Passage 5

Tap any word for its meaning.

In plain words

Readers have every need to inquire into this matter carefully. Only through such inquiry does the matter become clear, with Viveka.

Consider how great a difference there is between the meaning people give to ‘Bhakti’ and the meaning Paramātma teaches. People take ‘motiveless Prema for God’ to be ‘Bhakti’. That alone does not give the word ‘Bhakti’ its full meaning. Worshipping God with affection is only one kind of sādhana. But those who wish to become devotees are not content with that much alone. Rather than weighing how much Prema they have for God, they ask how much of God's Prema and grace rests on them, and by what karmas and what way of living God can be pleased, that is, how we can make God happy and which path makes Him happy; and having considered and inquired into this, they act accordingly. This, it becomes clear, is the aim of Bhakti.

Sri Satchitananda Sai