Evolutionary stages of Bhakti – Part - III

Two articles on Bhakti are already published which deal on - what is Bhakti (Doctrine of Bhakti) and how to cultivate Bhakti (Cultivation is Bhakti). This article aims at explaining the various evolutionary stages of Bhakti. Sri Ramanuja, Sri Madhva, Sri Vallabha and Sri Chaitanya are acharyas (teachers) of bhakti who excelled and propagated Bhakti among masses; resultantly India witnessed Bhakti movement in medieval period. Bhakti is looked upon as a distinct fifth Purusartha.
 
Once the devotee follows the discipline of Bhakti, the devotional sentiments are more & more pronounced. When the heart of devotee is unshakably established in the God and mind refuses to move, complete devotion is accomplished.
 
From Shraddha, ardour (dedication & eagerness) is born. When ardour deepens, it is called Prema or Love. As Prema grows it is successively called Sneha, Mana, Pranaya, Raga, Anuraga, Bhava and Mahabhava. These are stages in the development of love.
 
Evolutionary stages explained by various philosophers of Bhakti:

1. Ramanujacharya has defined three stages of Bhakti development viz. Sadhana Bhakti (Practice of devotional means), Para Bhakti (undisturbed and inseparable attachment for God) and Prema Bhakti (Supreme devotion). In Para Bhakti, all thoughts roam in mind are of God. Para Bhakti is highest form of bhakti when bhakta sees God everywhere, feels his power manifest as entire universe.  Para Bhakti is Nirguna Bhakti which is free from the three Gunas. It is the spontaneous, unbroken flow of pure love towards God. It is Ahaituki (free from any sort of motive) altogether. It is Avyavahita or unmeditated devotion towards God. As against Para Bhakti, Apara Bhakti is idol worship. It is bhakti of beginners who decorates the image with flowers, rings bell, offer Naivedya, wave lights and observes other rituals. Apara Bhakti gradually transforms into Para Bhakti.
2. Madhvacharya have distinguished Bhakti into Paroksa-Jnana (General understanding of devotion); Pakva-bhakti (Ripe devotion enables the aspirant to practice Nididhayasana or continuous meditation on God) and Paripakva-bhakti i.e. Aparoksa-Jnana and attainment of Divine grace. It reveals the absolute dependence of the Jiva, who is pratibimba or reflection of God, who is bimba or the original. It removes the Avidya of the Jiva in both the aspects – Svarupacchadika, which hides the Jiva’s intrinsic nature as consciousness and bliss, and Paramacchadika, which hides from him his real relationship to Brahman as one of dependence.
3. Sri Vallabhacharya explained the different stages of the development of devotion as Bhava (Inclination), Prema, Pranaya, Sneha, Raga & Anuraga (the most intense forms of attachment to God) and Vyasana (in which everyday experience is practically replaced for the devotee by the plane of existence where God and himself and devotees like himself only exist). The climax is reached when the soul attains Sarvatma bhava or seeing the God in everything. The devotees are in unison with the heart and spirit of the God. He is a part and parcel of divine life. Consequently, he experiences God’s own delight in Himself and all things. The soul is now one with God.
4. Sri Chaitanya Mahabrabhu divided Sadhana (Disciplinary) Bhakti into two stages – Vaidhi Bhakti and Raganuga Bhakti. Sadhya or Prema Bhakti into Bhava, Prema, Sneha, Mana, Anuraga and Mahabhava. The distinguishing features of various stages are lucidly explained by him as under:

 

