Madhurya Bhakti

Madhurya Bhakti is the most exalted form of devotion. In Vedas, Madhurya bhakti is depicted as the only way to attain the ultimate goal of the souls. This Madhurya Bhakti is done to the Supreme Lord Radha-Krishna.

Types of Bhakti

Types of Bhakti	Example
Shanta(still) Bhav	All yogis
Dasya(servant) Bhav	Hanuman Laxman Angad
Sakhya(friend) Bhav	Sudama Madhumangal Arjuna Uddhava Vibhishan
Vatsalya(parent) Bhav	Nandbaba Yashoda Devaki Vasudev Kaushalya Dasarath
Madhurya(lover) Bhav	Types of Madhurya Bhakti Example Sadharan Rati Kubja Samanjasa Rati Rukmini Satyabhama Kalindi Jambavati Bhadra Samartha Rati Radha Lalita Vishakha Chitra Champaklata Sudevi Rangdevi Tungavidya Indulekha

Radha

In some puranas, it is depicted that Radha has taken the male form, i.e., Krishna, to give the ultimate bliss to the souls. And in some puranas, Radha is said to be the Hladini Shakti of Lord Krishna. Also, in some puranas, it is said that, Like Krishna is the soul of soul(we) and Radha is soul of Krishna.

Our bodies' souls are we → our soul is Krishna → Krishna's soul is Radha

Krishna→ soul's soul
Radha→soul's soul's soul

Krishna is the embodiment of happiness and Radha is the embodiment of grace. She is also the essence of happiness.

Without worshiping Radha, one cannot attain the most exalted form of Madhurya Bhakti, i.e., Samartha Rati.

Krishna

Krishna is the Supreme Lord. There is no difference between Radha and Krishna. Krishna is the male form of Radha and Radha is the female form of Krishna. Krishna has infinite numbers of powers and among these powers Jeev Shakti, Maya Shakti and Yog-Maya Shakti are the major ones.

• Souls are fractions of this Jeev Shakti.
• Whatever we perceive, our body, mind, and intellect, cosmic universe, heaven, hell and Bramha-Loka [Bramha is the creator of this cosmic universe and his abode is known as Bramha-loka] belong to Maya Shakti.
• Yog-Maya Shakti is God's own power which is the governor of all other Shaktis and this Shakti is under control of the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna.
• There is one more Shakti called Hladini Shakti which gives pleasure to Lord Krishna and the Supreme Lord himself is under control of this Shakti. Radha is the essence and personification of this Hladini Shakti.

Eternal Potency

The Supreme Lord has 3 kinds of eternal potency, i.e., Sandhini, Samvit, Hladini.

Sandhini Shakti

• It is the existential potency of the Supreme Lord.

Samvit Shakti

• It is the cognitive potency of the Supreme Lord.

Hladini Shakti

• It is the pleasure potency of the Supreme Lord.

Forms of Supreme Lord

Again Supreme Lord has 3 forms, i.e., Sat, Chit and Anand.

Sat Brahmhan

• Sat Brahmhan is subset of Chit Brahmhan.
• Sat Brahmhan is formless and Nirguna(without attributes).
• Sandhini Shakti is substance of Sat Brahmhan.
• Sandhini Shakti maintains the existence of Sat Brahmhan.
• Samvit Shakti helps the Sat Brahmhan to have full knowledge of his existence.
• Hladini Shakti maintains the pleasure potency of Sat Brahmhan.
• Yogis worship this Brahmhan.

Chit Brahmhan

• Chit Brahmhan is subset of Anand Brahmhan.
• Samvit Shakti is substance of Chit Brahmhan.
• Chit Brahmhan is formed and his formed figure is called Mahavishnu.
• The other Purushas(men) namely, Karanodakashayi Visnu, Garbhodakashayi Visnu and Kshirodakashayi Visnu have got manifested from him.
• Karanodakashayi Vishnu[Shesh-Naag], first person, is pervaded in the whole infinite cosmic and divine universe.
• Garbhodakashayi Vishnu[Pradyumna], second person, is pervaded in each and every individual infinite cosmic and divine universe.
• Kshirodakashayi Visnu[Aniruddha], third person, is supersoul of all individual living entities including demigods.
• Mahavishnu's abode is called Vaikunth.
• Mahavishnu is the noter of soul's deeds and giver of the fruits of the deeds.
• Sandhini Shakti maintains the existence of Chit Brahmhan, his abode and manifests the required powers.
• Samvit Shakti helps the Chit Brahmhan to have full knowledge of everything everywhere.
• Hladini Shakti maintains the pleasure potency, hence, though being pervaded in the whole universe and observing all individual living entities including demigods, the Chit Brahmhan always remains delightful.
• Jnanis worship this Brahmhan.

