Text 177
sādhana-bhakti haite haya ‘rati’ra udaya
rati gāḍha haile tāra ‘prema’ nāma kaya
sādhana-bhakti — the process of regularly rendering devotional service; haite — from; haya — there is; ratira — of attachment; udaya — the awakening; rati — such attachment; gāḍha haile — becoming thick; tāra — of this; prema — love of Godhead; nāma — the name; kaya — is said.
“By regularly rendering devotional service, one gradually becomes attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When that attachment is intensified, it becomes love of Godhead.
The Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.2) gives the following information about sādhana-bhakti:
kṛti-sādhyā bhavet sādhya- bhāvā sā sādhanābhidhā
nitya-siddhasya bhāvasya prākaṭyaṁ hṛdi sādhyatā
The process of devotional service — beginning with chanting and hearing — is called sādhana-bhakti. This includes the regulative principles that are intended to awaken one to devotional service. Devotional service is always dormant in everyone’s heart, and by the offenseless chanting of the holy names of the Lord, one’s original dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness is awakened. This awakening to Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the beginning of sādhana-bhakti. This can be divided into many different parts, including faith, association with devotees, initiation by the spiritual master, engagement in devotional service under the instructions of a spiritual master, steadiness in devotional service and the awakening of a taste for devotional service. In this way, one can become attached to Kṛṣṇa and His service, and when this attachment is intensified, it results in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. The word rati is explained in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.3.41) as follows:
vyaktaṁ masṛṇatevāntar- lakṣyate rati-lakṣaṇam
mumukṣu-prabhṛtīnāṁ ced bhaved eṣā ratir na hi
“When a tenderness of the heart is manifested, there is rati, or attachment. But those who are interested in being liberated from material bondage will not manifest this tenderness.” This attachment is not like material attachment. When one is free of material contamination, attachment for Kṛṣṇa’s service awakens and is called rati. In the material world there is attachment for material enjoyment, but this is not rati. Transcendental rati can be awakened only on the spiritual platform. Ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa (prema) is described in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.41) as follows:
samyaṅ masṛṇita-svānto mamatvātiśayāṅkitaḥ
bhāvaḥ sa eva sāndrātmā budhaiḥ premā nigadyate
“When the heart is completely softened and devoid of all material desires and when one’s emotional feelings become very strong, one becomes very much attached to Kṛṣṇa. Such purified emotion is known as pure love.”