Vi d y a j y o t i  Journal of Theological Reflection

                       JANUARY 2012

    No. 1                                                      Vol. 76

C O N T E N T S
EDITORIAL. The Year of Platinum 3———-Leonard Fernando, S.J.
FOSTERING THE BIBLICAL APOSTOLATE. Issues  and Structures 7—— Most Rev. Jabamalai Susaimanickam
DEVASAHAYAM PILLA. Convert, Apostle, Martyr. I 27—-Joseph Kottukapally, S.J.
CORRESPONDENCE. The Sick Bed and the Eucharist 42—-Vasco de Rego, S.J.
WHY “SACRIFICE”? —–G. Gispert-Sauch, S.J. 43
ENJOYING GOD.Ecstatic Love in the Nârada Bhakti Sûtras 53–Thomas Chillikulam,S.J.
VATICAN II: GOD’S SPECIAL GIFT. Compendium of Resources 63–James H. Kroeger, M.M.
BOOK REVIEWS (See p. 3 of covers) 75

                       The Year of Platinum

                                   Editorial

As mentioned last month, this year marks the 75^th year of publication of our Journal. It is therefore our Platinum Jubilee Year, as mentioned in the cover page. Some eagle-eyed reader may wonder how volume 76 can be considered the 75^th year and deserve the honour of being the “Platinum” Jubilee. To the first question the answer is found in its long history: two of the volumes of The Clergy Monthly (the original title of VJTR) were only six-month volumes. This was due to the ambiguity about when the ‘year’, and therefore the volume, begins: whether in January, as in the calendar, or in July as in many educational institutions in India. For the last sixty years or so the first option has prevailed, but before that there were times of transition from one system to the other.

As for the title “Platinum” Jubilee, the popular wikipedia informs us that in South Asia this symbol is generally applied to the 75^th year celebrations, which in other cultures are called the ‘diamond’ jubilee. Platinum is a rare, dense, malleable and ductile transition metal, we are told. In many ways this is what VJTR has been and wants to be, especially in our days. Some people at times complain that our articles are too “dense.” In many ways that is true. We want to be a journal of reflection which requires concentration to listen, to think, and to experience. Yet except in the sense that every reflection is a search, ours is not primarily a ‘research’ journal whose main focus is the exploration of new formulations for our faith and practice. We try to be a ‘pastoral’ journal, bridging the gap between the establishment of theological research and the communities of faith, by communicating to each other the findings they discover and the way in which what is new is received by tradition.

Platinum is also said to be a ‘malleable, ductile’ metal, and this is what in a sense the Journal has been: ready to listen to perceptions of other religions and other views of life, and yet remaining faithful to the inner wire of divine revelation. This is why ‘inculturation’ has been a guiding principle in the journey of the Journal. This is no easy trek to follow, and one may feel at times lost in the wilderness. Yet the grace of fidelity to the broad guidelines of the Christian tradition with attention to the ‘signs of the times’ enable us to provide to our readers matter for thought. To keep such balance may be ‘rare’, but being ‘rare’ too is a characteristic of platinum, one of the scarcest metals we know. We hope with God’s grace to advance in this way, and this is why we plan to hold a Seminar for potential writers in the Journal. Last month we published the Concept Paper of the Seminar. We invite our readers to read it again and to share with us their own insights on the topic.

The year 2011 was singularly marked by outbursts of peoples’ power especially in Arab countries and in India. The discontent that has been simmering for the past few years found a loud expression of protest. But sailing towards change is neither smooth nor rapid. This is no cause for surprise. Changes do not happen overnight, especially when so many factors and actors, hurdles and historical wounds, are involved.

The proverbial last straw that led to what the media has called the “Arab Spring” was the immolation of a street vendor named Mohammed Bouazzi in Tunisia. Bouazzi set himself on fire on 17 December 2010, as a protest against the corrupt administration and police harassment. The shock of his self-inflicted violent death set off the popular revolution with people gathering in Ibn Khaldun Square in Tunisia demanding that Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, their President since 1957, step down. Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia and on October 23 Tunisia went to the polls. This has been called “the first truly democratic exercise in the Arab world.”

