Love Can Have Any Number of Dimensions: The Highest Dimension is Love for Love’s Sake
Hinduism, one of the world’s oldest spiritual traditions, offers profound insights into the nature of love. Central to its teachings is the understanding that love transcends the material and conditional realms, ascending to a dimension where it exists purely for its own sake. This essay explores the multi-dimensional nature of love as articulated in Hindu scriptures such as the Upanishads, Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, and Yoga Vasishta, along with the teachings of revered sages like Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi, and others. Through scriptural quotes, stories, and the wisdom of enlightened masters, we delve into how Hinduism perceives love as both an expression of divine truth and the ultimate goal of human existence.
The Essence of Love in Hindu Philosophy
Hinduism perceives love as the essence of existence. The Upanishads, the philosophical core of the Vedas, proclaim that the ultimate reality, Brahman, is infinite and blissful. The Taittiriya Upanishad (2.7) states, "Raso vai sah" — "Brahman is rasa," the essence of joy or love. This suggests that the highest experience of life is one of unconditional love and joy, which mirrors the divine essence.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna reveals to Arjuna that love is the ultimate form of devotion and the key to union with the Divine. Krishna declares in Chapter 12, Verse 20: "Those who revere me with undivided devotion, placing me as the supreme goal of their lives, and who surrender themselves to me in pure love, are exceedingly dear to me." This unconditional and selfless love for the Divine epitomizes love for love’s sake.
The Dimensions of Love
Love in Hinduism is understood as multi-dimensional, encompassing physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual levels. These dimensions are beautifully articulated through the four purusharthas (goals of life): kama (desire), artha (prosperity), dharma (righteousness), and moksha (liberation). While kama represents love on a physical and emotional level, moksha signifies its highest dimension—pure, unselfish love that transcends individuality.
In the Yoga Vasishta, the sage Vasishta teaches that love for worldly objects is limited and bound by time, whereas love directed toward the Self or the Divine is eternal and infinite. "When the mind is established in the Self, all desires vanish, and what remains is pure love," he says. This teaching reflects the progression of love from the finite to the infinite dimensions.
Love for Love’s Sake: Teachings of Saints and Sages
Hindu sages and saints have always emphasized love as an end in itself, independent of conditions or rewards.
Sri Ramakrishna
Sri Ramakrishna, the 19th-century mystic, illustrated the concept of pure love through the metaphor of a child’s unconditional attachment to its mother. He often spoke of “prem” (divine love) as the highest form of devotion, saying, “When one has true love for God, one does not want anything else. Love for love’s sake, this is pure bhakti.” Ramakrishna’s teachings are rooted in the notion that love must be free of all selfish motives to realize its divine nature.
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna’s foremost disciple, further expanded on this idea. He famously declared, "Love is the law of life. Where there is love, there is God." He emphasized that true love arises from recognizing the divine within oneself and others. In his teachings, Vivekananda encouraged selfless service (“seva”) as an expression of love for humanity, which he saw as a form of worship.
Ramana Maharishi
The great sage Ramana Maharishi viewed love as synonymous with self-realization. He taught that true love arises when the ego dissolves, leaving only the awareness of the Self. When asked about the nature of love, he said, *"True love is the absence of the ego. It is the realization that there is no separation between the lover and the beloved."
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Nisargadatta Maharaj, another modern sage, echoed this perspective. In his teachings, he affirmed, "Love says: ‘I am everything.’ Wisdom says: ‘I am nothing.’ Between these two, my life flows." For Nisargadatta, love was an expression of oneness with the universe, transcending all distinctions and dualities.
Stories of Divine Love in Hindu Scriptures
Hindu scriptures abound with stories that illustrate the power and purity of unconditional love.
The Love of Radha and Krishna
The eternal love of Radha and Krishna is perhaps the most celebrated in Hinduism. Radha’s devotion to Krishna is often regarded as the epitome of bhakti (devotion). Her love was selfless and unconditional, seeking nothing but the joy of being in union with Krishna. The Bhagavata Purana narrates their love as symbolic of the soul’s longing for union with the Divine.
Savitri’s Devotion
Another inspiring story is that of Savitri, whose unwavering love and devotion to her husband, Satyavan, brought him back to life. Her love was not just emotional but deeply spiritual, rooted in her dharma. This story illustrates the transformative power of love when it is aligned with higher principles.
Love as a Path to Liberation
In Hinduism, love is not just a feeling but a means to liberation (moksha). The Bhakti Yoga path, one of the four primary yogas, focuses on love and devotion as the primary means to attain spiritual realization. The Narada Bhakti Sutras describe bhakti as "supreme love for the Divine." The Sutras further emphasize that this love is free from any expectation of reward and is motivated solely by the joy of loving.
The Gopis of Vrindavan, who were utterly devoted to Krishna, exemplify this principle. Despite their ordinary lives, their love for Krishna was so profound and selfless that it transcended all worldly attachments, leading them to the highest spiritual realization.
Contemporary Voices on Love
Modern Hindu spiritual leaders also emphasize the transformative power of love.
Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma)
Known as the "Hugging Saint," Amma teaches that love is the ultimate force that unites humanity. She says, "Pure love transcends the body and mind. It is not bound by caste, religion, or nationality. It is the very essence of the Self." Her life’s work exemplifies the principle of unconditional love through her humanitarian efforts and spiritual teachings.
Swami Chinmayananda
Swami Chinmayananda, the founder of the Chinmaya Mission, stated, "Love is not an emotion; it is your very existence." He encouraged seekers to see love as the essence of their being and the basis for all relationships.
The Infinite Dimensions of Love
Hinduism’s teachings on love reveal it as a force that transcends the limitations of the material world, ultimately merging into the infinite. Love for love’s sake, as taught by the scriptures and sages, is the highest dimension of love—a state where love exists not as a means to an end but as an end in itself. It is a path that dissolves the ego, unites the lover and the beloved, and leads to the realization of one’s divine nature.
Through stories, teachings, and practices, Hinduism invites us to explore the many dimensions of love, urging us to ascend from the physical to the spiritual, from the conditional to the unconditional. In the words of the Upanishads, "When there is no other, there is love."