One of the most common questions people have is ‘How to deal with negative  people’? The answer which is shared in Srimad Bhagavatam and also in Narada Bhakti Sutra is ‘to immerse yourself in positivity’. When one is immersed in positivity, one becomes indifferent to negativity. In Srimad Bhagavatam, Rishi Markandeya shows this clearly. When Kama hits him with an arrow of five heads, he is indifferent to that. When Rishi Nara-Narayana come, just seeing them, he starts crying so much that he cannot see them clearly! Immersing in positivity is the vision of our course, focused on Bhakti. The Bhakti that we are exploring is the bhakti that we drown in. There is divinity in the details shared. Another definition for Rishi Narada is – Narasya Dharma NaaraH Dadaati. Narasya dharma means one who knows the responsibility of a human, NaaraH dadaati means one who lived by this, and one who gave this. Rishi Narada knew Saamanya dharma (general responsibility) , Vishesha dharma (specific responsibility) and Bhagavata dharma (the responsibility of a bhakta). Sutra sounds like ‘saara’ (essence, summary). 

Lakshya (pointer) for Sutras, to help us reflect:

Sutra 1: Reflection. This sutra is teaching us about reflection. For one who has reflected on their lives, good is not good enough. So they want to follow the feeling of more. 

Sutra 2: Highest. The more is the highest. Rishi Narada is saying that we cannot have both – we either live for the highest only or we don’t live for the highest. 

Sutra 3: Courage. It requires courage to pursue a path that is ‘only’, a path that many do not understand. This courage leads to fearlessness, because it is one Bhagavan in all, we only fear that which is different. If we don’t sense differences we become fearless. 

Sutra 4: Balanced. When one starts to follow bhakti, they become more balanced. The fulfillment of bhakti is you become completely balanced because there is oneness. The word siddha is used in this sutra, meaning one who is powerful. As one becomes more powerful, one will also becomes more humble that any power one has is God’s power. 

Sutra 5: Being. In this sutra Rishi Narada talks about how the one with Bhagavan has no more desires, and this is only possible when one is ‘being’ themselves, that is ‘being’ joy. 

Sutra 6: Purpose. ‘Being’ should be our purpose. When the ends is clear, the means becomes clear too. 

Sutra 7: Independence. When one feels Bhagavan, they feel content. The only way to feel content is to feel Bhagavan. This is why we are pursuing bhakti. 

Sutra 8: Meaningful. When one is practicing bhakti then they infuse meaning into all that they do. Bhakti is not a karma, it is a bhaava.

Sutra 9: Ignore. When we come across negativity or one who is practicing vibhakta (not unifying but dividing), ignore! When it comes to the secular, don’t go in with the expectation that the secular is going to make us complete. 

Sutra 10: Depend. ‘Depend’ on the one who is dependable. The dependable is Bhagavan, so the ‘depending’ is bhakti. When we reflect on depending, throughout our day we should check ourselves if we are depending on that which is within (Bhagavan). We should pause and check ourselves on ‘why we are doing what we are doing’!

Sutra 11:Practice. If one does practice, then everything shared is impractical. Idea behind practice is, we don’t have to change our context.

Sutra 12: Direction.  When we want to direct ourselves, we should follow those who have experience. So in this sutra, there is an emphasis on shastra. Our shastra is the direction of those who are ‘directed’. So we should follow the directions of this map. 

Sutra 13: Lost. If one does not follow their directions, they get lost. What feeling lost feels like is, we feel we are an exception to discipline. The more we feel we are an exception and ask for exceptions, we should understand that to be the ego. It is justifying our extroversion. 

Sutra 14: Ends. When one is being the ends, all sorts of dharmas and rules will become ‘not-applicable’. For the one who is enlightened , there is no world, no suffering ! 

Recap from last class:

Sutra 15: Precedent. Rishi Narada changes his train of thought where He is sharing that there are also other wonderful thinkers about bhakti, and some seekers have preferences on how to practice bhakti. 

Sutra 16: Physical. Rishi Vyasa shares that the preference for Him in terms of practicing bhakti is ‘puja’. A way to help us be more absorbed in puja is for us to simplify alternatives. Instead of engaging in puja for two alternatives, that we are going to get something and that we are going to become one with Bhagavan, we should cut out the alternatives. Our only intention for offering puja is not what we get but rather just to be one with Bhagavan. A utilitarian way to understand bhakti is that one becomes ‘accepting’. 

Sutra 17: Mental. Rishi Garga shares that the way to practice bhakti is through ‘katha’. Katha and japa go together. As we shift from puja to japa to dhyana, one is using less of a support. With puja one uses actions, words and thoughts. In japa one uses words and thoughts. The lesser the support, the more intense that experience is, specifically to purifying. 

This class:

Sutra 18: ātma ratiH avirodhena iti shāndilyaH

Rishi Shāndilya has shared that his preference for practicing bhakti is ‘atma ratiH’ which is to ‘injoy’ the spirit. This is not in opposition to love for Bhagavan. Rishi Shāndilya is sharing that His offering of bhakti is dhyana. It is to contemplate on Bhagavan, and feel this love of Bhagavan within oneself. The full meaning of dhyana is ‘Nitaram dhyaihi’ , the keyword here is ‘nitaram’ which means comprehensively. When we go about our day, we do everything while feeling Bhagavan. 

Sutra 19: NāradaH tu tad arpitā akhilā āchāratā tadvismarane paramavyākulateti

Rishi Narada has shared that arpita (offering), akhila (all), aacharata (all of one’s actions, words and thoughts) is what bhakti is. It is not just physical or mental or intellectual, but it is offering ‘all’. When one forgets to offer ‘all’, there is intense anguish and sadness that one has forgotten Bhagavan. In this verse, Rishi Narada is not specifying bhakti as puja or japa or dhyana, He is sharing that it is all of these and all verbs. Forgetting of God happens in four ways (by worry, jealousy, desire, doership). 

Sutra 20: asti evam evam

What all the Rishis have shared is the Truth. Our own bhakti is included here too. 

Sutra 21: yathā vrajagopikānām

The highest precedent for bhakti is the gopis. The gopis lived in vraja. The word ‘go’ has many meanings. One of them is ‘cow’, the other is ‘Bhagavan’. The word ‘pi’ is like ‘pibati’ (to drink). The gopis ‘drank up’ Bhagavan! Every thought, word and action of theirs was for Bhagavan. Bhagavan married them all. Ras-leela was like their reception, and the whole nature changed to make their reception awesome!