From the Archives of Swami Jyotirmayananda
What is devotion? It is not sentiment, and it is not blind emotion. In the ancient Narada Bhakti Sutras, Sage Narada gives a precise answer: devotion is to love God and to be loved by God. That is the whole thing.
Sri Swami Jyotirmayananda, the last direct disciple of Swami Sivananda, has spent decades teaching these sutras. His lessons are not lectures about religion. They are maps. In this talk, he gives the sincere seeker five distinct paths into the experience of divine love.
Before the five paths, Swamiji lays the foundation. He uses a simple image. Look into a jar of water at the right angle and you will see the sun reflected. That reflected sun is the Jiva, the individual Soul. The Soul is real and luminous, but it is not the source. The source is the actual Sun, which is God, pure Awareness.
This is Vedanta in one sentence: the Soul is real, but its reality depends on God. And bhakti, devotion, is the path of turning the reflected sun back toward its source.
Sutra 67 says it directly: Bhakta ekantino mukhyah. One-pointed devotees are the best. Not the most scholarly. Not the most ascetic. The most devoted.
The Five Bhavas: Five Doors, One Ocean
Narada’s teaching does not prescribe one emotional style. It gives five. Swamiji calls them bhavas, attitudes of devotion. Each bhava is a flavor. Each is a door. All doors open to the same ocean.
Shanta: The Serene Attitude
God is experienced as pure, abstract Peace. No image, no relationship, just the quiet recognition of the Divine as the Ground of existence. This is the most subtle bhava.
Dasya: The Servant Attitude
“I am an instrument in the Divine hand. I do God’s will.” This attitude is found in many traditions. Hanuman embodies it perfectly. The ego dissolves not through rejection but through service.
Sakya: The Friendship Attitude
Arjuna and Krishna are the classic example. The devotee talks to God, sometimes questions God, sometimes even complains. There is intimacy without fear. The relationship grows because both parties are fully present.
Vatsalya: The Parent-Child Attitude
The devotee loves God as a tender child. Yashoda bathing little Krishna, scolding him for stealing butter. This attitude requires total self-effacement. You are not receiving love; you are pouring it out. And because there is no expectation of return, the love is pure.
Madhurya: The Beloved Attitude
The most intense form. God becomes the Supreme Beloved. Kabira captures it: “Lali mere Lal ki, jit dekhun tit Lal.” Everywhere I look, I see the beauty of my Beloved. The duality between lover and loved begins to fade. This is not romantic love; it is the sweetness, the madhurya, of love at its most total.
Swamiji is clear: no bhava is superior to another. Choose the one your heart responds to. Develop firmness in it. Let it ripen.
Vibhava: What Causes Devotion to Grow
Devotion does not sustain itself automatically. Narada’s framework includes Vibhava, the causes and conditions that allow devotion to grow. Swamiji breaks this into two:
Alambana (Support)
Choose an ishta devata, a chosen form of God. Krishna, Rama, Devi, Jesus, the form does not matter. What matters is single-pointed focus. A mantra anchors this choice. The mind needs something to hold. Give it something worthy.
Udipana (Awakening)
Devotion fades. This is normal. Satsang rekindles it. In good company, surrounded by others who are also seeking, the fire comes back. When satsang is unavailable, swadhyaya, study of scripture, serves the same purpose.
Sanchari Bhava: The Clouds That Help the Tree Grow
Once devotion is steady, certain things will drift through the mind like clouds across a clear sky. Swamiji calls these Sanchari Bhava, drifting sentiments. They are not obstacles. They are part of the process.
Dhhritti (firmness), mati (understanding), harsh (sudden joy when a new insight arrives), vitaraka (the sense that this joy is only a drop and I must press further): these come and go. Let them. They are the tree of bhakti swaying in the wind. The roots hold.
Anubhava: How the Body Knows Before the Mind Does
The sutra Swamiji cites is precise: Kanthavarodharomanchasrubhih parasparam lapamanah pavayanti kulani prithivim cha.
The throat chokes. The skin tingles (Romancha, horripulation). Tears flow. These are Anubhava, the signs that divine love has touched the body. In ordinary life you have felt versions of this: profound admiration, unexpected beauty, a mother’s love overflowing. When the same response arises in the presence of God, it is a sign that the heart has opened.
Swamiji distinguishes these from tamasic emotion. The tears of a vampire film are not the same as the tears of a devotee hearing the story of Rama at the river. The quality of the feeling matters. Sattvic emotion elevates. It does not drain.
Scholar’s Corner
Bhakta ekantino mukhyah. One-pointed devotees are the best. (Narada Bhakti Sutras)
Kanthavarodharomanchasrubhih parasparam lapamanah pavayanti kulani prithivim cha. Those who, speaking to one another about God with choking throats, horripulation, and tears, sanctify their family lines and the very earth. (Narada Bhakti Sutras, likely a continuation or related sutra)
Lali mere Lal ki, jit dekhun tit Lal. The redness of my Beloved is everywhere. Wherever I look, I see only Him. (Kabira)
Atmanastu kamaya sarvam priyam bhavati. For the sake of the Self, all things become dear. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)
Glossary
- Bhava:
- Attitude or sentiment of devotion. Five types: Shanta, Dasya, Sakya, Vatsalya, Madhurya.
- Rasa:
- The flavor or essence of a devotional attitude; the inner sweetness experienced through a particular bhava.
- Vibhava:
- The causes of devotion. Divided into Alambana (support) and Udipana (awakening).
- Alambana:
- The anchor of devotion; the chosen form of God (ishta devata) and the mantra.
- Udipana:
- The kindlers of devotion: satsang, swadhyaya, and sacred company.
- Sanchari Bhava:
- Transient sentiments that drift through the steady devotional mind; aids to spiritual progress.
- Anubhava:
- The physical expressions of mature devotion: choking of the throat, horripulation (romancha), tears.
- Ishta Devata:
- The chosen form of God that the devotee focuses upon.
- Swadhyaya:
- Study of scripture; self-study; one of the niyamas of Yoga.
- Satsang:
- Holy company; gathering in the presence of truth and those who seek it.
- Jiva:
- The individual Soul, understood in Vedanta as the reflected light of Brahman.
- Brahman:
- The Absolute; pure Awareness; the ultimate reality underlying all existence.
Closing Reflection
Which bhava lives in your heart? You may already know. The mother who weeps when she hears a kirtan. The person who insists on calling God “my best friend.” The one who feels small and grateful, an instrument in something larger. These are not personality quirks. They are bhava, the natural movement of the Soul toward God.
Sri Swami Jyotirmayananda says: choose one, develop firmness in it, and let it ripen. The path you choose does not matter. What matters is that you walk it all the way to the ocean.
Watch the full lesson on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FiiXc5cpquw
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