Bhakthi Yoga : The Path of Love

In Bhavas are innumerable, but they have been classified under the following categories
Santa bhava – The relationship of transcendent awe and admiration towards an all- Powerful Being.
Dasya bhava – The attitude of a child towards its parents. (In bhakti yoga God and may be looked upon either as a mascular or a feminine Entity).
Tata bhava – The attitude of a friend towards a friend.
Sakhya bhava – The attitude of a parent towards a child.
Madhura bhava - The attitude of a lover towards his or her beloved.

Any other strong, consistent emotion will lead one to the goal, Darsana, a clear perception of the Ideal, follows the establishment of one of the bhavas. A bhava controls one’s life-current. Sadhana is the systematic practice one follows in order to develop a bhava. It presupposes a constant fighting for some time with obstructing agencies. What are these obstructing agencies? For the most part they are all due to the ego, to a wrong conception of the ego. Bhakti yoga teaches absolute self-abnegation. It leads man’s natural love through steps and stages of self-purification. It is dualistic to start with, but in the end brings the realization of Oneness, by merging the I into the Thou.

When love is purified and well-regulated, the God of Love is revealed as the Ishtam. Love is a psychological phenomenon and by the cultivation of it into the I\highest form, the Divinity is revealed. Love is the bridge which connects you to your higher Self, with the conception of your highest ideal of beauty, power, and perfection. Love is nothing but the recognition of your highest ideal in the object of your affection, thereby establishing a bridge of communication to your higher Self. Purification of love is necessary, for love in the ordinary sense of the world is self-seeking. What are the steps one has to follow in order to reach divine Love? Let us spell it. L-O-V-E. L stands for longing, the longing for the Divine. Without this longing, no progress can ever be made. The letter O means Oneness. What is it the bhakta longs for ? Oneness with the divine Ideal. V stands for vanity, for selfishness, the wrong eg., -consciousness. What thwarts us in realizing this Oneness? Nothing but this. All the rituals, disciplines, and other stages through which a bhakta must go are intended for one purpose only, to eradicate wrong ego-consciousness in the bhakta. E is for ecstasy, which is the culmination of the practices of bhakti yoga. When you use the word “love”, remember what it really means.

Technically, there are three stages through which a bhakta must pass before he attains the realization of the bhava, before the bhava is established and darsana ( seeing the Ishtam) is reached.

These are
Vaidhi bhakti - The word vaidhi is derived from the Sanksrit root vidhi, which means law, injuction, formality. This stage is regulated by many do’s and don’ts – rituals, disciplines, and so on. It is the stage of obedience to regulations.
Raganuga bhakti -This means love following attachment. At this stage love is expressed in the form of demands.
Prema bhakti – This is the state of “not I, but Thou, “ When there is absolute negation of self, and love alone exists. Prema leads to the consummation of bhakti, or bhava samadhi, the goal of bhakti yoga. The rules and regulations of vaidhi bhakti are compared to a fence around a wayside tree. The fence does not contribute to its growth, except in a protective sense. The tree may even feel that it is being hindered. If it could talk the little tree might protest against it. But we must have the fence of disciplines until we sure we do not need it.

The flower first appears on the gourd plant; then it dies, and the fruit develops. The decay of the flower indicates the development of the fruit. The flower must not be injured because of the fruit. Forms and rituals are the flower; love is the fruit. Rituals in bhakti yoga must be followed patiently in order to “fall in love” with God. (But, then, why should we say “fall in love”? we rise in love!) Behind the formalities of our worship, attachment develops. Thent eh attachment becomes the motive-force. Vaidhi matures into love-following attachment, or raganuga bhakti. So forms and formalities become secondary. It is one’s own sense of adoration that prompts formalities at this time. Before, it was forms that guided the activity. Read Previous   Read Next