“What has he found who has lost God?
And what has he lost who has found God?”

Panchdashi - Swami Vidyaranya

न  जातु  कामः  कामानामुपभोगेन  शाम्यति  |

हविषा  कृष्णवर्त्मेव  भूय  एवामिवर्धते  ||

na jatu kamah kamanamupabhogena shamyati |

havisha krushnavartmeva bhuya evamivardhate ||

Desires are never quelled by enjoyment but increase more like the flame of a fire fed on clarified butter.

परिग्यायोपभुक्तो हि भोगो भवति तुष्टये |

विग्न्याय सेवितश्चोरो मैत्रीमेति न चोरतां ||

parignyayopabhukta hi bhogo bhavati tushtaye |

vignaya sevitaschoro maitrimeti na chortaam ||

But when the impermanence of pleasure is known, the gratification of desire may bring the idea of "enough of it". It is like a thief who having been employed knowingly in service does not behave like a thief but like a friend.

Seek You, O Mother !

Verses from Bhavani ashtakam:

न तातो न माता न बन्धुर्न नप्ता न पुत्रो न पुत्री न भृथ्यो न भर्ता |

न जाया न विद्या न वृत्तिममैव गतिस्त्वं गतिस्त्वं त्वमेका भवानि  ||

na taatho na maataa na bandhurna napta na putro na putri na bhruthyo na bharta |

na jaayaa na vidya na vrittimamaiva gatistvam gatistvam tvameka Bhavaani ||

I have no father, no mother, no associate, no son, no daughter, no spouse, no grandchild, no servant or master, no wisdom and no calling. In Thee is my only haven of refuge, in Thee my help and strength,
O Bhavani!

न जानामि दानं न च ध्यानयोगं न जानामि तन्त्रं न स्तोत्रमन्त्रं  |

न जानामि पूजां न च न्यासयोग गतिस्त्वं गतिस्त्वं त्वमेका भवानि ||

na jaanaami daanam na cha dhyanayogam na jaanaami tantram na stotramantram |

na jaanaami pujaam na cha nyaasayoga gatistvam gatistvam tvameka Bhavani ||

I am a stranger to giving in charity and to meditation, to the scriptures, hymns and mantras. I know not how to worship or to renounce. In Thee I seek refuge, in Thee my help and strength, O Bhavani!

विवादे विषादे प्रमादे प्रवासे जले चानले पर्वते शत्रु  मध्ये  |

अरण्ये शरण्ये सदा मां प्रपाहि गतिस्त्वं गतिस्त्वं त्वमेका भवानि  ||

vivaade vishaade pramaade pravaase jale chaanale parvate shatru madhye |

aranye sharanye sadaa maam prapaahi gatistvam gatistvam tvameka Bhavani ||

In struggles, in grief, in travel, in danger, in waters, in fire, in the wilds, in the mountains, surrounded by foes, protect me my Savior! In Thee is my only haven of refuge, in Thee my help and strength, O Bhavani!

Bhakti - Supreme Love Divine

Devarishi Narada declares his idea on devotion after stating the different opinions of various Sages in the 3rd section of the first chapter of Narada Bhakti Sutra thus: 

नारदस्तु तदर्पिताखिलचरत तद्विस्मरणे परंव्याकुलतेति |

 

According to Narada ‘total dedication of all actions at the altar of the Lord, and at all moments of forgetfulness of the Lord, excruciating pangs’ is Supreme Love-Divine. To surrender all activities unto the feet of the Lord, to remember Him at all times and to feel desperate when one notices even a few moments had gone by in forgetfulness of the Lord is Supreme Devotion says Sage Narada.

मोक्षकारणसामग्र्यां  भक्तिरेवगरीयसी  | 

स्वस्वरूपानुसन्धानं  भक्तिरित्याभिधीयते || (विवेकचूडामणि :३१ )

Among the instruments and conditions necessary for liberation bhakti alone is supreme. A constant attempt to live upto one’s own Real Nature is called single pointed devotion, says Adi Shankara in Vivekachudamani.

Love alone is the path and by love alone can we reach Love. A life without love is of no account.  Lets not ask ourself what kind of love we should seek, spiritual or material, eastern or western. Divisions only lead to more divisions. Love has no labels, no definitions.  It is what it is, pure and simple.

We can study God through everything and everyone in the universe, because God is not confined in a mosque, temple or church. But if we are still in need of knowing where exactly His abode is, there is only one place to look for Him: in the heart of a true lover/devotee.

One of the devotees (gopies) in Brindavan told Uddhava, “We can practice yoga only where there is a sense of separation. Here to us there is nothing but total merger with our Shyamsunder (Dark beauty Krishna).”  This was the depth of perfect devotion that the Gopies had for their Lord Krishna. These loving Gopies were not sentimental lovers of Krishna as generally believed. They knew His Eternal nature as the ‘Sarvatman’, the Self in all. Thus in the giddiness of Love, the Gopies never once gave up a moment of their constant recognition of Krishna’s true nature as the ‘Supreme Self’.

The result of their faithful and deep devotion was that Lord Krishna, Himself, once confessed to them that He was indebted to them for the pure Love they showered on Him. He requested them to release Him of this huge indebtedness so that He may be saved from His obligations which he would not be able to clear even if He served them for eons. (Bhagavatam)

Truly when we step into the zone of love, language as we know it becomes obsolete. That which cannot be put into words can only be grasped through silence.