6 Unique qualities of Bhakti: Bhakti Tattva Viveka

Below I am sharing an excerpt from a seminar on “Bhakti Tattva Viveka” given by HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj. Bhakti Tattva Viveka is actually a small book written by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur in Bengali. It is a commentary on the first chapter of the Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu. This excerpt explains the 3rd chapter of Bhakti Tattva Viveka which explains “the six unique qualities of bhakti” that distinguish it from other processes. This is also there in the Nectar of Devotion. 

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First quality of Bhakti - destruction of suffering. There are three causes of suffering. Sin, seed of desire and ignorance. Most subtle is ignorance which leads to the seed. The seed leads to sin which gives reactions.

Jnana will remove only aprarabha that is previous life times’ suffering. Bhakti destroys karmas of both prarabda (manifested) and aprarabda (unmanifested). Bhakti Vinod Thakur here quotes from Srimad Bhagavatam the sloka which says that even a chandala if he chants the name of the Lord he becomes more than a brahmana. Which means his prarabda karma is destroyed. A jnani will not agree with this. He says that he has to give up the dog eater body only then he can be free of sin.

Seed of sin is desire. Bhakti destroys that desire also. Karma yoga doesn’t destroy your desire. Rather it increases. Most subtle cause is ignorance. Bhakti by itself destroys ignorance. Jnana destroys ignorance so that one can get liberation. But acharyas explain that without some bhakti the jnani also cannot get liberation. In Srimad Bhagavatam there is this famous verse – one may think that he is liberated but if one does not worship the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord he falls down.

If we have avidya (ignorance) then we desire to do activities. We may do sinful or pious activities. By doing sinful activities we get suffering. Pious activities we get enjoyment. From spiritual point of view enjoyment is also considered to be suffering. 

Ultimate origin of suffering goes to ignorance. Bhakti by itself destroys that ignorance. Karma does not do so. It can destroy sins and give you punyas. Jnana can destroy the desires that cause the sin and piety. Bhakti destroys the sin, seed and the ignorance. 

This is the unique quality of bhakti that it destroys suffering. 

Second quality of bhakti is – gives auspiciousness. In Nectar of Devotion it is divided into different categories – affection for all living entities, attractive to all living entities, possessing good qualities and happiness. This is auspiciousness. 

By destroying of our karmas we get bestowal of good qualities. Some people say that karma yoga also gives you good qualities. But the qualities given by bhakti are eternal qualities. Those produced by karma yoga are temporary. Jnani doesn’t strive for qualities at all. He wants no qualities. 

Third quality of bhakti - by its nature it derides liberation. The devotee his goal is never liberation. Desire for liberation is an obstacle, he should reject it. This quality is very prominent on the level of bhava. At the stage of bhava, ahankara is destroyed and the devotee sees the Lord. So he understands that the happiness of bhakti is much greater than the happiness of liberation. 

This is a very distinguishing quality of bhakti because a jnani wants liberation; doesn’t reject it at all. But devotees reject it. 

Fourth quality of bhakti – it is very rare. It is explained in Nectar of Devotion. It is rare in two ways. We can do a lot of bhakti but if we don’t have real attachment to the Lord then we don’t attain real bhakti. Even if we practice with attachment Krishna doesn’t give it immediately.

In other words, we do bhakti and go through different stages like asakti and bhava, then we can see the Lord. In that sense bhakti is rare and bhava bhakti is rare. If we do other processes, we can never get bhava and we can never see the Lord; so it is very very rare for other processes. It is also rare if we don’t do bhakti in the proper way. 

Fifth quality – bhakti produces intense bliss. The reason is bhakti is bliss. Prema consists of hladini and samvit shaktis. Bhakti Vinod Thakur says jiva has no bliss compared to that of bhakti. The happiness of brahman is of no comparison to bhakti. Bliss of brahman is only opposite of material happiness. 

Jiva doesn’t have the hladini shakti; It manifests through bhakti. When we start bhakti and get to bhava then we manifest hladini shakti. Jnani doesn’t do bhakti so no hladini shakti manifests. 

Sixth quality is - bhakti attracts Krishna. Other processes do not attract Krishna. Krishna doesn’t reveal himself to karmi or yogi or jnani. In bhava Krishna reveals himself but in prema he does much more than that. The devotee enjoys the highest rasa in pastimes with Krishna and Krishna also surrenders to the devotee. This is not available at all to karmi, jnani or yogi.