Divine Love as Bhakti:Studying Narad Bhakti Sutra in reference to the poems of Brahmanand.

Bhakti has remained integral to India since ancient times that was nurtured by the creation of several texts. The language used in the narration of these texts was largely Sanskrit, a language that could only be comprehended by literates. Countering it, there arose a movement in sixth century and continued until the seventeenth century that witnessed emergence of several poets who molded complex notions of bhakti in vernaculars. Based on their way of perceiving God, scholars classified them into two broad categories. These poets moved beyond the common notion of perceiving bhakti as the adoration of a personal God. Some scholars equated bhakti with love while others associated it to personal relationship with god. This love found its way in multimodal relationships that a poet had with the Divine. Present paper evaluates the definition of bhakti as provided in Narad Bhakti Sutra and will also take resort to Śrīmad Bhāgavata and Bhagvad Gita. The paper will not only establish relation between bhakti and love but will also enhance its understanding by terming it as ‘Divine Love’. The paper argues that Divine love manifests at the end of process. Towards the end, paper will posit that each action performed by a devotee is filled with bhakti (devotion) and since bhakti is compared with love, actions of poet originate out of love. To analyze love as described in Narad Bhakti Sutra, the paper will take into consideration poems of Brahmanand, chief poet-saint under study belonging to nineteenth century Indian state of Gujarat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]