Glossary

abhidheya: the means to the end; the practice of devotion, and mainly, the stage of sadhana-bhakti.


anarthas: misconceptions, desires for the mundane, offences, and weaknesses of heart.


anartha-nivrtti: the gradual cessation of anarthas and development of nistha.


aprakrta: lit. ‘not mundane’; supramundane, divine, spiritual; something part of, or related to, the highest plane of spiritual existence, the land of Lord Krishna’s Pastimes, which at times resembles the mundane world but is nevertheless ‘not mundane’.


aparadha: offence; an action that is contrary to the rules, principles, or mood of devotion to the Lord; an action that displeases the Lord; substandard worship.


asakti: attachment; natural ruchi for the Lord and His service.


bhajana-kriya: engaging in practices of devotion, such as hearing, chanting, and serving, according to the instructions of Sri Guru and the sadhus.


bhakti: service to the Supreme Lord rendered solely unconditionally, and constantly for His pleasure.


bhava (bhava-bhakti): devotion composed of the Lord’s spiritual energy (the samvit- and hladini-saktis) that resembles a ray of the sun of prema-bhakti and melts the heart with ruchi; the second of the three stages of bhakti, following sadhana-bhakti and preceding prema-bhakti.


guru: lit. ‘heavy’; master, teacher; one who dispels darkness; the form the Supreme Lord assumes to distribute divine knowledge.


krama-patha: the gradual path; the path given by Srila Rupa Goswami in Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (Purva-vibhaga, 4.15–6) for the development of prema-bhakti which contains nine general stages: sraddha, sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya, anartha-nivrtti, nistha, ruchi, asakti, bhava, and finally prema. Krama-patha also in some cases refers to the gradual process by which the Lord reveals Himself sequentially as His nama, rupa, guna, and then lila—His Name, then His form, then His qualities, and finally His Pastimes.


nama: lit. ‘name’; the Name of the Supreme Lord; the personal form of the Lord as His Name, nondifferent from the Lord Himself.


nistha: constant engagement in the service of the Lord free from anarthas.


prakrti: material energy.


prakrta: material, made of or based on material energy.


prayojan: the goal; the highest attainment: Sri Krishna-prema.


prema (prema-bhakti): divine love; extremely intense bhava that completely melts the heart and produces intense feelings of loving possessiveness for the Lord.


raga: intense natural immersion in the object of one’s desire, one’s worshippable master.


raganuga: a practitioner of raganuga-bhakti.


raganuga (raganuga-bhakti): devotion that follows the devotion of the residents of Vraja, whose devotion is based purely on raga.


rasa: the inconceivable, wonderful taste within service to the Lord found in the hearts of pure devotees; rati (sthayi-bhava) brought into the heart by hearing, chanting, and other practices of devotion and nourished by vibhavas, anubhavas, sattvika-bhavas, and vyabhichari-bhavas.


rasika: a devotee in the stage of bhava-bhakti or prema-bhakti who has genuine experience of rasa.


rati: a synonym for bhava and sthayi-bhava.


ruchi: genuine taste for the Lord and His service that arises on the basis of nistha.


Rupa (Sri): Srila Rupa Goswami, the author Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu and the foremost authority on the science of rasa.


sadhaka: practitioner, esp. one engaged in the practice of sadhana-bhakti.


sadhana (sadhana-bhakti): engagement of the senses in devotional practices aimed at uncovering the eternal nature of the soul; the first of the three stages of bhakti, followed by bhava-bhakti and prema-bhakti. (Brs: 1.2.2)


sadhu: one who is adherent to truth, that is, devoted to the Lord and His service.


sadhu-sanga: association with and service to sadhus; taking shelter at the feet of Sri Guru and being initiated and trained by Sri Guru in service to the Lord and all that is dear to Him.


sahajiyaism: imitationism; imitating the behaviour of those who have rati and taste rasa and/or wrongly believe that one has rati and tastes rasa when in fact one does not.


sambandha-jnan: knowledge of the Supreme Lord, His energies, and their relationships; the foundation of the practice of devotion.


siddhanta: proper conclusions and conceptions; the essence of the teachings of the sadhus and scriptures.


sisya: a disciple, one who accepts discipline.


sraddha: faith in revealed truth produced by association with sadhus; faith that by serving Krishna all duties and desires are fulfilled.


sthayi-bhava: foundational rati for Krishna, which has any one of five primary forms: santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, and madhura [adoration, servitude, friendship, affectionate guardianship, and paramour love].


vaidhi: based on the regulations of the scriptures.


vaidhi-bhakti: sadhana-bhakti based on the regulations of the scriptures (rather than on raga).