Love’s path is walked by sage & maid…

When Love Moves the Divine

The Heart That Commands Heaven

There’s a kind of devotion that doesn’t just please God—it moves Him. Muktanand Swami captures this mystery in his verse:

“When love-filled bhakti stirs the soul,
The Lord does just as He’s told.
The maids of Vraj clap with joy,
As Natwar dances per their ploy.”

This is not the devotion of duty or discipline, but of prem bhakti—love that melts all boundaries between devotee and God. In this state, God ceases to be a distant Lord and becomes a willing companion, even a participant in the devotee’s joy.

The gopis of Vraj didn’t perform austerities or rituals to control Krishna—they loved Him so completely that He chose to dance to their rhythm. Such love is not ordinary emotion; it is the most refined form of spirituality, where affection itself becomes worship.

Knowledge and Detachment: Steps That Stop Short

When Wisdom Falls Silent Before Love

“Many munis with bodies tamed,
Still seek the self that can’t be named.
Though flesh and world they leave behind,
They fail to choose the love divine.”

Across the ages, countless sages and seekers have pursued liberation through renunciation, meditation, or knowledge. Yet, Muktanand Swami reminds us that these paths, though noble, often miss the ultimate secret—love.

Renouncing the world without embracing God’s love is like polishing the lamp but never lighting it. Even Shukdevji, born enlightened, was drawn toward the sweetness of prem bhakti when he heard about Krishna’s playful love in Vraj.

Love doesn’t contradict knowledge; it completes it. Where intellect stops at understanding God, love begins by experiencing Him.

The Fellowship of the Loving: Saints and Seekers Alike

Where Saints and Gopis Meet

“Love’s path is walked by sage and maid—
By Shukdev and the gopis’ brave.
Narad is lost in love’s deep sea,
As is sweet Radha, joyfully.”

Muktanand Swami blurs the lines we often draw between the learned and the simple. Shukdev, a sage of supreme wisdom, and Radha, a village maiden, both walked the same road—the path of divine love.

Narad Muni, too, is portrayed as intoxicated with God’s name, not through philosophy but through bhakti’s melody. In their love, intellect bows to emotion, and analysis yields to surrender.

This is the beauty of bhakti: it belongs to everyone. Whether saint or shepherd, scholar or servant, all who love God sincerely become part of the same divine story.

Love: The Supreme Path Beyond All Others

When Love Outshines Every Practice

“Compared to love, all paths do pale—
Like stars that dim in morning’s veil.
Muktanand says: the path of love
Is cherished by the Lord above.”

When the sun rises, the stars disappear—not because they cease to exist, but because their light is overpowered. In the same way, when love for God awakens in the heart, every other spiritual pursuit—knowledge, austerity, meditation—finds its fulfillment and falls naturally silent.

Love becomes both the means and the end. It doesn’t require renouncing the world, only renouncing selfishness. In loving God, every action becomes sacred, and every moment becomes worship.

Introduction on Paramhansa (Text): https://www.baps.org/About-BAPS/TheFounder%E2%80%93BhagwanSwaminarayan/Legacy/Disciples/Paramhansas.aspx

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