Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 24.30
Bhakti Includes Practice and Ecstatic Love
“There are ten meanings for the word ‘bhakti’ [‘devotional service’]. One is sādhana-bhakti, execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles, and the other nine are varieties of prema-bhakti, ecstatic love of Godhead.
What the purport teaches
- Bhakti has ten meanings: one is sādhana-bhakti, and the other nine are varieties of prema-bhakti.
- Sādhana-bhakti means executing devotional service according to regulative principles.
- The nine varieties of prema-bhakti are rati, prema, sneha, māna, praṇaya, rāga, anurāga, bhāva and mahābhāva. Their meanings extend from attraction and love to ecstatic love and sublime ecstatic love.
Try this today
Write the two headings sādhana-bhakti and prema-bhakti, and place their definitions beneath them.
Ask yourself
How does this distinction help me understand devotional practice and ecstatic love?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.