Anand Brahmhan

• Anand Brahmhan is superset of Chit and Sat Brahmhan.
• Hladini shakti is substance of this Brahmhan.
• Anand means eternal happiness, pleasure, savor, etc.
• It is formed and its formed figure is called Lord Shri Krishna.
• During Mahapralay[universal dissolution] Sat, Chit Brahmhans get dissolved in Anand Brahmhan.
• Sandhini Shakti maintains the existence of Anand Brahmhan, his abode and pastimes.
• Samvit Shakti helps him to have full knowledge of everything everywhere including the knowledge of his own existence and his infinite powers.
• Hladini Shakti is the pleasure potency of Lord Krishna and the essence of Hladini Shakti is Shri Radha.
• Lord Krishna and Radha's abode is called Golok.
• Rasik saints worship both Radha-Krishna, only Krishna or only Radha.

Avatar

• Lord Radha-Krishna who took birth in Brij-dham in this Subahu Dwapar Yug of current Vaivasatva Manvantar are the absolute avatar of the owner of Golok.
• All the other avatars of the Supreme Lord except Rama-Sita [of this Treta Yug of current Vaivasatva Manvantar] are not the absolute avatars.
• As Shri Ram-Sita are the absolute avatar of the Supreme-lord, they also can give savor of happiness like dasya bhakti, sakhya bhakti and vatsalya bhakti to the souls. They cannot give madhurya bhakti to the souls.
• There is no difference between the Supreme Lord and his all avatars however the manifestation of his powers vary from avatar to avatar.
• Each avatar except the partial avatars of Lord Radha-Krishna which happen in other Dwapar Yugs has its own abode.

Example

• Rama-Sita's abode is called Saket-loka.
• Shiv-Parvati's abode is called Shiv-loka.

Soul

Souls are the fractions of God's Jeev Shakti. Souls are feminine and giver of ultimate bliss is Lord Krishna. Therefore, with a female body only the most exalted form of ultimate bliss, i.e., madhurya prem(love), can be achieved. Hence, Lord Shiva took a female body named by Gopeswar and managed entry to the Maharaas. Like Shiva , Arjuna also took a female body named by Arjuni Gopi and got entry to the Raasleela.

Souls make the body potential. Souls have 3 kinds of body, they are, Sthula[Physical] Sharir[body], Sukshma[subtle] Sharir, Kaaran[causal] sharir. All these 3 kinds of body are elements of Maya.

• Sthula Sharir is our tangible body which is made up of 5 Tattvas[elements]; sky, air, water, fire, earth.
• Sukshma Sharir is our intangible body which we often realize in our dreams. This is made up of 3 gunas[characters]; Sattva, Rajo, Tamo, and 5 doshas[flaws]; Kaam[lust], Krodh[anger], Lobh[greed], Moh[endearment], Ahankaar[ego]. Our conscious mind and intellect belong to Sukshma Sharir.
• Kaaran Sharir is the repository of our alms-deed and sins. Our subconscious mind and conscience belong to Kaaran Sharir.

As souls are fractions of Jeev shakti, which is a high-class chaitanya[conscious] shakti of God, it also have the three eternal potencies, i.e., Sandhini, Samvit and Hladini.

• Sandhini Shakti maintains the existence of souls, i.e., its eternity and its Chaitanyata[consciousness].
• Samvit Shakti helps the soul to have knowledge albeit little. Atma-jnanis [self-realized sages] get this knowledge.
• Hladini Shakti is the pleasure potency of souls albeit little. Atma-jnanis [self-realized sages] feel this pleasure.

Details of Bhakti

Madhurya Bhakti means loving devotion. It incorporates Dasya Bhav, Sakhya Bhav, Vatsalya Bhav and love emotions. Bhav means emotions.

