The Definition of Bhakti

Next, we will examine the definition of bhakti? Śāṇḍilya Ṛṣi composed one book entitled, Śāṇḍilya Bhakti Sūtra, in which he preached about bhakti.

In this book, in the second śloka of chapter one, he gave this definition of bhakti:

सा परानुरक्तिर् ईश्वरे

sā parānuraktir īśvare

Great attachment to the lotus feet of the Supreme Controller is called bhakti.

Another place where the definition is mentioned is in the Śrī Bhaktirāsāmṛta-sindhu, pūrva-vibhāga (1.1.12), wherein it is said:

सर्वोपाधि-विनिर्मुक्तं तत्-परत्वेन निर्मलम्
हृषीकेण हृषीकेश सेवनं भक्तिर् उच्यते

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṃ tat-paratvena nirmalam
hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa sevanaṃ bhaktir ucyate

Bhakti, or pure devotional service, means engaging all our senses and mind in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses, with the sole purpose of pleasing Him. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses become spiritualized simply by being employed in the service of Hṛṣīkeśa, the master of the senses.

There are many definitions of bhakti. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda, the greatest authority, made this definition for the benefit of the whole world. In Caitanya-līlā, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is the eternal associate of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; in Vraja-līlā, the maidservant Rūpa Māñjarī, the eternal associate of the Divine Couple, Śrī Śrī Rādhā Kṛṣṇa. In Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Śrī Bhakti-rāsāmṛta-sindhu, pūrva-vibhāgah, we find this all-time standard definition of pure bhakti that has been used by all the ācāryas in our Gauḍīya line.

अन्याभिलाषिता-शून्यं ज्ञान-कर्माद्य्-अनावृतम्
आनुकूल्येन कृष्णानु-शीलनं भक्तिर् उत्तमा

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṃ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṃ bhaktir uttamā

Bhakti-rāsāmṛta-sindhu. Purva 1.1.11

Uttama-bhakti, pure devotional service, is the cultivation of activities that are meant exclusively for the pleasure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa—in other words, the uninterrupted flow of service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa performed through all endeavours of the body, mind and speech, and through the expression of various spiritual sentiments (bhāvas). It is not covered by jñāna (knowledge aimed at impersonal liberation), karma (reward-seeking activity), yoga or austerities; and it is devoid of all desires other than the aspiration to bring happiness to Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

This verse, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam, is a barometer for pure devotional service; it defines what pure bhakti or uttama-bhakti is. If the bhakti lines up with these well-defined devotional characteristics, then the reading on the barometer will go very high and vice-versa.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmipāda systematically explains the favorable endeavors for the cultivation of devotional service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa; when such activities are performed for His pleasure, it is called bhakti.

Bhakti has two stages, the practice and the perfectional stage. In the practice stage (sādhana), there are sixty-four limbs of bhakti, beginning with guru-padāśraya, taking shelter of the lotus feet of a genuine spiritual master, accepting dīkṣā (initiation) and śiksa (spiritual instructions) from him, serving the guru with a feeling of great intimacy and so on.

The perfectional stage is called sādhya-bhakti or prema-bhakti. Sādhyabhakti has eternally perfect love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Sādhana-bhakti is the immature state, whereas sādhya-bhakti is the fully matured or ripened state.

Sādhana-bhakti can also be divided into two types—vaidhī and rāgānuga. One cannot jump to rāgānuga. Untill a spontaneous attachment and taste for Kṛṣṇa appears in the heart of one practicing vaidhī, he follows the regulative activities and the rules prescribed in śāstra. Rāgānuga-sādhanabhakti, on the other hand, is performed when one has spontaneous attachment (rāga) in the heart and that person is always intensely eager to possess the moods of the vrajavāsīs; their performance of sādhana is just to follow them. The vrajavāsīs are eternally perfect and their attachment and love for the Lord is supreme. It can never be broken. To follow them is possible only by the mercy of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the devotees of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Gurudeva is a parama-bhagavadbhakta. By his causeless mercy, the conditioned souls (baddha-jīvas who are spiritually unaware) obtain identification with, and shelter of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and other parama-bhagavadbhaktas. Only when those persons have fully taken shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Guru will the Lord’s svarūpa-śakti manifest in their body, mind and words (even though they are material). The example is given that when fire permeates an iron rod, it burns other objects. The iron rod does not burn other objects—the fire does. In this example the fire is said to have obtained oneness with the iron rod (tadātmya). Similarly, by the mercy of the Lord, the bhakti-vṛtti of svarūpa-śakti obtains tadātmya with the body, mind and words of the devotees and then acts through them.

In the verse under discussion, the word “Kṛṣṇa” has been used to indicate Svayam Bhagavān Vrajendra-nandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa and all other incarnations (avatars) of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

In order to establish the svarūpa or inherent nature of bhakti, the qualifying adjective anukūlyena (favourably disposed) has been used, because bhakti is not accomplished by unfavourable behaviour. The real meaning of anukūlya is to be completely free of any attitude that is unfavourable or hostile to the Lord.

Without the complete absence of any attitude that is unfavourable to the Lord, bhakti is not established. According to this definition of bhakti, the fault of ativyapti cannot be applied to the asuras (in other words the definition of bhakti does not extend to them), because they are always possessed of a malicious attitude towards the Lord. Consequently, because they are not devoid of a hostile attitude, their activities are not regarded as bhakti.

On the other hand, sometimes an activity of Yaśoda-maiyā, from the external point of view, appeared to be unfavourable because it was seen to be displeasing to Kṛṣṇa, but Yaśoda-maiyā has no trace of any attitude that is displeasing to Kṛṣṇa. She is always permeated with an attitude that is completely agreeable towards Kṛṣṇa, being constantly attentive to rearing Him and looking after His welfare.

The devotees naturally display even greater love towards those things that are favourable towards the service of Kṛṣṇa than towards Kṛṣṇa directly. Kṛṣṇa was to be nourished with the milk that was boiling on the stove. It was only with the idea of Kṛṣṇa’s future benefit that Yaśodamaiyā left Him aside to tend to the milk; therefore this action is also bhakti. The true nature of bhakti is not established by the mere absence of an inimical attitude, for even within a clay pot there is an absence of animosity. Can the pot then be said to possess bhakti? It never can. For it to be accepted as bhakti there must be a person who is favorably endeavoring to please the Lord.