The revolution did not stop with the overthrow of the president of the north African nation. It swept across the Arab world. Within weeks the sparks of revolution set the other nations on fire. Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Bahrain followed suit. The fight for democracy has tasted its first victory in three Arab nations. Ben Ali stepped down as President on January 14, after ruling Tunisia for 24 years (1987-2011). After ruling for 30 years (1981-2011), Hosni Mubarak of Egypt resigned on February 11. On October 20, the Libyans killed Muammar Qaddafi near Sirte, his hometown, thus putting an end to his rule which had lasted for 42 years (1969-2011).

During the long years of authoritarian regimes which these countries had been subjected to it was hardly possible to develop democratic institutions. No wonder that the immediate fall-out of the overthrow of long lasting dictatorship is a violent struggle to come to terms with the new situation, as was the case in Egypt which showed a conflict between the military forces and the people. But a sign of hope is the relentless effort of the people towards achieving democracy. Those who have tasted the power of a united people and have taken part in a popular movement for change will continue to strive for peace and democracy. If anything, the recent struggles point out that peace and democracy will become a reality only at the end of a long and tedious trek. But the effort is worth making. We hope that the seeds of resistance will produce long-lasting results.

Democracy and freedom are not something which is achieved once and for all. Constant vigilance to safeguard and assert the concerns and legitimate aspirations of the people is a must. We wrote in our editorials last year about the anti-corruption movements gaining momentum in India. Here we have a conflict between the civil society and political power. In recent days another show of solidarity by people has been witnessed in the anti-nuclear protest at Kookandulam, Tamilnadu. The opposition to the nuclear protest is not new, but the protest has intensified in the recent days. By the end of November it had crossed 100 days of protest and the protest still continues.

The local people belonging to the fishing community, farmers and others living in Kanyakumari, Turicorin and Tirunelveli districts are united in the struggle to preserve their life and property. In this life and death struggle, men and women, young and old, cutting across religions, caste and political ideologies, show a sense of unity rarely seen in that area. Social activists like Medha Patkar and socially committed people of the neighbouring states have come in person to express their solidarity with those involved in the struggle. The Catholic Church is also supporting this people’s movement. Bishop Yvon Ambroise, Bishop of Tuticorin has said emphatically: “I do support this struggle, but I am not steering it… The Church supports the movement because it is aimed at protecting people’s life and property. The right to choose, the right to life and also right to livelihood are violated here” (Light of Truth, November 1-15, 2011, p. 1). The Bishop points out that we should follow countries like Germany which after spending millions on nuclear plants have decided to close them down because of their harmful effects on people and ecology. Let us pray that in our land of ahimsa these various struggles are resolved peacefully.

The people’s struggles bring us closer to the United Nations General Assembly’s Declaration of the year 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy. It is possible to generate and provide energy for all without a negative impact to the environment. God has blessed India with much wind and sun. In the area around Koodankulam one sees many windmills. India has to go more for this source of energy. It has been pointed out that at present in the world only nineteen per cent of global energy is provided by renewable energy sources. It is also asserted that they can supply more than three quarters of world’s energy by the year 2050, if only governments come up with policies that actively promote them.

May this New Year be a year of blessing for the world, for our country, for our Journal and for all its readers.

Leonard FERNANDO, S.J.

Editor,VJTR

VJTR 76 (2012) 53-62

Enjoying God

Ecstatic Love in the Narada Bhakti Sutras

Thomas Chillikulam, S.J.

The author is the Director and teacher of theology and religions at Gyanodaya, the Patna Regional Theologate (rtcdanapur@hotmail.com). In this article he reflects on a significant text of the Indian spiritual tradition and shows how Christians also can draw much profit by frequenting such spiritual treasures.

