Love does not appear all at once—it matures through trust, relationship, practice, and lived experience. In this episode, we explore the nine stages of Bhakti yoga as a reliable, time-tested path that carries the soul from its first spark of faith to the full flowering of divine love. Drawing from Bhakti wisdom texts and realized teachers, this teaching reveals Bhakti not as blind belief, but as a replicable science of love; one that gently reshapes the heart, restores meaning, and leads us home to a living relationship with the Sweet Absolute.
Kirtan – The Joyful Sound of the Soul
From Faith to Divine Love: The Nine Stages of Bhakti Yoga
Love doesn’t arrive all at once—it unfolds like dawn. In this episode, we trace the nine stages of Bhakti yoga that lead the soul from its first spark of trust to the radiant sunrise of divine love. The maturation of divine love moves from an initial trust to the ecstatic bliss of prema.
AC. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains that the passage through these stages is a science and can be replicated by anyone. We know that if one performs an experiment in a lab exactly as outlined by a scientist, one will obtain the same result as others. Just as modern psychology maps out predictable stages of emotional growth, Bhakti offers a map of spiritual maturation—an inner journey grounded in lived experience, not blind belief —because it is grounded in science.
Lived experience is realized knowledge. And realized knowledge makes seers, or those who see reality as it is. For this reason, anyone can transport themselves to the land of love by developing pure love for the Sweet Absolute simply by following the practices of Bhakti. Achieving the exalted goal of Bhakti is not a mysterious, magical process, nor is it accomplished by trial and error or erratic attempts. There is a step-by-step, gradual progression that many others have followed throughout history. Knowledge of this science shines a light that helps us orient ourselves on our own journey. In other words, we don’t have to journey in darkness. Just as a hypothesis for a scientist becomes fact by first-hand experience, the promise of Bhakti becomes realized by the personal experience of those who take up the Bhakti experiment.
The systematic steps have been carefully laid out by the Bhakti Vedanta texts, seers, and great souls who came before us and testify to the trustworthiness of the process. Let’s look at the progressive stages of Bhakti from an initial bud of interest to the beautiful blossom of divine love.
First, Bhakti is passed from one heart to another. Her mercy comes to us when we come into contact with a genuine Bhakta, or practitioner. When we hear about Bhakti from a knowledgeable, realized Bhakta, we can develop some trust in the reasonableness and promises of Bhakti.
The 9 stages of spiritual development are:
- Preliminary Trust/Faith
- Association with Bhaktas
- Engaging in a Practice
- Removing False Values from the Heart
- Becoming Fixed in Devotion
- Developing a Taste for the Practices
- Developing Attachment for the Supreme Person
- Deepening Feelings for Bhagavan
- Divine Love for Bhagavan
When this trust or faith begins, we arrive at the first stage of Bhakti.
Trust as the First Step on the Bhakti Path
Trust – Adau Sraddha
Trust is the beginning stage of Bhakti. In Sanskrit, this stage is called Adau Sraddha, literally “at the beginning trust.”
To take up any activity – material or spiritual – we need a degree of trust. But trust, or faith, in Bhakti isn’t ordinary. Sraddha is an element of Bhakti, and Bhakti, as we know, is a pure spiritual energy that descends from the spiritual plane of existence. Therefore, trust in the spiritual truth of Bhakti is spiritual. And it’s this spiritual energy that empowers our forward progress in ways that ordinary trust, faith, or material activities cannot.
Sraddha is the seed of the Bhakti creeper; our delicate, flowering creeper must be planted in our heart and cultivated with care throughout our Bhakti pilgrimage.
To begin a spiritual life in earnest, we have to engage in a genuine practice. Before we take up a practice, we need to see its value. Is the goal one I aspire to? When we are clear on this, then we need to trust the methodology presented. This trust, or sraddha, develops by hearing about Bhakti. When we listen with curiosity and an open mind, we become somewhat convinced by the logic and reasoning of Bhakti. Then it is fortified when we experience the truth of what we have heard.
This further develops into a desire to know and understand more, which takes us to the second developmental stage of Bhakti.
The Importance of Spiritual Association in Bhakti Yoga
Association with the Devoted – Sadhu Sanga
The culture of divine love is a personal, delicate matter, and it can be harmed if others step on the early sprout growing in the heart. It can also be stunted in its growth if we are too close to those opposed to Bhakti. Therefore, we need to keep company with like-minded seekers. This is known as Sadhu Sanga in Sanskrit. Sadhu means “a saintly person,” and Sanga means “association.”
