bhakti | भक्ति
Bhakti (Devanagari: भक्ति ISO15919: bhakti) means devotion. The very meaning of the word bhakti is "to serve". The word is derived from the root word, bhaj sevayam.
Bhakti is mainly of three kinds:
- sakama bhakti - This is devotion inspired with the desire to attain all material pleasures. It is called rajasi or tamasic bhakti.
- kaivalya kama bhakti or satvic bhakti – desire for union, and
- nirguna bhakti – this bhakti is pure and acceptable. This is also called siddha bhakti.
The means to attain nirguna bhakti is to perform raganuga bhakti.
Bhakti is classified in three more ways:
- aropa siddha bhakti - devotion with some material desire in mind,
- sanga siddha bhakti - When karma or jnana is performed and bhakti is considered to be a part of it.
- svarupa siddha bhakti - selfless devotion accompanied only by the desire to serve Shri Radha Krishna.
Jiva needs to do preliminary devotion called sadhana bhakti in order to attain perfect devotion called Siddha bhakti.
Bhakti of Bhagavan-shri Krishna can be done with one of the four bhava.
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