Strive Only for Holy Company
Narada urges the seeker above all to strive for the company of the holy, for it is the surest gateway to love.
In Sutra 42, Narada exhorts: 'Tad eva sadhyatam, tad eva sadhyatam' — 'That alone should be striven for; that alone should be striven for.' The emphatic repetition underscores the supreme importance of seeking holy company as the great means within the seeker's reach. While love itself is a gift of grace, the seeker's part is to place themselves repeatedly in the presence and influence of the great souls who radiate it. Narada thus gives the aspirant a concrete, actionable counsel amid all his talk of grace. The teaching reflects the practical wisdom that we become like those with whom we keep company, and that choosing one's environment and associations is among the most powerful choices a seeker can make.
That alone should be striven for; that alone should be striven for.
Narada's emphatic repetition is a classic rhetorical device of Sanskrit pedagogy, signaling that the seeking of holy company is the single most important practical counsel he can give the aspirant.
Narada Bhakti Sutras
Written about in
- What the Narada Bhakti Sutras say about friendship
Sutra 42 repeats its command twice anyway, and it remains the only concrete action the sutras assign to the seeker. Choosing your company is treated as the most consequential choice available to a person.