As our interest, understanding, and experiences increase, we desire the company of people devoted to and knowledgeable about Bhakti. They are also essential guides who teach us Bhakti philosophy and, through their own behavior, demonstrate how to holistically integrate our spiritual lives with our ordinary lives. Devotees show us how to see the world through a devotional lens and act with integrity and detachment in accordance with the laws of nature, as described in the Bhagavad Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam. In this way, they avoid incurring karma, and by following their example, so can we.
Associating with devotees is an important aspect of Bhakti at all stages of our development. The devotees’ company and guidance are the root of our Bhakti creeper and remain so at all times, even in perfection. There is a statement that even a single moment’s association with a pure devotee can grant one all success. This is how important association with sadhus is in Bhakti.
And since our spiritual pursuit runs counter to prevailing misconceptions and ancient patterns, we need guidance. As we hear from and keep company with devotees, we will find that one Bhakta’s guidance stands out. That teacher will so clearly speak to our hearts that we’ll be moved to accept him or her as our spiritual preceptor. We each require a personal guide who understands us and is more advanced on the path.
Though we engage in Bhakti practices even before we meet our teacher, they will formally guide us in these practices, which are the next stage in our development of love for God.
Establishing a Daily Practice of Bhakti
Regulated Performance of Bhakti Practices – Bhajana Kriya
The next stage is called Bhajana-kriya in Sanskrit. Bhajana means “service,” and kriya means “activities.” We make commitments to ourselves about making daily connections with the activities of Bhakti. I have spoken about the primary activities in Bhakti in Episode 16, and I will include a link to that episode in the description below.
The primary principle is to always remember the Supreme Personal Absolute and never forget him or her. Yet since we’ve been in the habit of forgetting them since a time without beginning, turning our face toward them takes consistent practice. Initially, we may act based on duty – or sometimes fear – because we haven’t yet experienced the joy inherent in Bhakti’s practices. Eventually this changes in time and it brings us great joy.
As the heart, also known as consciousness, is purified, we have increasingly deep firsthand experiences. These become realized knowledge, delivering us far beyond theoretical understanding, or book knowledge, into lived, accessible spirituality.
Becoming even more serious, we will accept initiation from our spiritual preceptor. As our sincerity and seriousness increases we encounter the next stage in developing pure love.
Clearing the Heart for Divine Love
Removal of False Values – Anartha-nivritti
We gradually become more aware of impurities in our hearts that must be cleared in order to make it a suitable place to welcome our Divine Friend to sit in the temple of our hearts.
And we also start taking stock of our weaknesses of heart. And we notice the mind is not always our friend. In other words, we encounter obstacles in our journey. So our next step is to remove material impressions, desires, false values, and attachments. This work is called Anartha Nrvitti. Anartha means “unwanted things” or “unnecessary things,” or “false values,” and Nivrtii means “removal.”
It is the stage at which we clear away all that impedes our spiritual progress. As our vision clears, we see that our value system is based on the erroneous view that obtaining material things, status, and relationships is the purpose of our lives. We have given value to temporary, fleeting material objects and attainments that can never make us happy. This has caused us much suffering through countless lives.
We’re given the knowledge and power to uproot all of these unwanted misconceptions so the Bhakti creeper can grow and thrive. So, this stage is dedicated to removing unwanted habits, tendencies, desires, hidden predispositions, bad qualities such as anger, envy, and hatred, and the karmic storehouse of accumulated reactions that impede the development of Bhakti by distracting us and causing us to stagnate spiritually.
We want to be unburdened and free from these self-imposed oppressions. And we can encourage ourselves that these aspects of ourselves aren’t signs of failure—they are part of the transformation process, much like detox symptoms during physical healing. They are invitations and important opportunities to deepen honesty, compassion, and patience with ourselves and further our conversation with the Sweet Absolute.
And even though we theoretically know that we are not the mind-body and we know the goal of life, we discover that we often don’t act like we know these things. In other words, we haven’t realized the theory yet. It’s all right, it’s part of a normal passage. Now, as we learn more, we’ll also likely discover that some of our internal attitudes toward the holy name, devotees, and devotional service are not at all becoming and can negatively impact our Bhakti project. So we also work on correcting these.
One teacher likened all this necessary work to the preparations required to completely remodel an old home. First, we need to empty the dirty house, clean it, repair all deteriorated areas, including deep structural repairs, repaint, and make other necessary improvements. Then we can decorate. So, too, we can decorate our internal sacred space in a fitting way to welcome our Beloved home.
