Vyasa: Love of Worship and Ritual
According to Vyasa, bhakti expresses itself as a deep delight in worship, ritual, and the outward forms of devotion.
Narada records in Sutra 16 the view of Vyasa, son of Parashara: 'Pujadishu anuraga iti Parasharyah' — 'Bhakti is attachment to worship and the like, says the son of Parashara.' For Vyasa, the heart's love for God naturally overflows into ceremony, offering, and ritual service. The forms of worship are not empty externals but vessels that hold and express the inner flame of devotion. This view honors the embodied, practical dimension of love — that genuine feeling seeks outward expression in act and gesture. Repeated practices of worship shape emotion and identity over time, giving abstract love a habitation and a name.
Bhakti is loving attachment to worship and the like, says the son of Parashara.
Vyasa's emphasis on ritual love reflects a truth the devotional traditions know well: embodied ceremony does not merely express devotion but actively cultivates and deepens it.
Narada Bhakti Sutras
Written about in
- What is bhakti? Narada's definition of devotion
For Vyasa, devotion shows itself in worship and ceremony. Love that is real will want something to do with its hands.