Shanta Bhav

As Shanta means still, generally the devotees fall under this category do not participate in the pastimes of Lord Radha-Krishna or Sita-Rama yet their heart is full of devotion. Watching a sweet without touching, smelling and eating it example suits Shanta devotees best. Hence, Rasik Saints have excepted it from the category of Bhakti.

Dasya Bhav

In Dasya Bhav, the relation between god and the devotee is called master-servant relationship. The only duty of the devotees fall under this category is to please the Lord and obey his orders. They don't get the privilege of advising the Lord. The privacy level of this relationship is much less than that of the other Bhavs. Examples, Hanuman, Bharat, Laxman, Shatrughna, Angad, Vidura, etc.

Sakhya Bhav

In Sakhya Bhav, devotees treat the Lord as their friend and they get the privilege of advising the Lord. They can quarrel with god just like the way worldly friends quarrel with each other. This Bhav incorporates Dasya Bhav and Sakhya Bhav itself. The privacy level of this relationship is greater than that of Dasya Bhav. Examples, Arjuna, Uddhava, Sugriv, Vibhishan, Madhumangal, Sudama, Sridama, Dhansukh, Mansukh, etc

Vatsalya Bhav

In Vatsalya Bhav, the relation between god and the devotee is called child-parent relationship. This Bhav incorporates Dasya Bhav, Sakhya Bhav and Vatsalya Bhav itself, and the privacy level is greater than that of Sakhya Bhav. Examples, Dasarath, Kaushalya, Kaikeyi, Sumitra, Vasudeva, Devaki, Nandbaba, Yashoda, Janak, Vrishabhanu, Kirti, etc.

Madhurya Bhav

In Madhurya Bhav, the relation between the devotee and god is called lover-beloved relationship.This Bhav incorporates Dasya Bhav, Sakhya Bhav, Vatsalya Bhav and Madhurya Bhav itself, and the privacy level is greater than that of Vatsalya Bhav. Examples, all gopis, all the 16108 queens of Lord Krishna, Kubja, etc.

Stages of Bhakti

Stages of Bhakti
Sadhana
Bhav
Prema
Sneha
Maan
Pranaya
Raag
Anuraag
Bhavavesh
Mahabhav

Details of stages of Bhakti

Before jumping into the details of stages of Bhakti we should have some knowledge about Maya, so that it will be easier to understand the stages of Bhakti more correctly.

Types of Maya	Example
Avidya(ignorance)	Rajo Guna Tamo Guna
Vidya(knowledge)	Sattva Guna

Sadhna Bhakti

In this stage, the seeker constantly detaches his/her mind from worldly pleasures and tries to attach his/her mind to God. At the end of Sadhna Bhakti, Avidya Maya gets eliminated and the seeker goes to Bhav Bhakti stage.

Bhav Bhakti

In this stage, the seeker's mind is completely attached to God but some impurities still exists. God's own power called Swarup Shakti starts moving around the souls of this stage and protects them. At the end of Bhav Bhakti, Vidya Maya gets eliminated and the seeker goes to Prema Bhakti stage.

Prema Bhakti

In this stage, the seeker has attained God-realization and the Swarup Shakti enters into the body of the soul making it divine. Upto this stage the soul has to stay in this material world. At the end of Prema Bhakti, the soul gets promoted to the next Sneha Bhakti stage and leaves this material world and goes to Golok, the divine abode of Radha-Krishna.

Sneha Bhakti

When the Prema bhakti reaches to the state of excellence it's called as Sneha bhakti. In this stage, the unquenchable thirst for seeing the Lord starts en-kindling the heart of the soul.

Maan Bhakti

When the soul relishes the sweetness in the loveliness of Lord Krishna which she had not relished or perceived hitherto, an outward demeanor of apparent indignation arises out of love-jealousy, it is called Maan bhakti.

Pranaya Bhakti

When all manner of shyness and hesitation is completely removed and the soul perceives no distinction between her body, mind, intelligence and those of her beloved Lord Krishna, it is called Pranaya Bhakti.

