Asserted Topics:
True love is characterized by unbroken remembrance of God.
Key Points:
Our heart’s devotion to Maharaj can be gauged by our constant remembrance of God’s Image, which serves as a test.
Explanation
What is the essence of love towards God? In Vachanamrut 11, Maharaj describes the nature of love as being in accordance with the desires of the one who is loved. It is characteristic of love not to forsake the will of the beloved. Similarly, in the Naradbhaktisutra, Dedication is termed as the essence of love or devotion, while in the Shandilya Bhaktisutra, intense attachment or anurag to God is described as the essence of love. Here, Maharaj describes constant remembrance as the nature of love. So, we must discern what true love is among these descriptions. Although both descriptions come from Maharaj, they aren’t contradictory. However, they aren’t entirely the same either.
While it’s said that not forsaking the will of God is the sign of love, constant remembrance or never forgetting is also a sign of love. But to delve deeper into this, we have to understand that God is indescribable and so is devotion. Its true essence can’t be pinpointed or fully expressed. Thus, signs or indicators are used to describe it.
We can see two correlations here with devotion. One is ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire’, which is similar to ‘Where there’s devotion, there’s adherence to the will (of God)’. The other is ‘Where there’s devotion, there’s remembrance’. Although remembrance can be found in other emotions like fear (as Kansa saw everything filled with Vishnu) or hatred (as in the case of Shishupal), it doesn’t mean they have devotion because their will is against that of God’s. But remembrance should always accompany devotion. Thus, while remembrance can be found outside devotion, wherever there’s devotion, there must be remembrance.
In conclusion, if there’s love (bhakti) towards God, it’s essential to have constant remembrance (smriti). So, there’s no contradiction in what Maharaj said. The intertwined relationship between devotion and remembrance remains steadfast.