Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Narada Bhakti Sutra 29

anyonyasrayatvam ity eke

SYNONYMS

anyonya -- mutual; asrayatvam -- dependency; iti -- thus; eke -- some.

TRANSLATION

Others consider bhakti and knowledge interdependent.

PURPORT

The spiritual harmony of knowledge and devotion is well expressed in the phrase bhakti-vedanta. Some observers think of bhakti and jnana as separate or in opposition to each other. The Advaitins claim a monopoly on jnana through the study of the Vedanta-sutra according to the commentary of Sankara. But Vedantic study is not in opposition to bhakti-yoga. The author of the Vedanta-sutra is Srila Vyasadeva, who also compiled the Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is a masterpiece of bhakti as well as the natural commentary on the Vedanta-sutra. The Vaisnava acaryas Ramanuja, Madhva, and Baladeva Vidyabhusana all wrote commentaries on the Vedanta-sutra and proved Vedanta to be harmonious with devotional service. So when a Vaisnava studies the Vedanta-sutra and other Vedic literatures in order to understand the glories of the Supreme Lord, then we have bhakti-vedanta.

Knowledge is especially required by the Krsna conscious preacher, who has to meet opposing arguments. The Vaisnava acaryas were all highly learned in Sanskrit, philosophy, and logic, but they were never dry speculators like the academic or impersonalist scholars. They knew that Krsna is the conclusion of the Vedas. As Sri Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita (15.15), vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah/ vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham: "By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas."

Knowledge and devotion are harmonious, but to say that they are interdependent is too strong. Love of Krsna often arises without a

long development of jnana. Narada Muni once blessed a sadistic hunter with pure devotion to Krsna. This type of spontaneous development of bhakti is known as krpa-siddhi, perfection via the good graces of the Lord and the Vaisnavas.

In the eternal pleasure pastimes of the Lord, Yogamaya sometimes covers the devotee's knowledge that Krsna is God. This is another example of how knowledge and bhakti are not always interdependent. Sometimes the eternal associates of Krsna remember that He is the Supreme Lord, and sometimes they forget, depending on the requirements of their particular devotional mood, or rasa. At Krsna's name-giving ceremony, the sage Garga said, "This child will grow in power, beauty, opulence -- everything -- on the level of Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Still, mother Yasoda treated Krsna as her dependent child. Once Yasoda ordered Krsna to open His mouth so she could see if He had eaten dirt. Krsna obeyed, and when mother Yasoda looked into her child's mouth, she saw the universal form, including all time, space, and planets. Realizing that Krsna was the Supreme Person, she prayed,

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead,... under whose illusory energy I am thinking that Nanda Maharaja is my husband and Krsna is my son, that all the properties of Nanda Maharaja belong to me, and that all the cowherd men and women are my subjects. [Krsna, p. 84]

But then Lord Krsna expanded His internal energy to cover mother Yasoda's sense of awe and reverence with maternal affection. She immediately forgot that Krsna was God and again accepted Him as her child. In cases like these, in the eternal pastimes of the Lord, knowledge of Krsna's divinity comes and goes, but always in the service of bhakti.

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Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari