BHAKTI-YOGA Skt.; the path of love and surrender, one of the four primary yogic paths to union with God. After developing an intense love for the many aspects of God in a personal form —often in the form of some divine incarnation— the ego of the worshiper merges with the chosen ideal, the ishta-deva. Bhakti-Yoga is the natural path to knowledge of God. Here the bhakta has no need to suppress his feelings; rather, one intensifies them and directs them toward God. The majority of believers from the various world-traditions are fundamentally adherents of this path. Bhakti-Yoga distinguishes between five different devotional attitudes, or bhāvas, toward God.
The stages of Bhakti-Yoga are:
- bhakti, veneration;
- bhāva, mature love, an ecstatic state;
- prema, a state in which the devotee completely forgets the world as well as his own body;
- mahābhāva, the supreme manifestation of divine love.
Rādhā, Krishna’s playmate, is considered its embodiment. Only avatāras and īshvarakotis can attain a state beyond bhāva. A competent, fundamental introduction to Bhakti-Yoga is in Vivekananda 1955.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Documents on Bhakti–Yoga
Books on Bhakti–Yoga
External Links: Yoga / Bhakti yoga / Bhagavad Gita / Swami Vivekananda