THE BHAVAS IN BHAKTI YOGA

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

THE BHAVAS IN BHAKTI YOGA
The Yoga of Bhakti or Devotion is much easier than Jnana Yoga or philosophical
meditations. In Bhakti Yoga, the devotee establishes a near and dear relationship with the Lord. He
cultivates slowly any one of the six Bhavas according to his temperament, taste and capacity.
Santa Bhava, Dasya Bhava, Sakhya Bhava, Vatsalya Bhava, Kanta Bhava and Madhurya
Bhava are the six kinds of attributes of devotees or Bhavas towards God. The Bhavas differ in type
and intensity of feeling. The different Bhavas are arranged in order of their intensity. Dhruva and
Prahlada had the feeling of a child to its parents. This is Santa Bhava. In Dasya Bhava, the devotee
behaves like a servant. His Lord is his master. Hanuman is an ideal servant of God. In Sakhya
Bhava, there is a sense of equality. Arjuna and Kuchela had this Bhava. In Vatsalya Bhava, the
devotee looks upon the Lord as his own child. Yasoda had this Bhava for Sri Krishna. Kausalya had
this Bhava for Sri Rama. Kanta Bhava is the love of the wife towards the husband. Sita and Rukmini
had this Bhava. The culmination is reached in Madhurya Bhava. The lover and the Beloved become
one through the intensity of love. Radha and Mira had this type of love.
The last Bhava is the highest culmination of Bhakti. It is merging or absorption in the Lord.
The devotee adores the Lord. He constantly remembers Him. He sings His Name (Kirtana). He
speaks of His glories. He repeats His Name. He chants His Mantra. He prays and prostrates. He
hears His Lilas. He does total, ungrudging, unconditional surrender, obtains His grace, holds
communion with Him and gets absorbed in Him eventually.

In Madhurya Bhava, there is the closest relationship between the devotee and the Lord.
There is no sensuality in Kanta and Madhurya Bhavas. There is no tinge of carnality in them.
Passionate people cannot understand these two Bhavas as their minds are saturated with passion
and lower sexual appetite. Sufistic saints also have the Bhava of lover and the Beloved, Madhurya
Bhava. The Gita Govinda written by Jaya Deva is full of Madhurya Rasa. The language of love
which the mystic uses cannot be comprehended by worldly persons. Only Gopis, Radha, Mira,
Tukaram, Narada, Hafiz and similar other great devotees of the Lord can understand this language.