A Love Triangle

Swami Vivekananda’s Love Triangle

Swami Vivekananda (SV), in his book “Bhakti Yoga”, defines love for Lord as a triangle, “each of the angles of which corresponds to one of its inseparable characteristics.”

1.      The first angle – Love knows no bargaining. He explains this as:

Wherever there is any seeking for something in return, there can be no real love; it becomes a mere matter of shop keeping.

…The Bhakta loves the Lord because He is lovable; there is no other motive originating or directing this divine emotion of the true devotee.

…Begging is not the language of love.

…Love knows no reward. Love is always for love’s sake.

2.      The second angle- Love knows no fear. He explains this as:

Those that love God through fear are the lowest of human beings, quite undeveloped as men. They worship God from fear of punishment.

…So long as there is any fear in the heart, how can there be love also?

3.      The third angle-Love knows no rival. He explains this as:

True love never comes until the object of our love becomes to us our highest ideal.

He means that in true love for Lord, the highest ideal is God and nothing else, no other aspect of life comes closer in importance. He writes,

…The synthesis of all the highest ideals of beauty, of sublimity and of power, gives us the completest conception of the loving and lovable God.

He means that a Bhakta remembers the Lord as the most beautiful, the most sublime, the most powerful, the most loving, and the most beloved.