Narada Bhakti Sutra

What is Bhakti:

1. Bhakti is divine nectar, on attaining which, a person become immortal, perfect and satisfied forever. (Sutra-4)
2. On gaining Bhakti, one wants nothing, laments over nothing, hates nothing, delights in nothing, and is never enthusiastic over anything earthly. (Sutra-5)
3. Bhakti is not worldly desire rather abandoning all worldly desires. (Sutra-8)
4. It is exclusive devotion to Him (God) and indifference to all other things / obstacles of Bhakti. (Sutra-9).

 Why Bhakti:

1. Bhakti is greater than Karma yoga, Jnana yoga and Raja Yoga. (Sutra-25) These are different spiritual paths but are inter-related. Based on the pre-dominance in the personality of the person viz. intellect, emotions and actions, different spiritual paths of realization are suitable.
2. God hates egotism and loves humility. (Sutra-27)
3. Bhakti alone should be chosen by those who seek liberation. (Sutra-33)
4. Bhakti results by renunciation of objects of senses and attachment, uninterrupted adoration of god (bhajans), listening blessed qualities of god Shravan) and proclaiming & constant remembrance of those qualities while discharging affairs of ordinary life (Kirtan). (Sutra-35-37)
5. Sanatkumaras, Vyasa, Shukdeva, Shandilya, Garga, Vishnu, Kaundinya, sesha, Uddhava, Aruni, Bali, Hanuman and Vibhishana; all declare that Bhakti is best. (sutra 83)
   

Fruits of Bhakti:

1. Bhakti is easier than other ways of liberation (selfless work, mind control and attaining wisdom) because it needs no external proofs and it is of nature of peace and perfect bliss. (Sutra-58-60)
2. Bhakta needs no worry for going wrong as he surrenders self, worldly affairs and even Vedas to God. (Sutra-61)

How to develop Bhakti:

1. Bhakti should be by act, speech and mind:
2. As per Vyasa Rishi son of Prashar rishi, Bhakti is love of worship and similar acts. (Sutra-16).
3. As per Garga acharya, it is fondness for spiritual conversation and like. (Sutra-17)
4. As per Shandilya Rishi, it is fondness in the aspects which do not interfere in contemplation of self. (Sutra-18)
   1. But Narada says, “Bhakti is offering all acts to Him (God). It is self-surrender. There is feeling of highest pain on separation from Him. (Sutra-19)
   2. Bhakti should be like Gopikas of Braj. (Sutra-21)
   3. Complete effacement of the self and at one-ment with the god is crucial test of genuine bhakti. A bhakta is never prompted to love god by any profit-motive.
   4. Bhakti results mainly due to grace of great saints and God. Association of great saints is difficult to get which is possible only by grace of God. (Sutra-38-40)
   5. Bhaktas should shun the evil associations by all means. It is cause of desire, delusion, and loss of spiritual memory, spiritual intellect and utter ruin. Small waves become huge waves of anger, desire, delusion etc. in their company. (Sutra-43-45)
   6. The person who gives up all attachments, who serves great saints, who is unattached, who habitually lives in solitary place, who breaks worldly bonds, who transcends the three gunas of nature, who gives up idea of acquisition & preservation, who gives up desire of fruits of his actions, who renounce all activities, who passes beyond all pairs of opposites, who renounces even Vedas, who have only incessant love for God; crosses the illusionary world glamour (Maya). (Sutra-46-50)
   7. Till Bhakti (i.e. complete self-surrender) is achieved, the ordinary way of life should not be given up. The renunciation of desire for reward of actions and discipline for it should be persistently followed. Bhakta should not hear the accounts of women, wealth, non-believer in god and hostile persons. Pride, vanity and other vices should be avoided. All acts should be offered up to God. Even feelings and pride should be entertained with reference to god only.(Sutra-62-65)
   8. Bhakti should be above three dimensional love i.e. lover, love and the loved. It should seek to serve and love without any motive whatsoever, as eternal servant or eternal wife.(Sutra-66)
   9. Bhaktas who are exclusively attached the God are the best. Such bhaktas talk themselves thrillingly, in excitement and with rolling tears. They purify earth, their generations. They transform ordinary places into teerthas, ordinary actions into pious actions and ordinary text into Holy Scriptures. The manes are delighted of him, the deities dance with joy and earth is happy in their care. .(Sutra-67-71)

Manifestation of Bhakti:
Bhakti manifests in eleven different forms of attachment or daily practices viz.

1. Attachment to the glorification of blessed qualities of God.
2. Attachment to his beautiful form. Goddess Lakshmi
3. Attachment to his worship.     King Prithu
4. Attachment to his remembrance. Prahlad.
5. Attachment to his service. eg Hanuman through his service to Rama.
6. Attachment to his friendship. Eg. Arjuna, through his friendship to Lord Krishna
7. Attachment to filial love for him.
8. Attachment to wife like love for him.
9. Attachment to self-surrender. Eg. Karna
10. Attachment to being filled with him.
11. Attachment to feeling excruciating pain of separation from him. Radha, through her longing for Lord Krishna (Sutra 82)

 
Types of Bhakti:

1. Pure Bhakti is when one loves God for love’s sake. It is inexpressible in words. It is like dainty dish tasted by mute person. It is beyond three gunas and desires i.e. beyond any kind of desire even desire of liberation. The intensity of love for God grows every moment. It is incessant i.e. continuous flow of remembrance without break. It is most subtle i.e. this exalted love is beyond comprehension of ordinary mind. It can be experienced by intuition and is beyond speech and intellect. Progressive attainment and progressive love for God go hand in hand. One who attains Bhakti, he sees bhakti only, hears bhakti, talks about bhakti and thinks about bhakti. Just like river loses its entity after emptying into ocean, bhakta loses its individuality completely after union with the God.  (Sutra-51-55)
2. Secondary Bhakti is according to three gunas or according to difference in aspirants. Tamasic bhakti is to invoke divine help to harm others; Rajasic bhakti is to obtain good life and satavic bhakti is to know god. Satavic is better than the Rajasic one and the Rajasic is better than the tamasic one. (Sutra-56-57)

 
Rules for Bhaktas:

1. There is no distinction among Bhaktas due birth, education, color, race, wealth, education and like. .(Sutra-72)
2.  Bhaktas should avoid arguments as it leads to endless arguments & takes nowhere. (Sutra-74-75)
3.  Bhaktas should continuously strive for bhakti. They should continuously study such scriptures and perform actions such as worship, prayer and meditation. Not a single minute should be trifled away. (Sutra-76-77)
4.  Bhaktas should maintain non-violence, truthfulness, purity, compassion, piety and other essentials of good life.(Sutra-78)
5.  Bhaktas should always meditate on God without caring anything else. If steadily praised (singing God’s glory with intense divine feeling), God reveals himself and blesses bhaktas with realization. (Sutra-79-80)

Reference: Narada’s Aphorisms on Bhakti by Y. Surahmanya Sarma