Some pilgrims find it helpful to regularly visualize this cleansing work taking place in the heart to welcome their Divine Friend. It can help us muster patience and enthusiasm to stay the course for our end goal. This is a beautiful aspect of Bhakti, it doesn’t just offer philosophy—it gives us practical tools and a community to help us.
Though this is the longest stage in the development of prema, once we reach the next stage, our progress through the remaining stages occurs more rapidly.
Steadiness, Taste, and Attachment in Bhakti
Steadiness – Nishtha
The word Nishtha means “a fixed position.” In a Bhakti context, it means firm determination and steadfastness.
When the obstacles are almost fully cleared, we can finally engage in continuous Bhakti without confusion, doubt, or fear, and be free from lower material desires and distractions.
Yet, there’s one final obstacle we need to check. The Bhakta may become proud of their spiritual progress or minor achievements. This pride can undo all our previous forward movement.
If the Bhakta is careful not to succumb to pride, he or she becomes decorated with the four exceptional qualities: humility, tolerance, pridelessness, and respect for others.
When we understand that we are small, dependent beings, humility naturally arises, and when it does, we will be able to tolerate the dualities of the material world. If we are humble, we will show proper respect to everyone and everything. If we’re humble, we don’t desire honor. In other words, humility removes pride and arrogance, clearing the mind and opening it to receive wisdom. Humility is the root of developing all these qualities. When these qualities develop, we will be able to chant the holy names with full attention at all times.
So Nistha is the stage of one-pointedness that manifests as an incessant calm yet striving as we pursue our goal. When our faith is immovable and our engagement in sadhana, practice, and seva, service, is firmly fixed, we have reached the very noble place of Nistha.
Here, we find ourselves on solid spiritual ground. And because our practice is unwavering, we’re given a taste for the Bhakti practices. What we once thought was medicine is now relishable food that nourishes us. Until now, our practice has been interrupted, and this kept us from experiencing the natural bliss of Bhakti. But this is no longer.
We Develop a Taste – Ruci
The Sanskrit word ruci means “taste, fondness, or inclination.”
In the beginning, we perform Bhakti practices, but not always with joy or relish. However, at this point, we can’t stay away from Bhakti practices and activities. We develop an intense hankering to always stay connected with the Sweet Absolute, and chanting the holy names of Sri Radha and Krsna becomes especially joyful. Our enthusiasm becomes unbounded, and this full immersion brings on even greater happiness.
As the taste for the Bhakti practices deepens, we become attached to the object of love, Sri Radha and Sri Krishna, with single-heartedness, which escorts us further.
We Develop Attachment – Asakti
When ruci becomes very, very thick – when our focus becomes intensely fixed on Radha and Krishna and our loving exchange – we move into the stage of asakti.
Asakti means “a deep emotional attachment” or “strong affection.”
The Divine Dyad is now at the center of all our thoughts, and we have an unbreakable bond with them. When we arrive at asakti, reasoning has little importance because our hearts have become irrevocably stolen by the Sweet Absolute.
From Ecstatic Emotion to Pure Divine Love
The Rays of Love Dawn on the Horizon – Bhava
Bhagavan and his feminine counterwhole, Sri Radha, are the embodiment of truth, beauty, and love. They are so irresistibly charming and gorgeous that we are drawn to adore them. We encounter a force of fascination that entices us to give our very self.
Can we take a moment to contemplate this with some attention: The Supreme’s form is condensed truth, beauty, and love. His and her bodies are pure love and beauty.
They are so attractive that divine love spontaneously flows from our hearts and becomes so intense that, unable to hold the ecstasy of divine love, we reel or faint. And other symptoms of ecstasy grab us and take us deep into the land of love. At this time, everything pales – absolutely everything of this world becomes dull – and we want nothing but the opportunity to serve our Beloveds.
This is called Bhava. Bhava means “emotion, feeling,” or “an ecstatic devotional mood.” The emotions that overtake us at this stage are spiritual – there is no material tinge remaining in the heart, and therefore the heart has become a fit receptacle for pristine, unfaltering, sacred love.
Bhava is when practiced devotion ripens into felt devotion, and love begins to reveal itself. Devotion is no longer driven by fear, obligation, or desire for results, but flows spontaneously from a softened, purified heart.
The false ego has been replaced by a selfless, serving ego, which is the natural condition of the self. Now the heart becomes completely soft and melts like butter full of deep spiritual emotions for the Divine Dyad.
