Narada’s Aphorisms On Bhakti

The Karyalaya has undertaken the publication of this and other similar booklets in English in order to bring within the reach of many to whom they may not be accessible otherwise, some of the most valuable spiritual thoughts of Ancient India inbedded in Sanscrit — thoughts which may be really helpful to modern Seekers after Truth.

Since a long time the books were not available. As there was an increasing public demand, for this edifyng treatise of Swamiji, of revered memory, we take pleasure in bringing out this second edition.

Smt. Jayalakshmi Anantha Krishnaiah (In memory of her husband) Surveyor Street, Bangalore-4 has placed, us under a deep debt of gratitude by kindly financing the publication. May the choice blessings of the ancient Masters of Bhakti shower on her generous soul and E keep it green, throughout her life, with the youthful interest she and her family has been evincing in spiritual matters.

"Narada’s Bhakti Sutras" is already a very popular treatise in India among seekers of God, but it really deserves a wider circulation than it has hitherto obtained. Whoever be the author of this little book, so lucid and practical in its exposition of the birth, growth, development, unfoldment and expression of Bhakti, there is little doubt that he was gifted with the self—same vision of the divine sage with whom tradition has happily identified him. For earnest aspirants who are in need of sound, helpful advice, in a very short compass, on their way to realisation of God—love, no better work could be recommended.

In the present edition of the Sutras which aims at offering only such aids to the reader as may be quite necessary for an intelligent understanding of the teaching, no elaborate commentary has been allowed to interfere with the heart—directness and simplicity of the original. The work has been divided into eighteen sections so as to enable the reader to recognise the connection of the various parts and get a comprehensive view of the whole. The translation, primarily intended for the English-knowing reader unacquainted with Sanscrit, has been purposely made free from all technical words and phrases, the very few Sanskrit forms left over being either self-transparent or else explained in the foot-notes. At the same time, it is hoped that those who know something of Sanscrit will be able to understand and appreciate the original better with this adjunct. It is with this object that the text in Devanagari is given immediately above each sutra in its English garb.

If this humble attempt stimulates even a few souls to take a living interest in Bhakti literature, the little book will have more than served its purpose.