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Chapter One: Rāgamayī Bhakti and Its Vaishnava Tradition

Uttamā-bhakti, or pure devotion, is of three kinds: devotion in practice, devotion as bhāva, and devotion as prema. Uttamā-bhakti possesses six qualities:

1. it destroys affliction;
2. it bestows every auspiciousness;
3. it makes liberation seem insignificant;
4. it is exceedingly difficult to attain;
5. its distinctive nature is concentrated bliss; and
6. it attracts the Lord.

It destroys affliction. Affliction is threefold: sin, latent desire, and ignorance. Latent desire is the seed of sin, and ignorance is the cause of latent desire. Aversion to God is the root cause of them all.¹ In the company of devotees one turns toward the Lord; all the foregoing causes of affliction are then gradually destroyed. For this reason uttamā-bhakti is said to possess the quality of destroying every sorrow.

It bestows every auspiciousness. Here "auspiciousness" means that the practitioner extends love toward the whole world and the whole world becomes affectionately disposed toward the practitioner; that all good qualities develop; and that the three kinds of happiness arise. These are the pleasure of sense objects, the happiness of divine or sovereign powers—the various siddhis—and the happiness of Brahman, or liberation. All these auspicious things are obtained through uttamā-bhakti.

It makes liberation insignificant. It produces indifference toward dharma, wealth, pleasure, and liberation—including the five liberations of residence in the divine realm, proximity, likeness of form, equal opulence, and union—and removes the mind from them all.

It is exceedingly difficult to attain. Even detached people may practise countless disciplines for a very long time without obtaining this devotion. The Lord himself readily grants kingdoms, spiritual powers, heaven, knowledge, and other attainments, but does not grant his own uttamā-bhakti.

Its distinctive nature is concentrated bliss. Even the bliss of Brahman, multiplied by the number called parārdha, cannot compare with a single atom of this ocean of devotional happiness.

It attracts the Lord. Uttamā-bhakti brings God under the devotee's loving control.

Divisions of devotion in practice

Of the three kinds of uttamā-bhakti named above, the first—devotion in practice—has two divisions: vaidhi and rāgānugā. Where no rāga is present and one begins bhajana solely because scripture commands it, the practice is called vaidhi-bhakti. Rāgānugā has already been defined.

Like rāgātmikā, rāgānugā has two forms: kāmānugā and sambandhānugā. The two forms of rāgātmikā are kāma-rūpā and sambandha-rūpā.