A person at this level of spiritual development can be recognized by nine symptoms. They are patient, they don’t waste time, they’re always engaged in hearing and chanting about Bhagavan, they are completely detached from material enjoyment, and are free of pride. They are full of hope and eagerness, they have a taste for chanting the holy names and hearing about Bhagavan, and they are attached to the places where the Sweet Absolute performed his pastimes on earth.
When the rays of love dawn on the horizon of the heart, then the final stage manifests in the person of the Bhakta.
Love Matures into Divine Love – Prema
When bhava reaches its zenith of purity and brilliance, it blossoms in divine love of God.
Prema, or pure love of the Sweet Absolute, is the highest stage of Bhakti and is characterized by selfless, ecstatic love for Bhagavan. After this, prema awakens in the heart, and we are transferred to the spiritual world, our home, the world of consciousness.
This is the way of growth that devotional experts have described as the gradual development of divine love for the Supreme Perfect Person. As the waterfall of continuous hearing and chanting about Radha and Krishna cascades over us and cleanses the impurities that keep us from knowing the real self, our desire to apply ourselves to a practice redoubles, and we find inner strength we were yet unaware of. This healthy cycle propels us forward and deepens our ability to differentiate matter from spirit.
By the continual and constant absorption in activities of Bhakti, the material impressions of the mind are successfully removed and replaced with spiritual impressions. As the material impressions of the subtle body are expelled in due course, only spiritual impressions remain. Through this transformation, we become inclined to use our bodies for a purely spiritual purpose. Thus, the practice of Bhakti successfully transforms the material gross and subtle bodies into a transcendent, spiritual body.
I mean this literally. The goal of Bhakti is to attain an eternal spiritual body with spiritual senses, desires, and inclinations, and to engage in the world of love. Without a spiritual body, we cannot enter that atmosphere. This transformation and the gift of a spiritual body are the unique features of Bhakti yoga.
The stages I just outlined are a natural progression of a mutual interplay among hearing, trust, and experience, all nourished by the good fortune of keeping company with those who are fully engaged in Bhakti. In summary, we first hear about Bhakti from those who are devoted, and then take up a practice inspired by devotional fellowship.
In the camaraderie of those who share a Bhakti ideal, a particular person’s instructions and character may so deeply touch your heart that you want to accept them as a mentor, teacher, and guide. After you examine him or her and determine they are competent to guide you into deeper truths, you accept initiation from them. Under their loving watch, you progress toward your ultimate ideal.
B. R. Sridhar Maharaja said that when you are backed by a guru of a very high type, you can do anything. By the grace of his or her support, whatever activities of Bhakti you perform, such as hearing and chanting and other sevas, will be effective.
Because the world is structured to keep us bound, we may find obstacles to our attempt to free ourselves, and we can lose our footing if we don’t have sufficient support to fight against the odds. Just as we wouldn’t venture to attack an enemy when our position is weak, similarly, when we are backed by great spiritual generals and many munitions, we can march on unobstructed. In short, we require association with a higher power.
The Mundaka Upanishad (1.2.12) states, “To obtain immediate realization of the Supreme Reality, one should certainly approach a guru.”
The final stage of the development of divine love is the highest goal of Bhakti and the soul’s ultimate attainment. Upon attaining divine love, a spiritual body befitting association with the Supreme Person is given to us. That transcendental body is suitable for service in the uncreated world because the material coverings have been completely removed.
To underscore how divine love is cultivated through a practice of Bhakti, the Bhagavata Purana (7.7.51-52) says that it cannot be attained by great saints, demigods, high-class priests, or by becoming perfectly virtuous. It is not attained by immense charity, austerity, sacrifice, or vows. It is only attained when the Supreme Person is pleased, when we have unflinching love for him.
Thanks for exploring Bhakti with me today. I hope this journey through the nine stages of Bhakti gives you a sense of just how reliable the spiritual path is. Bhakti meets us where we are and carries us, step by step, toward divine love.
In the next episode, we will hear more about the Bhakti wisdom texts.
Until then, may your devotion grow, your heart be steady, and your journey unfold with purpose.
Sarve janah bhagavatah saranam yantu; tasmin sarane eva mangalasya purnata.
May all beings gently move toward the shelter of Bhagavan; in that shelter alone, auspiciousness finds its fullness.
Link to Episode 16 – primary activities in Bhakti: https://www.pranadacomtois.com/nine-practices-of-bhakti-yoga/
