Bhāva-bhakti is the first seed of love of Godhead. By such purified goodness, one’s heart melts in devotional service. Bhāva-bhakti is the platform of purified goodness. As a result of such attachment, bhāva develops. In this way one becomes attached to a particular mellow in the Lord’s service - śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya or madhura. The more the taste grows, the more one desires to render service to the Lord.
In this way one becomes firmly fixed and gradually develops a taste for devotional service. After initiation, when one follows the regulative principles of devotional service, one becomes freed from all unwanted things. Above that, there is association with devotees, and after that there is initiation by a bona fide spiritual master. The basic principle for the execution of devotional service is faith. Sādhana-bhakti refers to the development of devotional service through the regulative principles. Thus devotional life is divided into two stages - sādhana-bhakti and bhāva-bhakti. This love of Godhead is actually life’s highest perfection and the reservoir of all pleasure. When rati intensifies, it is called love of Godhead. This position is called prīti or rati (affection) or bhāva (emotion). When this attachment intensifies, the seed of love of Kṛṣṇa fructifies. When firm faith develops, a taste arises, and by that taste one becomes attached to devotional service. When one is freed from all material contamination, his firm faith in devotional service awakens. If one actually develops the devotional attitude, he must be freed from the material contamination of illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating. This is the test of development in devotional service. Liberation from material contamination is called anartha-nivṛtti, indicating a diminishing of all unwanted things. The more one is interested in hearing and chanting, the more he is purified of material contamination. As a result of this association, he becomes more and more interested in discharging devotional service and hearing and chanting. At that point, a person wants to associate with devotees. Eventually he becomes interested in pure devotional service without material contamination. A person becomes interested in devotional service by some good fortune. Srila Prabhupada quotes Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura who summarizes this growth of love of Godhead as a gradual process. Such love is life’s ultimate goal and the reservoir of all pleasure. When firm faith in devotional service awakens, a taste for hearing and chanting also awakens.ĬC Madhya 23.12: “After taste is awakened, a deep attachment arises, and from that attachment the seed of love for Kṛṣṇa grows in the heart.ĬC Madhya 23.13: “When that ecstatic emotional stage intensifies, it is called love of Godhead.
Q: What is the process to achieve the ultimate goal of life – love of God ? Explain each step in this process.ĬC Madhya 23.9: “If, by good fortune, a living entity develops faith in Kṛṣṇa, he begins to associate with devotees.ĬC Madhya 23.10: “When one is encouraged in devotional service by the association of devotees, one becomes free from all unwanted contamination by following the regulative principles and chanting and hearing.ĬC Madhya 23.11: “When one is freed from all unwanted contamination, he advances with firm faith.
They are visible in a person in whose heart the seed of love of God has begun to fructify.’ĬC Madhya 23.20: “If love for Kṛṣṇa in a seedling state has fructified in one’s heart, one is not agitated by material things. These are all called anubhāva, subordinate signs of ecstatic emotion. affection for those places where the Lord resides - that is, a temple or a holy place like Vṛndāvana. attachment to descriptions of the transcendental qualities of the Lord, and 9. a taste for chanting the holy name of the Lord,Ĩ. concern that time should not be wasted,ħ. Q: What are nine symptoms manifest in one’s behavior when seed of ecstatic emotion for Kṛṣṇa fructifies in ones heart ?ĬC Madhya 23.18-19: “‘When the seed of ecstatic emotion for Kṛṣṇa fructifies, the following nine symptoms manifest in one’s behavior:Ģ.