Chinna Katha

NARADA BHAKTI SUTRAS

Narada asked Vishnu once: "The Rishis or sages who had attained the purest wisdom relating to the universal Atma could not win your grace; but the illiterate milk-maids of Gokul who were charmed by Your beauty, Your sport, Your music, Your prattle, Your sweetness, Your inscrutable novelty - they won Your grace. How did this happen?" But, Narada himself came to know later that the Gopis had Krishna (the Lord) as the very breath of their lives, as the very sight of their eyes, the very sound of their ears, the very taste of their tongues, the very touch of their skin. While tending the cows and calves, attending to their husbands and children, doing the thousand and one chores of worldly life, they lived in Krishna, with Krishna, and by means of Krishna only; sarvada sarva kaleshu Hari Chintanam. Under all conditions, at all times, in all places, their minds dwelt on Hari (Krishna -the Lord). How then can God deny them grace?

When Narada went to Gokul and called the Gopis to gather around him so they can listen to his teachings about the attainment of Jnana, the Gopis gave no heed; they said, they did not like to waste precious minutes. "The hours of day and night are not enough for us to dwell on the name of the Lord. We do not require your verbal acrobatics to convince us that God is Satchita ananda Swarupa; we know, we feel, we experience the bliss every moment", It was after this revelations of the supremacy of Bhakti that Narada composed the Bhakti Sutras, which have become the guiding lamps for aspirants.