---
type: Reference
title: "Nārada Bhakti Sūtra"
description: "Nārada's aphoristic text on bhakti; defines bhakti as supreme love (parama-prema-rūpā) and contrasts it with kāma."
darshana:
  - Bhakti (Vaiṣṇava Vedānta)
tags:
  - primary-source
  - bhakti
  - sutra
timestamp: "2026-06-25"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Nārada Bhakti Sūtra

## What It Is

A short text of devotional aphorisms (sūtra-s) attributed to the sage Nārada, one of the two classical Bhakti Sūtra texts. It opens by defining bhakti as "of the nature of supreme love for That [the Divine]" (*sā tvasmin parama-prema-rūpā*) and as immortal in nature, and it sharply distinguishes selfless devotional love from kāma (self-directed desire).

## Why It Matters Here

The grounding text for `bhakti`, `prema`, and the kāma/prema contrast. Cited across the bhakti-marga bundle for the definition of devotion and the eleven forms of supreme love.
