love
Jesus’ crucifixion is the selfless example of agape, a higher love,
which is unselfish, uncalculating, and sacrificial, and must not be con-
fused with something instinctive or impulsive. Agape is also character-
ized by mutuality or equal regards of the other. The example of Jesus
represents a pure gift because it is unmotivated, completely gratuitous,
and demands nothing in return. The event of the cross for Christians
symbolizes a perfect kind of love, which transcends all particular norms
of historical justice. Agape is dynamic in the sense that God is identical
to it, characterizes the action of God, and calls for a response from the
faithful. The inherent incomplete and imperfect nature of erotic love is
completed and perfected by agape. This selfless and self-sacrificial type
of love is the most powerful form of love within the Christian tradition.
The highest type of Christian love (agape) is dialectically related to
justice, which is historical, discriminating, and concerned with balancing
interests and claims. Justice is a relational concept that represents a rela-
tive embodiment of love. Justice can only approximate love because the
latter is both a fulfillment and a negation of justice. As it operates in the
world, love demands justice, even though it always transcends justice and
its tendency for calculation and discrimination. The redemptive nature of
love enables it to fulfill justice, and it is able to encounter the other in his/
her uniqueness. As many Christian saints and mystics demonstrate by
their lives, love possesses the power to convey a person beyond themself
and to their utmost potential.
Within the context of Hindu culture, the Sanskrit term bhakti is derived
from the root bhaj (meaning “to participate,” “to share,” ‘to worship,” “to
be devoted to”). When the term is used with persons it suggests a certain
communion of heart and mind that manifests a loving relationship. If the
term is used in a religious context, it conveys the sense of choosing,
worshiping, and adoring a deity. In the Bhagavad Gītā, bhakti is devotion
to God, and is both a path and the goal of a devotee of Krishna.
The Sanskrit term kāma is closer in meaning to the English term desire,
which is mentioned as a legitimate end of life in the dharma literature of
India. It is considered impossible to act without desire in such a text as
the Laws of Manu. Desire is eventually defied and depicted as a deity
(Kāma) with a flower bow and arrows used to pierce the hearts of vic-
tims, turning them into uncontrollable bundles of desire. The ascetic deity
Śiva becomes the arch-enemy of desire, and even destroys it at one point
before restoring Kāma to life. It is desire and ignorance that must be
controlled and conquered by ascetics, if they are to win liberation.
A final term often translated as love in Sanskrit is prema. Within the
school of Gau ̄īya VaiãhÏavism, Rupa Gosvāmī distinguishes two types
of bhakti (devotion): vaidhi and rāgānuga. The first kind is based on