Narada Bhakti Sutras - Text, Transliteration, Translation & Commentary /76

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NARADA BHAKTI SUTRAS
 
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<p text="C">who have preceded him and shows how his own view

is more complete than that of any of his predecessors.
 
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<p text="C">No two minds are constituted exactly alike and

so there is room for difference of opinion and variety

in the description of the same experiences. Differen--
ces in description do not point to differences in the

ces in description do not point to differences in the
experiences itself.
 
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<p text="C">Now let us examine the experiences expressed

about Bhakti by some well known saints. In the

Sivanandalahari Sri Sankara speaks of Bhakti as the

sticking of thoughts to the feet of the Lord perma-

nently. Just as a needle sticks to the magnet, the

seed to the Ankola tree, a virtuous wife to her hus-

band or a creeper to a tree.
 
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<p text="C">In Devi Bhagavatam, supreme love is compared

to oil poured from one vessel to another (Tailadha-

ravat). There should not be any break in the regular

succession of thoughts about God.
 
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<p>In Bhagavatam Maitreya says that Bhakti is a
natural settlement of the mind upon the highest truth

natural settlement of the mind upon the highest truth
from which all objects and senses have come out.
 
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<p text="C">Kapila described it as a flow of uninterrupted

thoughts towards God seated in the hearts of all

beings like the flow of waters of the Ganges towards

the sea.
 
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<p text="C">Prahlad prays that the love which the worldly

people have for the objects be turned into Bhakti by

being directed towards God.
 
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<p text="C" merge-next="true">In the Narada Panchatantra Bhakti is spoken of as

service rendered to the Lord of the senses through the
 
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