bhagavad-bhakti

Devotional service to the Supreme Lord.

(See also: bhagavad-bhakti, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

bhakti-vaibhava

understanding Krishna’s manifestations by devotional service.

(See also: bhakti-vaibhava, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Bhakti-devi - the goddess of devotion. All potencies of the Lord have personified forms. In Madhurya-kadambini (1.3) Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains that bhakti is the svarupasakti of Bhagavan and that she is yadrccha, which means that bhakti has her own will. Being sva-prakasa, self-manifest, she is not dependent on any other agency in order to manifest in a person’s heart. In the Bhagavatam (1.2.6) it is said: yato bhaktir adhoksaje ahaituky apratihata - "that by which causeless and uninterrupted bhakti for Lord Adhoksaja arises.”

The word ahaituky in this sloka indicates that bhakti has no cause. The only cause of bhakti is bhakti herself. Srila Cakravartipada analyzes the meaning of this statement. He says that bhakti situated in the heart of a bhava-bhakta is the only cause for her manifesting in others. Since Krsna is under the control of His unalloyed bhaktas, He has invested such power in them. Therefore sadhana is not the true cause of bhakti’s appearance.

Bhakti-devi, being self-willed, manifests bhakti in the heart when she is pleased with the bhakta’s unalloyed service attitude. Ultimately this indicates that Bhakti-devi acts through the agency of Krsna’s bhaktas who are situated in the stage of bhava. When they see the sincerity of the sadhaka-bhakta, the bhakti which is one with the very nature of their hearts is transmitted into the hearts of the sadhakas. Other than this, there is no cause for bhakti’s appearance.

(See also: Bhakti-devi, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Navadha-bhakti - nine primary types of bhakti: sravanam, kirtanam, visnu-smaranam, pada-sevanam, arcanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, and atma-nivedanam - hearing, chanting, and remembering the glories of Krsna, serving His lotus feet, worshiping Him, praying to Him, carrying out His orders in the mood of a servant, making friends with Him, and offering one’s very self to Him (see under the individual headings for more information on each of these).

(See also: Navadha-bhakti, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Bhakti-posaka-sukrti - pious activities which foster bhakti. This specifically refers to the association of bhaktas and activities connected to bhakti (see sukrti).

(See also: Bhakti-posaka-sukrti, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Bhakti-lata - the creeper of devotion. Bhakti is likened to a creeper which grows in the bhakta’s heart until it matures and produces the fruit of love for Krsna. The bija, or seed, of this creeper is characterized as krsna-seva-vasana, the desire to serve Sri Krsna.

This desire is sown in the heart of the bhakta by the grace of sri-gurudeva and it manifests externally as sraddha, faith in the conclusions of the sastra. After its intitial inception in the form of the bhakti-lata-bija, the creeper develops through eight successive stages culminating in prema. These stages are sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya, anartha-nivrtti, nistha, ruci, asakti, bhava, and prema. Each of these are separately described in this glossary.

(See also: Bhakti-lata, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga:

Love of God; single-minded devotion to one's Chosen Ideal. Special comment: In Hindu religion, it is believed that incarnations of God have repeatedly visited the earth, and that God can assume different forms. The Chosen Ideal represents the form of God, which is particularly attractive for a given devotee. Bhakti yoga is a yogic system of devotion or unselfish love towards the Supreme Spirit.

(See also: Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Psychic, Psychic Dictionary, Parapsychology, Parapsychology Dictionary)

sadhana-bhakti

Pure devotional service in practice, which purifies the heart and brings one toward spontaneous loving service to the Supreme Lord.

(See also: sadhana-bhakti, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

bhakti-yoga

The spiritual discipline of linking to the Supreme Lord through pure devotional service.

(See also: bhakti-yoga, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

bhakti-rasa

The ecstatic taste of personal reciprocation with the Supreme Lord in pure devotional service.

(See also: bhakti-rasa, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

bhakti-shastras

The scriptures, headed by Srimad-Bhagavatam, that teach one to render pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord.