The path to God has long been perceived by many to be fraught with insurmountable obstacles, and traversing it is believed to be arduous and strenuous. However, from ancient times, tenacious seekers have treaded this rugged path with much effort, hoping to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Today new generation (NG) seekers, travelling in broadband speed and enamored of super highways are likely to find this path less inviting and even boring. Is there a path to God that is pleasurable to tread? Is it possible to enjoy God at every step and savour every moment of the journey? Can we have the experience of ecstatic love from the outset of the journey, even while we are still stuck in the muck and mire of the world? The N?rada Bhakti S?tra (NBS), a 10^th century Vaishnava Bhakti treatise, seems to answer the above questions in the affirmative and shows to all seekers of God a path that is enjoyable and ecstatic all the way, and tells them that the pleasure is in the journey rather than in the destination.

The NBS is considered by scholars to be the first and most important systematic and authoritative treatise on Bhakti or love of God. The treatise, written by an anonymous author who invoked the name of the legendary N?rada, consists of eighty-five s?tras that are divided into five chapters. The five chapters deal systematically with different aspects of Bhakti, namely the nature and greatness of loving God, the practical means of loving God, the ineffability of love and the greatness of the lovers of God. The text had a great impact on the bhakti poets and saints and shaped their understanding of bhakti in the last millennium. In the following pages I discuss some important insights gleaned from the NBS that convincingly tell us that it is possible for even ordinary mortals to attain ecstatic love, albeit in varying degrees and intensity, from the moment they begin the journey in the path of love. I also draw insights from other medieval Indian bhakti saints as well as from the Christian tradition with occasional cross references. The ecstatic love that N?rada speaks of in the NBS can be the experience of modern Christians too. As Daniel Sheridan, a modern commentator of the NBS, fittingly puts it, NBS can work as a catalyst to help Christians to rediscover and retrieve love for God and “reinvigorate our imaginations and our enthusiasms, re-stimulate our jaded perception of the beauty of God so that we may respond with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength to the lovable and personal reality of God.”¹

1. Ecstatic Experience in Religions

The author of NBS stresses the ecstatic nature of loving God. Ecstasy is a state of exuberance and exaltation in which one “stands outside” oneself or transcends oneself.² It also secondarily denotes being possessed by the divine spirit. In varying forms the ecstatic experience is common to all spiritual traditions of the world. In the Hindu tradition, ecstasy is experienced at two major levels. At the first level, ecstasy results from the experience of an ontological union with the ultimate reality in which the distinction between the one who experiences and the experienced is transcended. The state of sam?dhi in Yoga points to such ecstatic experience. A second level of ecstasy can be found in the practice of bhakti wherein an individual is drawn toward God and is deeply in love with God. While remaining a distinct entity, the lover attains a state of deep communion with God, and “opens up before God with no shame at being emotional, enthusiastic and uninhibited. This love is enthusiastic, exuberant, energetic, passionate and affective… God only is present to the lover’s joy. God fixates the lover.”³

In Buddhism the ecstatic state is not a state of love for a personal God, neither is it an inebriated, highly emotional and exuberant state. Ecstasy is experienced in the form of jh?na when, by the practice of asceticism and meditation, one moves progressively from one state of mind to the next before reaching the final state of nirvana wherein one overcomes all fetters. In the Majjhima Nik?ya (no. 57) Buddha enumerates ten grades of jh?na or ecstasy, starting with the first jh?na gained by inhibiting the desire for sensual pleasure and ending in the most exalted jh?na wherein a person, utterly transcending the realms of sensation and perception, experiences Nibb?na in this life itself. In the Sufi tradition of Islam, knowledge of God through divine revelation leads to the loss of individuality in God and an inward ecstasy (wajid) results from this loss of one’s self in God (fan?). In Christian mysticism, ecstasy is a reward that God sometimes gives to those who love Him, in the form of bliss both in body and soul. As the fourteenth century mystical text The Cloud of Unknowing puts it; “(God) inflames the body of His devout servants with wonderful pleasures… rising and springing up out of an abundance of spiritual gladness and out of true devotion of spirit.”⁴