1. Vaidhi Bhakti – It is following sixty four devotional disciplinary practice (discussed in earlier article on Cultivation of Bhakti) to stimulate the feeling of love for God. Vaidhi Bhakti can be practiced, when deep faith (Shraddha) in a spiritual reality has dawned. By the long and sincere practice of Vaidhi Bhakti, devotional sentiments become more and more natural, and a devotee is then considered fit to practice Raganuga Bhakti.
2. Raganuga Bhakti – In this stage, the external aids are minimized and this stimulation is accomplished more by psychological means. Disciple develops a relationship with God such as envisioning Sri Krishna as beloved (Gopis), the soul (as to ascetics like Sanaka), the son (Nand-Yashoda), the friend (Sudama), the respected ancestor (Pradyumna), the relative (Arjuna) or the desirable deity (Uddhava). The adoption of Raganuga-Bhakti does not require the abandonment of the discipline of Vaidhi-Bhakti.
3. Prema or Ragatmika Bhakti or Nishkamya Bhakti or Avyabhicharini Bhakti or Ananya Bhakti - Devotion without desire for material gains, will purify heart and divine grace will descend on bhakta. The intimate personal relationships like those of a servant, friend, parent and sweet-heart provide channels for expression of this kind of loving devotion (Prema Bhakti) to Sri Krishna and he recognizes Him as His ’own’ (Manata), the nearest and dearest. Forgetting His power and majesty as creator, preserver and destroyer, one has established in the relationship of love with Him. Prema involves no sensual attraction. It is said to have become Ragatmika (of the very nature of attachment) in contrast to Raganuga (of the nature of imitation). Devotion is then said to have transcended the Sadhana stage and attained to the Sadhya stage. The progress of Bhakti as Priti (Prema) from disciplinary devotion is divided into seven stages as under:

 

1. Rati or Bhava is marked by natural attachment and absorption (continuously sustained) in the God without any external aid or stimuli.

It flows easily through God’s grace. It is called a special manifestation of Suddha-Sattva. An expression of Krishna’s Svarupa-Shakti, Hladini or His inherent Potency of Bliss, is cast on the devotee. Internally the devotee begins to feel an intense engrossment with God from which his mind refuses to move. As a result he develops a liquidity and smoothness of the heart. He is established in a state of placidity of mind, in which he could remain unperturbed by all circumstances that ordinary cause cares anxieties and disturbances. He spends all the time in devotional mood and practices like chanting the Divine Name, hearing the exposition of His glories and excellences etc. He evinces no interest in or attraction for objects of the senses. His conviction in the possibility of realizing the divine becomes unshakably established due to the fore-taste of it got in bhava (feelings).

1. Prema is the indissoluble attachment binding devotee to God by the sense of ‘myness’. The Bhava deepened is called Prema or Supreme love of God. It is also called the joy of unselfish love and service. There is no pursuit of pleasure for one’s own sake. There is only thought of service and happiness of the beloved God in complete forgetfulness of oneself and one’s own welfare. The joyous experience of this type is to be distinguished from happiness & satisfaction. Happiness can be purely self-centered satisfaction derived from a self-centered pursuit. 

 
Such self-forgetting dedication, uncorrupted by the narrow self, eliminates from the aspirant all thoughts of attaining Mukti, or release from cycle of birth and death, even the dawn of pure devotion. One who has attained this state of mind is said to have attained the fifth Purusartha, the state of selflessness. Selflessness is the characteristic of spiritual love, whereas self-consideration is the very basis of sensuous attachments.
 

1. Sneha is the end product of Prema when the heart melts in love.
2. Mana is marked by sensitiveness due to excessive love.
3. Raga is eager longing for the object of love touched with the enjoyable pain associated with it.
4. Anuraga is the experience of unceasing novelty in the object of love.
5. Maha-bhava is the most ecstatic expression of love, and is called Divyonmada (Divine madness).

In the Chaitanya school, about twenty characteristics are enumerated as expressions of the unique Divine sentiment of Maha-Bhava in both its phases as love in union and love in separation such as intense longing, inability to bear separation, readiness to bear even intense pain in the interest of the beloved, loss of the sense of time, power to influence one’s environment with the intensity of one’s feeling, loss of sense of self even in normal consciousness, loss of all fear of death and welcoming it as the means for elemental union with Sri Krishna, supra-normal behavior that looks like ‘Divine Madness’ and so on. The Maha-Bhava is said to have manifested only in Gopikaa and in some divine incarnations like Sri Chaitanya and Sri Ramakrishna.
 
Reference: Bhakti Schools of Vedanta – by Swami Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai.