Christianity as Bhakti Marga

When we think of human love we think first of the love we give to our own relations and friends. What is the teaching of the Johannine writer about this love? It is significant that in this Gospel we have frequent reference to the disciple whom Jesus loved. From the other Gospels we know that Jesus had many disciples and that of these He had an intimate circle of twelve and that among these twelve there were three who were the special objects of His love and confidence.

This Gospel goes further and tells us that there was one among them who in a special measure gained the love of Jesus.*

Again, itis in the Fourth Gospel that we have the touching story of the love which Jesus had for Lazarus and his sisters. The details in the narrative of the raising of Lazarus indicate significantly the deep love of Jesus for this family.2 When Lazarus was sick, his sisters sent Jesus the message that he whom He loved was sick. This news He received with a strange and mysterious thoughtfulness which reflected the importance the event had for His career and mission. Then He resolved boldly to go and see Lazarus in Judza even though the disciples remonstrated and pointed out that only recently the Jews there had sought to stone Him. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Martha and then Mary welcomed Him with an eagerness and devotion which showed the intensity of theirlove. When He saw Mary weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. This agitation apparently increased when He went to the grave; for it is recorded that He wept. This tender expression of His love immediately impressed the bystanders who said, ‘ Behold, how he loved him!’ These details are recorded in the Gospel most vividly, From them we may well infer the existence of a continued friendship as passionate, as selfless and as great as any known in history.

Once again, itis this Gospel which tells us of the care with which Jesus entrusted His mother to the beloved disciple while He Himself was hanging on the cross in the midst of the greatest agony. The few words which Jesus uttered while He was on the cross impress us by their wide range. The great soul He was, He forgave His enemies fully in that supreme crisis, an act which has gained a place in the hearts of all men for its unbounded generosity and supreme nobility. He spoke of that mission of His which He had carried out with such zeal in His lifetime and told His Father that it was now complete. Along with these exalted thoughts He had a loving and devoted care for His mother. Neither His high idealism which led Him to think of others even in most painful circumstances nor His sense of His high destiny and of the importance of His mission, obliterated from His mind the love which He had for His mother. Shown on this occasion and under these circumstances the love of Jesus for His mother is revealed with a force which can never be forgotten.

The Bhakti poets must have known much of the rapture of human love. They use as symbols the normal relations in life to describe their relation to God. He is their Father, their Mother, their Beloved, their Kinsman. Surely if these relationships had not meant anything to them, they would not have used them as symbols to express the deepest facts of their experience. The use of these symbols must in its turn have reacted upon their life. The sight of father, mother or brother, if it called up thoughts of their beloved Deity, must surely have been pleasing to them.. We know, for instance, of the deep’ love which existed between Appar and his sister. But the chief fact remains that they regarded normal human relationships as hindrances to the perfect worship of their God. Many hymns pour contempt on family ties:

‘IT am caught in the tangle of supporting my children and wedded wife, who have merely physical wants.

I follow not the mighty Lord nor understand the virtue of penance.’?

Ramanuja renounced his wife and left his home. Chaitanya would not go back-to his mother, though he always spoke with profound love of her.” A legend tells us how when Sundarar was about to be married, Siva himself came down as a Brahman to the wedding house and put an end to the wedding. There is another strange legend which may be related here. After the wedding festivities of Jhana-“Sambandar were over, he thought within himself, ‘Behold, I am entangled in the coils of a family! But with this woman will I attain Siva,’ and accompanied by the numerous wedding guests went to a temple of Siva. The gracious Siva appeared to him and said: ‘ Enter thou into this glory-—thou, thy wife, and all those who have come to witness thy wedding.’ Siva then became a vast luminous glory, encompassing the temple. Jhana-Sambandar, with his wife and the numerous wedding guests, entered into this glory and became one with Siva. This legend reflects the conviction that a human marriage may be a distinct obstacle to a life of mystic fellowship and should be somehow transformed into union with the Divine.

The account which has been given in this and the preceding chapter of the Johannine doctrine of love will be incomplete without a reference to the subtle but nevertheless real distinction which exists between two different kinds of love. The English word love is used to translate two different Greek words, agapad and pfhileo. There has been much discussion as to the exact shade of significance implied in these words. The word agapad seems to indicate the love which arises from esteem and reverence, whereas the word jphzleo seems to indicate the natural and spontaneous affection which comes by instinct. One may be called reverent love and the other natural affection. It should be noted that the New Testament prefers the former word for describing our love to God using it one hundred and thirty-eight times, whereas the latter word is used in the sense of natural affection only twenty-two times, of which thirteen occur in the Gospel ot John. Five of these are found in the account of the meeting of Jesus and Peter after the resurrection. Jesus said to Peter, ‘ Lovest thou me more than these?’ using the more dignified expression. This question addressed to Peter after the cowardly way in which he had denied Jesus is pointed. All along Peter had stood out as being devoted to Jesus and had impulsively declared the strength of his faith and love. But at the time of the crucifixion he had denied even a knowledge of his

Lord. Jestis, therefore, wanting to correct him asked him whether he still loved Him, putting into that love that esteem and veneration which he had declared before. The beaten atid disappointed Peter gives up all his original impulsiveness and eagerness to claim for himself utter devotion and says in all humility, ‘ Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. It may not be the reverent and exalted love which thy dignity demands but it is given spontaneously and I love thee with all my heart.’ Jesus again asked him the same question and Peter again gave the same answer. Jesus asked a third time taking Peter at his word: ‘Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? You say you love me with that instinctive love which goes forth spontaneously from one heart to another. Is that at least true?’ Peter was grieved and could only falter in reply: ‘Lord ‘Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love Thee.’ Peter still claims that the love which he bears to Jesus may not be of that exalted kind which he ought to show Him. But it is certainly as sincere and as spontaneous as the affection which exists between man and man.’ It is significant that in speaking of the love of Jesus for Lazarus the sisters of Lazarus use the word which indicates natural affection.” It looks as if Jesus instinctively loved Lazarus and gave him of His friendship. The Jews also described the love which Jesus had for Lazarus by the same word.* Again Jesus loved the beloved disciple with this natural affection.* There was apparently in this love the simple pouring forth of human affection. Again the Father loveth the Son with such a natural affection and shows Him all things that He Himself does.* And the Father loveth the disciples with such natural affection because they loved Jesus with the same kind of love.* The only other two contexts in which this word occurs confirms the interpretation that it indicates natural affection, for in one place-it is used of the love which the world has for its own,® and in another place of the love with which a man loves his own life.’

We have seen that there are two limitations to the Johannine doctrine of love. In the first place, there is a tendency on the part of the Fourth Evangelist to describe the manifestations of the love of Jesus not so much in relation to the needs of men as in relation to His divine work. In the second place, the love which John exhorts his readers to practise is to be confined within the narrow circle of the Christian Church. It is remarkable that in spite of these limitations John has stood out through all the centuries as the apostle of love. He is considered as pre-eminently a teacher of love. What, then, is the secret of his greatness in this matter? ‘The answer to this lies in the fact that John has realized more than any other that there is no motive so exalted, spacious and compelling as the motive of the love of God for inspiring the love of man. While the sight of suffering, misery or need may well call forth in us a genuine response, such a response is never so strong as when it is based upon the conviction that its ultimate and highest motive lies in our love for God. We love man because we first love God and the only way in which this love can find expression is the love of man. A Tamil poet has uttered this great truth in words which have laid a strong hold of the Saivas in the Tamil country:

‘The ignorant say that love and God are two. No one knows that love itself is God. Whoever knows that love itself is God, Shall rest in love, one with God.’ *

There is no basis for human love so infinite and so powerful as the love of God. The love of man may on occasions be limited by circumstances. But John teaches us that the measure of our love for man should be determined, not so much by man’s need, however urgent, nor by our own capacity, however freely offered, but only by the magnificence and breadth of God’s own love for man.

According to the Johannine writer, the might and measure of God’s love for man is shown by His only begotten Son being sent into the world. This thought is repeated three times in the passage which we are considering. ‘Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.’ ‘Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ ‘ And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.’ We find this thought in another great passage, ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.’* This explains why in spite of its limitations the Johannine doctrine has come to occupy such an important place in Christian thought. In speaking of God’s love, John does not speak of the innumerable benefits which God gives to man from day to day; nor does he speak of the wonderful universe which He has created and filled with the tokens of His love; nor does he speak of the movements of history which in different degrees reveal His love. Many may be convinced ot God’s love from a consideration of one or other of these, or all of them. In the mind of John these may have contributed to his conviction of the greatness and illimitable measure of God’s love. But he does not refer to them as they are not of primary importance. The main thing which counts with him and which determines the whole mode of his thought is the fact that God sent His only Son into the world. There is no act of God so illumining and so exalted as this whereby He has revealed Himself to men and has shown to them the infinitude of His love. By seeing the incarnate Christ and the circumstances in which He iinistered to the salvation of men we are convinced of the depth and power of God’s love. There is no other movement. or revelation that brings the love of God before men so effectively and powerfully. When we realize this profound truth in all its fulness we are led to impart to our relations with other men some measure of that infinite love which lies in the heart of God.