Chapter One: Rāgamayī Bhakti and Its Vaishnava Tradition
The Nārada Pañcarātra expresses the same truth:
Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṃ tat-paratvena nirmalam /
hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṃ bhaktir ucyate //
"Service to the Lord of the senses, performed through the senses when they are freed from every limiting designation, purified, and directed solely toward him, is called devotion."
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavata describes uttamā-bhakti as follows:
Mad-guṇa-śruti-mātreṇa mayi sarva-guhāśaye /
mano-gatir avicchinnā yathā gaṅgāmbhaso 'mbudhau //
lakṣaṇaṃ bhakti-yogasya nirguṇasya hy udāhṛtam /
ahaituky avyavahitā yā bhaktiḥ puruṣottame //
sālokya-sārṣṭi-sāmīpya-sārūpyaikatvam apy uta /
dīyamānaṃ na gṛhṇanti vinā mat-sevanaṃ janāḥ //
sa eva bhakti-yogākhya ātyantika udāhṛtaḥ /
yenātivrajya tri-guṇaṃ mad-bhāvāyopapadyate //
Just as the Ganges flows without interruption toward the ocean, merely hearing the Lord's qualities causes the movement of the mind to proceed toward him—who dwells in every heart—in an unbroken stream like flowing oil. Causeless and undivided love for the Supreme Person is said to be the characteristic of nirguṇa bhakti-yoga. Even when offered residence in the Lord's realm, equal opulence, proximity, likeness of form, or complete union, such desireless devotees accept none of them without service to him. This bhakti-yoga, which rejects even liberation for the sake of divine service, is declared the ultimate human end and goal. Through it, a person crosses the three guṇas and attains the Lord's own state—the supramundane form constituted of love for God.
Two coverings obstruct this devotion: (1) extraneous desire, and (2) admixture with knowledge, ritual action, yoga, and the like. Extraneous desire includes both the wish for enjoyment and the wish for liberation. A true devotee regards both worldly enjoyment and liberation as contemptible and abandons them.
Knowledge, action, and yoga may also be coverings. Here "knowledge" means knowledge of absolute identity; it does not mean the understanding that the Lord alone is to be worshipped. "Action" means the obligatory and occasional rites taught in the legal scriptures; it does not mean action performed as service to God. Knowledge through which the Lord's nature and the mystery of bhajana are understood, action through which the Lord is served, and meditation or yoga through which the mind becomes absorbed in his qualities and līlās do not obstruct devotion. They assist it.