(See also: bhakti-shastras, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Bhava-bhakti - the initial stage of perfection in devotion. A stage of bhakti in which suddha-sattva, or the essence of Sri Krsna’s internal potency consisting of spiritual knowledge and bliss, is transmitted into the heart of the practicing bhakta from the heart of one of His eternal associates and softens the heart by different kinds of tastes. It is the first sprout of prema, or pure love of God. Bhava-bhakti is the seventh of the eight stages of development of the bhakti-lata, the creeper of devotion.

In Sri Brhad-Bhagavatamrta there are five divisions of bhava accepted amongst bhaktas:

1) jnana-bhakta (e.g. Bharata Maharaja) ,

2) suddha-bhakta (e.g. Ambarisa Mahaaraja) ,

3) prema-bhakta (e.g. Hanuman) ,

4) prema-para-bhakta (e.g. the Pandavas headed by Arjuna) , and

5) prematura-bhakta (atura means ‘very eager for’, or agitated out of prema e.g. the Yadavas headed by Uddhava).

(See also: Bhava-bhakti, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Aropa-siddha-bhakti - endeavors which by nature are not purely constituted of bhakti. The performer of aropa-siddha-bhakti imposes bhakti onto his activities, meaning he is performing an activity that isn’t one of the nine limbs of bhakti (navadha-bhakti) , or that isn’t pure enough to be classified as suddha-bhakti, but he is thinking that his activity is bhakti. Examples of personalities performing aropa-siddha-bhakti are: Harischandra and Maharaja Sibhi.

(See also: Aropa-siddha-bhakti, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Ragamayi bhakti - bhakti which is permeated with raga, or spontaneous affection. Ragamayi bhakti is not within sadhana. It refers to the stage after prema has arisen. In the beginning, there is prema, which then develops into sneha, mana, pranaya, raga, anuraga, bhava and mahabhava.

When prema attains the state of raga it is called ragamayi. It comes after one takes his birth in the womb of a gopi and attains the association of Krsna’s ragatmika-bhaktas. By that association, first prema will come and then it will gradually evolve to the stage of raga and on up to mahabhava. The word trsna used here means ‘thirst’ to drink Krsna, His form (rupa) , taste (rasa) , smell (gandha) , sound (sabda) and touch (sparsa). The word premamayi is a general term that can indicate the stage of prema anywhere in its development from the stage of sneha right up to the stage of mahabhava.

(See also: Ragamayi bhakti, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

raganuga-bhakti

The stage of sadhana-bhakti in which one’s practice of devotional service to Krishna becomes spontaneous and follows in the mood of one of Krishna’s eternal associates in Vraja.

(See also: raganuga-bhakti, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Chaya-bhakty-abhasa - a shadow-like semblance of bhakti. This refers to the activities of neophytes or ignorant people which resemble bhakti, but which do not have the actual characteristics of suddha-bhakti. Because these people engage in activities of bhakti only when associating with real bhaktas, this semblance of bhakti is connected with true bhakti, but it is transient in nature and is therefore compared to a shadow.

(See also: Chaya-bhakty-abhasa, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

bhakti-lata

lit., “the creeper of devotional service.” A term used to liken the stages of a devotee’s growth in devotional service to the growth of a creeper growing upward.

(See also: bhakti-lata, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

bhakti yoga:

path of devotion to god.

(See also: bhakti yoga, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Pratibimba-bhakti-abhasa - a reflective semblance of bhakti. This refers to those who adopt the practices of bhakti with a desire for material enjoyment and especially liberation. Because these people have no faith in Krsna and no desire to please Him, their semblance of bhakti is of the nature of an image which is disconnected from its object, and is therefore compared to a reflection.

(See also: Pratibimba-bhakti-abhasa, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Narada-bhakti Sutra

instructions on the science of devotional service, written by Narada Muni.

(See also: Narada-bhakti Sutra, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

bhakti marga:

the path of devotion

(See also: bhakti marga, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)