It may be noted that in almost all religious traditions ecstasy is not identified with the final goal of union with God. Ecstasy is a transient and repeatable “flight of the spirit,” as St Theresa of Avila puts it, whereas the final union with the divine is an eternal and blissful state of being. In Buddhism, the happiness (sukha) of Nibb?na is beyond senses and sensation whereas the jh?nas are temporary ecstasies that progressively lead to Nirvana. Similarly, the final goal of Christian life is the beatific vision of God which is an eternal state of being in the presence of God. Nonetheless, ecstatic experiences are important in religions. They give a glimpse of the final bliss that awaits the devotee in search of salvation. Ecstatic experiences also purify, illumine and bring the devotee progressively closer to God.

2. Characteristics of Ecstatic Love in NBS

What, according to N?rada, is the nature of ecstatic love? He begins his s?tras by explaining the characteristics of ecstatic state obtained by the highest bhakti. Ecstatic love exhibits itself at two major levels. At the first level, the lover of God is endowed with certain inner dispositions, and at the second level, love produces in the lover certain responses that are both physical and emotional. Two important inner dispositions are underlined in the first chapter – ananyat? and ud?sinat?. Ananyat? literally means a sense of ‘no other’. As in the case of a human lover who is enamoured of the beloved, the lover of God finds himself/herself so fulfilled by God’s love that no other love is required. This is single-hearted and one-pointed love in which the lover confesses – “I don’t need anyone else but you alone.” The reason for such exclusive love is stated in the shortest yet most eloquent s?tra of NBS in chapter 5 – Tanmay?h, i.e., the lover of God is “full of Him” (tat-may?h). What results immediately from this disposition is ud?sinat? or indifference. A lover of God is so full of God that nothing else interests him/her. Ud?sinat? is not aversion towards things or persons but a transcendence wherein one gives primacy to God over other things. S?tra 5 explicitates this transcendence by pointing to an inner state wherein one does not desire anything (na v?nchati), does not sorrow (?ochati na), does not hate (na dveshti), does not enjoy anything else (na ramate) and does not become over-excited (na uts?hi bhavati).

Ecstatic love also produces an intoxication or inebriation that manifests itself in feelings, emotions and even bodily sensations. N?rada is graphic in his portrayal of a person who is in love with God in s?tra 6. One becomes intoxicated (mattah) by the love of God and stunned or benumbed (stabdha) by the beauty of God. In the state of intoxication one overcomes all inhibitions and has no sense of shame in being emotional and enthusiastic. Elsewhere in chapter 5 N?rada adds three emotional and physical responses – choking of voice (kantha-avarodha), thrill of the body where the hairs stand (rom?ncha) and tears (a?ru). These emotional and physical responses result from the intensity of the feelings and the inability of the lover to express them because the experience of the love of God is ineffable. N?rada’s description of the inebriated state comes alive in the life of bhakti saints such as Chaitanya. A disciple of Chaitanya describes the Master’s state of ecstasy: “Chaitanya rose weeping, and ran hither and thither in a transport of devotion, shouting, laughing, dancing and singing… His voice choked with emotion, tears running down his cheeks.”⁵

3. Is Ecstatic Love Available for All?

Is ecstatic experience of love possible only in the state of highest or par? bhakti? Should one strive for and wait a long time by getting rid of other loves and attachments to become perfect and finally reach a state of enjoying God? Gleaning through the work of N?rada in its entirety, I present below some important insights from the s?tras that could provide ground for the possibility of undertaking a spiritual journey which from its starting point is enjoyable and ecstatic.

A. God’s Lovability Draws Us to God (guna-r?pa ?sakti)

The possibility of loving God and the accessibility of ecstatic experience are based on an important factor: the lovability of God. The lover of God is drawn towards God because God is lovable, attractive and desirable. In the Vaishnava bhakti tradition the human forms, attributes and actions of God are important objects of love. The attractiveness and lovability of God become embodied in the human form of Krishna. The God of Bhakti is not only human in form but human with the best human qualities that attract and draw the devotee toward Him. In NBS the intense attraction and attachment to God is articulated by the expression ?sakti. The first two of the eleven ?saktis enumerated in the last s?tra of the NBS – ‘guna’ and ‘r?pa’, i.e., attachment to God’s great qualities as well as His beautiful incarnate form, constitute the basis of the subsequent ?saktis. In bhakti, loving God is a spontaneous and enjoyable act because God as object of love is not a concept but a person with endearing qualities. One need not be a liberated Yogi to attain this love. Anyone with a simple and open heart can enjoy the beauty and greatness of God.

S?tra 21 of NBS attests to this fact by citing the example of the gop?s, i.e., the little cowherd women of Vraja (yath? vraja-gopik?n?m). The intensity of ecstatic love experienced by the simple village women of Vraja as they are drawn towards the irresistible beauty and charm of Krishna is no less than the spiritual heights of the great Yogis. N?rada exemplifies the love of the gop?s towards Krishna narrated vividly in the 10^th skanda (chapter) of the Bhagavad Purana. The women of Vraja, hearing the melody of Krishna’s flute rush toward the forest in a frenzied haste, some leaving the milk boiling on the oven, some leaving the food half-cooked, some leaving their children, husbands, parents unattended, and some even forgetting to dress properly.⁶ The Bhagavad Purana graphically describes how the lovability and attractiveness of Krishna has captured their mind (Krishna-grah?ta-m?nas?h – 10.29.4) and has stolen their soul (Govindam-????????????? – 10.29.8). The subsequent ‘r?sal?la’ or love play with Krishna sets the gop?s aflame with rapturous and delightful passion. Their love is human and erotic, though it is also said that they do not forget the divine greatness of Krishna (na ?????????????????????). It is also to be noted that the Bhagavad Purana confirms the fact that the gop?s were vulnerable mortal beings and not well established in union with God – ‘na tu brahmatay?’.⁷ Their love is a response to the divine love manifested in the most attractive and human form of Krishna.

The medieval bhakti poets have spoken, in poignant language, of the beauty and lovability of God as the beloved, as an endearing child, as a faithful friend, etc. For saint poetess Mirabai, Krishna’s youthful masculine form is magnetic. His handsome physique (sundar badan) lotus-like eyes (kamal-dal lochan), suggestive glances (b?nki chitvan) and gentle smile (mand musk?n) draw her to Krishna and she does not hesitate to acknowledge – “I am enamored by the beauty of Mohan” (Mein Mohan ke r?p lubh?vani).⁸ Ghananand , another medieval mystic poet, finds in God the summation and sublimation of the beauty of Suj?n, the gorgeous courtesan who rejected his love. Steeped in love, Ghananand experienced God as the beloved and finds “her face splendid, her forehead beautiful, her soft smile filled with juice about to overflow’.⁹ Yet another bhakti poet S?rdas finds Krishna the most lovable child. He walks on his knees (ghuturuvan chalat), his tiny body smeared in sand and dust (renu tan mandit), hair falling on to his tender cheeks (lat latkan ch?ru kapol) and with an innocent mischief in his eyes (lol lochan). Contemplating on the l?l?s or the naughty acts of Bal Gopala, S?rdas is ecstatic. For him, one such moment of happiness with child Krishna here (eko pal ihim sukha) is better than seven kalpas of life (sat kalpa jiye).¹⁰

God’s lovability is a starting point in Christian mysticism and spirituality too. The Johnnine gospel states clearly that it is God who loved us first. We experience God’s love as well as His lovability in and through the incarnate Son. Jesus is the visible form of God’s love. We can love God with all our human feelings because God comes to us as human in Jesus. As Pope Benedict XVI rightly puts it in Deus Caritas Est, “God does not demand of us a feeling which we ourselves are not capable of producing. He loves us, he makes us see and experience his love and, since he has ‘loved us first’, love can also blossom as a response within us.” Many Christian mystics of the past resonate with the text of the Song of Songs in which the soul yearns for God from the innermost being because the very glance of the eyes of the bride pierces the heart of the lover – “You have wounded my heart with a glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace” (Song of Songs 4:9). St John of the Cross, enamoured by God’s love, identifies himself with the bride and cries out – “Where have you hidden, Beloved, and left me moaning? You fled like a stag after wounding me… Henceforth send me no more messengers, I want you alone.”¹¹ Bernard of Clairvaux, in his homilies on the Song of Songs insists that it is God’s lovability that enables us to love Him, for “the reason for loving God is God Himself.”¹² It is God’s lovability that attracts and draws humans towards God, and God’s love is available to all – sinners and saints alike. Openness to the gift of love is the only prerequisite to attain God’s love.

B. Love Itself is the Fruit of Love (svayam phala-r?pat?)

In the third chapter of the s?tras, N?rada insists on the superiority of the path of bhakti over karma m?rga and ????? m?rga. Though the chapter is titled ‘Par?bhakti Mahatvam’, i.e., the greatness of highest bhakti, the s?tras of the chapter seem to point to bhakti in general because the author’s purpose here is to establish the superiority of the path of bhakti over the other two m?rgas. What makes bhakti superior to others, according to N?rada, is that it is not a means but the fruit itself. Humans, imbued with feelings and emotions, are affected by the experience of love. Love, any love, produces immediate joy. “Loving God cannot lead to a state different from loving God. Loving does not cause love to decline. Loving God only leads to more loving God, and to a greater and more profound state of being loved by God. “¹³ Having experienced God’ love, one gradually forsakes all other loves because, as s?tra 5 says, in God’s love the devotee desires nothing.

Mystics of all times and places have attested to the view that love is love’s reward. By attaining God’s love M?rabai finds the greatest wealth (mein r?ma ratan dhan payo).¹⁴ St ??????? of Lisieux feels so fulfilled in the love of God that she wants nothing else but God – “And now I have no wishes left at all…; what is there left for me to desire? Only love attracts me.”¹⁵ St Augustine asks God: “But what do I love when I love you? Not the beauty of the body, not the brightness of light… nor manna and honey. I love not these when I love God…, for He is the light, the melody, the fragrance, the food, the embracement of my inner self.”¹⁶

If love is the fruit of loving God, the fruit is available from the moment one opens up to love albeit with varying degrees and intensity. N?rada reinforces this fact when he says in s?tra 80 that to anyone who responds to the love of God, God at once reveals himself – ??ghram eva ?virbhavati. One need not wait to be perfect to experience God’s love.

C. Love is Ever-Growing (pratikshana-vardham?nam)

Ecstatic love, according to N?rada, is often not a perfectly sated and static state. It grows every moment (pratikshana-vardham?nam – s?tra 54). In terms of intensity and perfection, a lover of God goes through different stages. Bhakti is traditionally graded into lower or imperfect bhakti (apar?) and higher or perfect bhakti (par?). One can move up from the lower to the higher levels of experience. N?rada sees the possibility of progress in both kinds of bhakti. In the lower bhakti, one’s love for God is motivated by some gain or other. Yet it can progress from the lower and selfish motives prompted by the qualities (guna) of tamas and rajas to sublime motives guided by the quality of sattva. Love of God motivated by the sublime quality of sattva is greater in quality and intensity than the love motivated by the lower gunas of tamas and rajas (uttarasm?t-uttarasm?t p?rva-p?rva ?rey?ya bhavati – s?tra 57).