Classification of Types of Bhakti

Symbols

1. • indicates that; completes
2. † indicates that; reaches and stops , i.e., doesn't complete

Table of classification of types of Bhakti

types→ stages↓	Dasya	Sakhya	Vatsalya	Sadharana Rati (Madhurya)	Samanjasa Rati (Madhurya)	Samartha Rati (Madhurya)
Sadhana	•	•	•	•	•	•
Bhav	•	•	•	•	•	•
Prema	•	•	•	•	•	•
Sneha	•	•	•		•	•
Maan	•	•	•		•	•
Pranaya		•	•		•	•
Raag		†	•		•	•
Anuraag			†		•	•
Bhavavesh						•
Mahabhav						•

Types of Bhakta(devotee)

Types of Bhakta	Dasya	Sakhya	Vatsalya	Sadharan-Rati Madhurya	Samanjasa-Rati Madhurya	Samartha-Rati Madhurya
Nitya Siddha	Hanuman, Laxman, Bharat, Shatrughna, etc	Arjuna, Uddhav, Madhumangal, etc	Yashoda, Nandababa, etc	Draupadi	Rukmini, Kalindi, etc	Lalita, Vishakha, Chitra, Tungavidya, Roop Manjari, Rasa Manjari, etc
Sadhan Siddha	Tulsi Das, Valmiki, etc	Sudama, etc		Kubja	Satyabhama, Meera, etc	all gopis excluding the Nitya Siddhas

Nitya Siddha

Nitya means eternal. Hence, Nitya Siddhas are always being god-realized i.e., they've not practiced any kind of Sadhana to attain God-realization.

Types of Nitya Siddha	Meaning	Example
Swansh	their body is their soul and they are the governer of Swarup Shakti	Rukmini, Lalita, Hanuman, etc.
Vibhinash	they have separate body(divine) and soul, and Swarup Shakti governs them	Sanakadik Rishis, Arjuna etc

• Swansh Nitya Siddhas are also called God as they are none other than the Supreme Lord himself and are reincarnated for certain purposes. They also possess all the powers of the Supreme Lord but the powers required for the purpose of their reincarnation, are manifested in them. Examples, Shiva, Ganesha, Parvati, Lakshmi, Bramha, Vishnu, Hanuman, etc.

Sadhana Siddha

Souls are fractions of God's Jeev Shakti and they are also Vibhinansh. Vibhinash means, those who have a separate body and soul.After attaining God-realization soul becomes Sadhana(Practice) Siddha(Saint) Bhakta. Then it leaves the worldly body and gets a divine one with the help of Swarup Shakti.

Stages of Mahabhav Bhakti

Names → Stages of Mahabhav Bhakti ↓	Radha	Krishna	8 MahaSakhis	souls
Maadan	Yes	No	No	No
Mohan	No	Yes	No	No
Modan	No	No	Yes	Possible with the grace of 8 Mahasakhis

Types of Gopi

Types of Gopi	Example
Sakhi	Lalita, Vishakha, Chitra, Chandravali, etc.
Manjari	Roop Manjari, Lila Manjari, Rati Manjari, etc.

• Followers of 8 Maha-Sakhis are called Sakhis.
• Followers of 8 Manjaris are called Manjaris.

Types of Sakhi/ Manjari	Example
Follower of Sri Radha	8 Mahasakhis 8 Manjaris followers of 8 MahaSakhis followers of 8 Manjaris
Follower of Chandravali	Saibya, Padma, Bhadra, Vicitra, Gopali, Palika, Candrasalika, Mangala, Vimala, Lila, Taralaksi, Manorama, Kandarpa-manjari, Manjubhasini, Khanjaneksana, Kumuda, Kairavi, Sari, Saradaksi, Visarada, Sankari, Kunkuma, Krsna, Sarangi, Indravali, Siva, Taravali, etc.

Chandravali

She is Lord Radha's eternal rival, although she is none other than Radha's own Yogmaya Shakti herself. For the purpose of lila(pastime) to give pleasure to her beloved Krishna, Radha dissembles in various way.

8 Maha-Sakhis

1. Lalita
2. Vishakha
3. Chitra
4. Tungavidya
5. Champaklata
6. Sudevi
7. Rangadevi
8. Indulekha

8 Manjaris

1. Roop Manjari
2. Lila Manjari
3. Rati Manjari
4. Lavanga Manjari
5. Rasa Manjari
6. Guna Manjari
7. Vilasa Manjari
8. Kausturi Manjari