Renouncing Even the Desire for Liberation
At its peak, surrender lets go even of the longing for liberation, wanting only the Beloved and nothing for oneself.
Narada makes a startling claim about the purity of supreme love: the truest devotee renounces even the desire for moksha, liberation itself. To crave liberation is still to seek something for oneself, but the lover seeks only the Beloved and counts even freedom as nothing beside that face. Such a devotee would gladly take birth again and again if it meant continuing to love and serve. This is love stripped of the last subtle self-interest, love that has become wholly gift. It marks the height of the bhakta's path, where the goal is no longer to be free of the world but simply to be with God.
The lover seeks not even liberation, but only the Beloved.
Renouncing even the desire for liberation marks the height of nishkama bhakti, a selflessness scholars compare to the bodhisattva's vow to forgo final release for love's sake.
Narada Bhakti Sutras
Written about in
- What the Narada Bhakti Sutras say about desire
This is where it lands. Wanting liberation is still wanting something for yourself, so Narada asks the devotee to drop that too and want only the Beloved.