Bhakti Yoga Sadhana

1. Bhakti is the slender silken thread of Prema or Love that binds the heart of a devotee with the Lotus Feet of the Lord. Bhakti is intense devotion and supreme attachment to God. It is the spontaneous outpouring of love towards God. It is pure, unselfish, Divine Love or Suddha Prema.
Bhakti is sacred, higher emotion with sublime sentiment that unites the devotee with the Lord. It has to be experienced by the Bhaktas.
2. Human love is all hollow. It is mere animal attraction. It is passion. It is carnal love. It is
selfish love. It is ever changing. It is all hypocrisy and mere show. The wife does not care for her
husband when he is in the role of unemployment. She frowns at him. The husband dislikes his wife
when she loses her beauty on account of some chronic diseases. You can find real, lasting love in
God alone. His love knows no change.
3. Bhakti is the basis of religious life. Bhakti destroys Vasanas and egoism. A life without
Bhakti, faith, love and devotion is a dreary waste. Bhakti softens the heart and removes jealousy,
hatred, lust, anger, egoism, pride and arrogance. It infuses joy, Divine ecstasy, Bliss, Peace and
Knowledge. All cares, worries, anxieties, fears, mental torments and tribulations entirely vanish.
The devotee is freed from the Samsaric wheel of births and deaths. He attains the Immortal Abode
of everlasting Peace, Bliss and Knowledge.
4. Sakamya Bhakti is one where the Bhakta worships God for getting riches, son or for
removal of sufferings from diseases. Vyabhicharini Bhakti is one in which the devotee worships or
loves God for some time and then his wife, children and property for some time. To love God and
God alone for ever and ever is Avyabhicharini Bhakti. Prahlada in the advanced stage of devotion
meditated on his own self as Lord Hari. This is Abheda Bhakti.
5. The Bhakta remains in the Loka where Lord Vishnu resides like an inhabitant of a state.
This is Salokya Mukti. In Sameepya Mukti, the Bhakta remains in close proximity with the Lord
like the attendant of a king. In Sarupya Mukti he gets the same form like that of the Lord like the
brother of a king. In Sayujya Mukti, he becomes one with the Lord like salt and water. Thus there
are four kinds of Mukti for the Bhaktas.
6. Out of love the formless Brahman assumes the form of Lord Hari to please His devotees.
God is an embodiment of mercy. The Lord runs after His devotees with food and water in His hands
to the forests. He becomes a slave of His devotees. Lord Vishnu says to Prahlada: “Dear, you are too
tender of age and too delicate of body to stand the terrible tortures inflicted on you by the
hot-headed father. A parallel of his atrocious deed I have never seen before. Pray, therefore, excuse
Me if I was late in coming to your rescue.” Again Lord Krishna says: “I am not in My control. I am
under the complete control of My Bhaktas. They have taken entire possession of My heart. How can
I leave them when they have taken entire possession of My heart? How can I leave them when they
have renounced everything for My sake? He who seeks Me in all things, and all things in Me, to him
I am never lost, nor he to Me.”
7. By following the following nine modes of worship (Navavidha Bhakti), you can develop
Bhakti and attain God-realisation: Sravana (hearing the Lila of God); Kirtana (singing His praise);
Smarana (remembering His Name); Padasevana (worshipping His Lotus Feet); Archana
(offerings); Vandana (prostration); Dasya (service); Sakhya (friendship) and Atmanivedana
(complete self-surrender). Study the Gita, the Ramayana and the Bhagavata. Have Satsanga. Visit
holy places (Teertha-Yatra). Do Japa. Meditate. Sing His Name. You can develop Bhakti and have
His Darsana.
8. Do you really want God? Do you really thirst for His Darsana? Have you got spiritual
hunger? You may deliver thrilling lectures on Bhakti. You may write several volumes on Bhakti,
and yet you may not possess a grain of true devotion. He who thirsts for Darsana of God will
develop Bhakti. If there is sincere demand for God, then the supply will come. By regular, steady
Sadhana may you attain Peace, Bliss, Knowledge, Perfection and God realisation!
9. The Name of God chanted in any way, correctly or incorrectly, knowingly or
unknowingly, carefully or carelessly is sure to give the desired result. The Glory of the Name of
God cannot be established through reasoning and intellect. It can certainly be experienced or
realised only through devotion, faith and constant repetition of the Name. Every Name is filled with
countless potencies or Saktis. The power of the Name is ineffable. Its glory is indescribable. The
efficacy and inherent Sakti of the Name of God is unfathomable.
10. Just as fire has the natural property of burning inflammable things, so also the Name of
God has the power of burning the sins, Samskaras and Vasanas and bestowing Eternal Bliss and
everlasting peace on those who repeat the Name of the Lord. Just as burning quality is natural and
inherent in fire, so also the power of destroying sins with their very root and branch and bringing the
aspirant into blissful union with the Lord through Bhava-Samadhi is natural and inherent in the
Name of God.
11. O man! Take refuge in the Name. Nami and Name are inseparable. Sing the Lord’s
Name incessantly. Remember the Name of the Lord with every incoming and outgoing breath. In
this iron age Namasmarana or Japa is the easiest, quickest, safest and surest way to reach God and to
attain Immortality and Perennial Joy. Glory to the Lord. Glory to His Name. Sing ‘Hari Om,’ ‘Sri
Ram,’ ‘Radheysyam,’ ‘Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare.’
(Sri Swami Sivananda - EASY STEPS TO YOGA)