[Advaita-l] Stages of bakthi

[Kaushik Chevendra]

Shri Madhusudhana saraswati states the three stages of bakthi -

Among them the first one is mild, as in, "Even when difference vanishes, O
Lord, I am Yours, and not You mine..For, the wave belongs to the sea, never
the sea to the wave".

The second is medium, as in, "O Krsna, how strange it is that You are going
away forcibly flinging aside my ams! I shall consider it manly if You can
go away from (my) heart!" (K. K., 3.96.)

The third is intense, as in," Those who, with regard to the infinite One
who has entered the heart, have the firm conviction.All this and myself are
Vasudeva; that supreme Person, the supreme Lord, is one, go away leaving
them at a distance ".(V. P., 3.7.32)

Namo narayanaya