeling that sadhana by ‘myself ’ is not sufficient. Many things appear right
due to our emotions and preconceived notions, though they might be wrong. One
may think, ‘I am following the path of freedom,’ but in reality one might be
following the path of absolute bondage to samskaras. Hence, the help of saints
has a very important place among the preconditions of bhakti. Without acquiring
these essential preconditions, there cannot be any question of bhakti.
The expression ‘bhaktim vyakhyasyamah’ means the objective
expression of his personal realization of Brahman through bhakti. Vyakhyasyamah
does not mean commentary by a scholar, but an expression of experience in
contact with a fit recipient. When the preconditions are fulfilled, only then
will the gates of bhakti be opened fully by the true giver. We also find here
the qualities of the giver. His personality is perfect and an urge is created
in him spontaneously to give to a fit recipient.
So our study must not be merely to gather information; it should be for
assimilation and practice of
the fundamental principles of the life of a sadhaka as taught by the man of
realization, Narada.
Source - excerpts from article titled 'Narada Bhakti Sutra' by Swami Bhaskareswarananda published in August 2008 edition of Prabuddha Bharata Magazine.