In this first section of the Nārada Bhakti Sūtras, Śrī Nārada Muni defines bhakti and how pure bhakti leads to prema. The commentary further explains the various stages of bhakti in connection with the three modes of nature, and describes the unfortunate disease of tribalism amongst devotees.

In this first section of the Kena Upaniṣad, Lord Śiva asks Brahmā four specific questions - “Who sets the mind in motion? Who controls the life airs? Who impels us to speak, and which deity directs the senses?"

This week, we begin the serialisation of the Nārada Bhakti Sūtras accompanied by the Śrī Bhakti-gaurava-smaraṇa Commentary by Swami Bhaktivijñāna Giri. Here in the introduction, Mahārāja gives a synopsis of this famous text, a brief history of the author, Śrī Nārada Ṛṣi, and shares with the reader the inspiration behind writing this commentary.

Among the ten principal Upaniṣads, the Kena Upaniṣad holds a place of great importance. It discusses three central themes — that the Supreme is the controller of all, that He is superior to all, and that He is ultimately unknowable. This commentary by Swami Bhaktivijñāna Giri, drawing upon the Vaiṣṇava interpretations of Madhva, Raṅga Rāmānuja, and the writings of the Gauḍīya ācāryas, seeks to reclaim the Kena Upaniṣad from the grasp of the monists, demonstrating that the Brahman of the Upaniṣads is ultimately a theistic, personal Reality endowed with distinctive transcendental qualities.

In this final section of the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, the transcendental state of Vāsudeva/Turīya is described, along with the connection between oṁkāra and Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān, culminating in the highest plane, Turīyātīta, the realm of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, which can be attained only through complete surrender.