The Company of Great Souls Is Hard to Attain
Narada notes that the contact of saints is rare and precious, and beyond ordinary reckoning, yet utterly transforming.
In Sutra 39, Narada acknowledges: 'Mahat-sangas tu durlabho agamyo amoghas cha' — 'But the company of great souls is hard to obtain, hard to comprehend, and unfailing in its effect.' Such holy company (satsang) is rare because few truly great souls exist and fewer still recognize them; it is hard to comprehend because its workings are subtle; yet once attained, its effect is infallible. The mere association with the realized transmits something that no book or technique can convey. Narada thus exalts the role of the living saint as a conduit of grace. The teaching reflects the perennial wisdom that character and realization are 'caught' more than 'taught,' transmitted through presence and example.
The company of great souls is hard to obtain, hard to comprehend, yet unfailing.
The notion that holy company has an 'unfailing' transforming effect parallels social-learning theory's finding that we are profoundly shaped by those whose presence we keep, for better or worse.
Narada Bhakti Sutras
Written about in
- What the Narada Bhakti Sutras say about friendship
Sutra 39 gives three words for the company of great souls: durlabha, hard to obtain; agamya, hard to comprehend; amogha, unfailing in effect. The one thing Narada says reliably works is also the thing he says is hardest to find.