Bhakti is the only means of attaining the bliss of Bhagavan Sri Krishna, and varies in intensity from the joy of peace to divine ecstasy. Bhakti, as the logic of the heart, arises from and arouses the bliss potency of Bhagavan Sri Krishna, and it consists of love for love’s sake, and does not seek any boon. Priti or love gradually develops into a longing and has five stages. Krishna-prema is divinely rooted in sukha prema, bhakti melts the heart and makes it glow; in pranaya stage, it becomes invasive; it heightens in mana; bhakti then compels it to yield and at the raga stage, even pain is joyful.
The philosophy of bhakti, according to Chaitanya, is
explanation of the spiritual bhavas or moods (Krishna prema) in ascending order
of intimacy culminating in madhurabhava. A bhakta does not reason the existence
of God, but feels him to be the very essence of life. Bhakti pre-supposes the
renunciation of ahamkara. Ascetic self-repression has no value for the bhakta
as he treats the body as the very temple of God.
When the bhakta realizes God, bhakti blossoms like the lotus
at the dawn of sunlight. Bhakti is said to be nine-fold. It is listening to the
glory and goodness of God as Parikshit did; singing the songs of divine love
like Narada; the loving reverence of God’s love like Prahlada’s; devotion to
God and godly men like that of Akrura; service like that of Hanuman, faith in
God’s fellowship like that of Arjuna; and self-surrender like that of Bali.
Bhakti has its origins in devotion of God. Right from Vedas,
the hymns are sung in praise of gods in different forms like fire, wind, etc.
The hymns do not contain much philosophy. However, it is here that we find
intense philosophical questions of cosmological character.