Bhakti is of the Nature of Supreme Love
Narada opens his teaching by declaring that bhakti is nothing less than the highest, most concentrated form of love directed toward the Divine.
In the very first sutra, 'Athato bhaktim vyakhyasyamah' ('Now, therefore, we shall expound bhakti'), Narada signals that he is about to reveal the supreme path. He then defines it: 'Sa tu asmin paramaprema-rupa' — 'It (bhakti) is of the nature of supreme love directed to God.' This para-prema is not ordinary affection bound by desire and return, but the most refined and selfless love the human heart can hold. Narada places this love above all ritual, philosophy, and discipline, suggesting that the goal of all spiritual striving is to love and be absorbed in the Beloved.
Bhakti is of the nature of supreme love directed to God.
Comparative theologians note that Narada's para-prema closely parallels the Christian mystics' notion of caritas — a love that seeks nothing for itself and finds its whole fulfillment in the Beloved.
Narada Bhakti Sutras
Written about in
- What is bhakti? Narada's definition of devotion
Narada's opening move is to define bhakti as love of the highest kind, directed to God. Everything after this is an attempt to say what separates that love from every other sort.