The Christian mystic tradition too accepts a gradation and progression in the attainment of ecstatic love. St John of the Cross mentions an early stage in which one may enjoy only a consoling sense of God’s presence. But as time goes on the infused love of God lights a fire in the heart. “First, smoke belches out. Then the log catches fire. Eventually it shoots forth flames, becoming the living flame of love.”¹⁷ Love grows in the human heart because it is God who plants the seed of love in it. Love is a free gift from God. As N?rada says in s?tra 60, love by its very nature is in the form of peace (??nti-r?patv?t) and joy (?nanda-r?patv?t). Any person, however imperfect and sinful he/she may be, gets at least a glimpse of divine peace and joy the moment the heart is opened for the inflow of God’s love.

D. Love is Purgative

The third chapter of the NBS gives a rather long list of various means of attaining love such as renunciation of objects of senses, avoiding bad company, detachment from worldly desires, etc. However, it is interesting to note that in the very first chapter, in s?tras 4, 5 and 6, N?rada tells us that having obtained (yat labdhv?), having attained (yat pr?pya) and having known (yat jn?tva) God’s love, one renounces everything and is detached. Obviously, love comes first and renunciation or detachment is a fruit or by-product of love, rather than a means to it. God’s love displaces all other loves and desires. S?tra 5 confirms that having obtained God’s love one no longer desires anything (na v?nchati), does not sorrow (na ?ochati), does not hate (na dveshti), does not lust (na ramate) and does not become over-excited (na uts?hi bhavati). Love has the power to purify the heart. St John of the Cross tells us clearly that as humans we are affected by inordinate desires; we can overcome attachment to worldly things only through another, better love, that is, God’s love.

Conclusion

In the above discussion I have highlighted four insights from the NBS that could convincingly support the view that the experience of ecstatic love is possible from the outset of one’s spiritual journey if one is open to the love of God. It is God who draws the humans to Himself through His lovability; Love itself is the result of love; love is ever-growing and love purifies even the most sinful heart. The path of love is enjoyable from the outset because the inflow of God’s love produces joy in the heart albeit in varying degrees. No preconditions are made to the one setting out on the path of bhakti except the need to open up the heart for love to enter. Cling on to God like the child monkey and surrender to God like the kitten in the mother cat’s mouth, suggests the Vaishnava seers. NBS can indeed inspire any Christian who wants to travel the path of love, relishing and enjoying God all the way.

 

Footnotes:

¹Daniel P. Sheridan, Loving God: Krishna and Christ, A Christian Commentary on the N?rada S?tras, Leuven-Paris-Dudley, MA: Peeters, 2007, p. 7.

²The term ecstasy (Gk. ek-stasis) literally means “to be placed outside.“ Cf. The Encyclopedia of Religion, New York:MacMillan Publishing Company, 1987, p.11.

³Sheridan, ibid, p. 33

⁴Cited in The Encyclopedia of Religion, p.15

⁵A.J. Appasamy, Christianity as Bhakti Marga, Madras: The Christian Literature Society, 1930, p. 61.

⁶Cf. The Bhagavad Purana 10.29.5-7.

⁷Ibid. 10.29. 12.

⁸Sudarshan Chopra (ed.), M?ra: Parichay evam Rachnayein, Delhi: Hind Pocket Books, 1989, p. 44.

⁹K.P. Bahadur, Love Poems by Ghananad, Delhi: Motilal Banarasidas, 1991, p. 176.

¹⁰Sudarshan Chopra (ed.), S?rdas: Parichay evam Rachnayein, Delhi: Hind Pocket Books, 1989, p. 106.

¹¹Cited in, William Johnston, Mystical Theology: The Science of Love. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 1995, p. 243.

¹²Cited ibid. p. 61.

¹³Sheridan, loc. cit., p. 87.

¹⁴Sudarshan Chopra, Mirabai: Parichay evam Rachanayaein, p. 45.

¹⁵Cited in Sheridan, p.139.

¹⁶Cited ibid, p. 95.

¹⁷Johnston, Mystical Theology: The Science of Love, p. 5.