Bhakti is love for God. First we learn to love God as He fulfils our desires. We present to Him a daily wish list and when He fulfils some or most of them, our love for Him grows. God is a great fisherman. He knows how to hook and reel the souls in. He first fulfils a few desires, and then when we learn to love Him, He fulfils more desires and our love grows for Him as He is a daily wish fulfiller. Our desires are endless and we increase our love and prayers to Him. We get glimpses of His love, peace and bliss and want them. Then we get hooked and slowly He reels us in with His eternal Love and Bliss. We finally learn to love God for Himself.
As our love for God grows, we call out to God in a special way, we get immersed in the love of God and there is self forgetfulness. This is called Bhava. Bhava establishes the relationship between us and God. Our love for God grows into great love and the bhava becomes mahabhava. Mahabhava is great and intense love for God where we have our being and existence in God. This is Supreme Love for God.
These Bhavas or feelings are natural to human beings and so these are easy to practice. We must practice the Bhava which suits our temperament. The five bhavas are Shanta, Dasya, Sakhya, Vatsalya and Madhurya.
Shanta means peaceful. In Shanta Bhava, the devotee is Shanta or peaceful. He does not jump and dance. He is not highly emotional. His heart is filled with love and joy. Bhishma Maha Pita of Mahabharata was a Shanta Bhakta.
Dasya means the attitude of servant towards the Master. Hanuman was a Dasya Bhakta. He served Lord Rama devotedly. He pleased his Master in all possible ways. He found joy and bliss in the service of his Master.
Sakhya means friend. In Sakhya Bhava, God is a friend of the devotee. The devotee moves with the Lord on equal terms. Arjun had the Sakhya Bhava to Sri Krishna. Arjuna and SriKrishna used to sit, eat, talk and walk together as intimate friends.
Vatsal means a child. In Vatsalya Bhava, the devotee loves God as his child. Yasoda had this Bhava with Lord Krishna. There is no fear in this Bhava, because God is your pet child. The devotee serves, feeds, and looks upon God as a mother does in the case of her child.
Madhura means sweetness. Madhurya Bhava or Kanta Bhava is the highest form of Bhakti. The devotee sees God as his lover. Many devotees had this great love for God. Radha, Meerabai, Andal, Gauranga, Jayadeva - all had this bhava towards God. This is offering of self and soul to God. This is called Atma Samarpana. The bhakta and God maintain a line of separation from each other to enjoy the bliss of conjoining and love but always are one with each other. This love for God is not an earthly relationship as in between man and woman. The earthly conjoining is selfish and full of lust. Each partner is concerned about his own satisfaction. The Divine Love is born out of Sattva or Purity. The Earthy Lust is full of Rajas or Activity and has attachment to bodies. Ego is the governing quality of earthy conjoining but there is a total absence of Ego in the love between bhakta and God in Madhuraya Bhava. Earthly love and Divine love are like darkness and light. Divine love cannot be understood by man living a material life. When a man transforms into the divine, the true love for God begins.
