"Among creatures we must distinguish between the animate and the inanimate. Among the animate are many classes, such as sky-dwellers, land animals, water animals &c., men being only a minority of them. [Eliminate from] men the Mlechchhas, Pulindas, Bauddhas, and Shabars; and from the followers of the Vedas one-half who follow the Vedas in lips only, doing sins condemned by the Vedas and disregarding piety. Among religious people many are devoted to work [as the means of salvation]. For ten million men devoted to work we have one devoted to knowledge, and therefore superior to the former. Among ten million men devoted to knowledge we have only one liberated soul. And among ten million liberated souls hardly one devotee of Krishna is found. The bhakta of Krishna is passionless and tranquil, while those who covet enjoyment, salvation or siddhi are perturbed. Witness the Bhágabat, VI. xiv 4.
"In roving through the universe, lucky is the man who gets the seed of the creeper of faith (bhakti) through the grace of his guru and Krishna. He sows the seed like a gardener, waters it with hearing and chanting [the holy name]. As the creeper grows it pierces through the universe, passes beyond the Birajá Brahma world to the Para-byom, and above that to the heavenly Brindában, where it creeps up the wishing-tree of Krishna's feet, spreads and bears fruit in the form of love (prem). If any sin against Vaishnavism is done, it uproots or tears the creeper like a wild elephant, its leaves wither. Then the gardener on earth carefully covers it, to save it from the elephant of sin. But if parasites, like love of enjoyment or salvation and countless other things,—or forbidden practices like rubbish,—slaughter of living beings,—thirst of gain or fame, adhere to the creeper, then these parasites flourish from the watering, while the main creeper's growth is arrested. Cut off the parasites first; then will the main branch reach the heavenly Brindában. When the mature fruit of love drops down, the gardener tastes it, and proceeding up the creeper he reaches the wishing-tree. There (in Vishnu's heaven) he tends the wishing-tree, and blissfully tastes the juice of the fruit of love. That is the highest fruit, the supreme human bliss, in comparison with which the four human attainments are as straw. From pure faith is born love. Therefore I tell you of the signs of pure faith: Leaving desire for others, worship of others, knowledge and work, devote all your senses to the cultivation of Krishna. This is pure faith, the source of love. Its signs are described in the Narada-pancha-ratra and the Bhágabat, III. xxix. 10—12 &c.
"If one desires enjoyment, salvation, &c., he cannot kindle love, even by means of devotion (sádhan). From the culture of bhakti ardour is born; when ardour deepens it is called love (prem). As love grows it is successively called sneha, mán, pranaya, rág, anurág, bháb, mahá-bháb, just as we have successively cane-seed, sugarcane juice, molasses, sugar, and fine sugarcandy. All these are the enduring forms of bhakti in Krishna, if they are joined by provocation and addiction of mind. When the spiritual (sátwik) and extensive (byabhichári) emotions mingle together, bhakti in Krishna becomes a veritable nectar in taste, just as curd, when mixed with sugar, ghee, pepper, and camphor, becomes deliciously sweet. In different bhaktas the inclination (rati) assumes different forms, viz., the shánta, the dásya, the sakhya, the bátsalya, and the madhur. From these differences in the nature of the passion, the mood (ras) of Krishna's love assumes five forms of the same name, which are called the chief rasas, while there are seven minor rasas, viz., the comic, the grotesque, the heroic, the pathetic, the rude, the horrible, and the timid. The five former moods permanently occupy the minds of bhaktas; while the seven minor moods rise fitfully when they get a favourable occasion. The nine sages [who instructed king Nimi] and Sanak and others are examples of bhaktas of the shánta mood. Countless are the bhaktas everywhere who illustrate the dásya mood. The sakhya mood is typified in Shridám and other [cow-boys] and in Bhim and Arjun of Hastinapur. The bhaktas of the bátsalya mood are father, mother and other elders. Of the madhur mood of bhakti, the examples are chiefly the milkmaids of Brindában, Krishna's queens, Lakshmi and countless others.
"Again, ardour (rati) for Krishna is of two kinds: (1) accompanied by a sense of his Godhead, and (2) pure and simple. At Gokul the latter was displayed, free from any consciousness of his Godhead, while at Mathura, Dwaraka, Vaikuntha and other places the former prevailed. Where the sense of his Godhead is predominant, love [for him] is contracted; whereas the way of pure ardour is to disregard his Godhead even when it is openly shown. In the shánta and dásya emotions this consciousness of His Godhead is a little kindled, but in the batsalya, sakhya and madhur it is shrunk up. When Krishna bowed at the feet of Vasudev and Devaki, they were frightened by the sense of his Godhead. Witness the Bhágabat, X. xliv. 35.
"Arjun was awe-struck at beholding the vision of Krishna as God, and begged his pardon for having treated him familiarly under the notion of a friend. Vide the Gitá, xi. 41. When Krishna jested with Rukmini, she became mortally afraid lest he should quit her. Vide the Bhágabat, X. Ix. 23.
"The pure love called kebalá (unmixed) ignores his divinity, and in case it does recognize him as God, it disavows its loving connection with him. Vide the Bhágabat, X. viii. 35, ix. 12, xviii. 14, xxx. 32, xxxi. 16.
"The shánta ras consists in recognizing the true nature of Krishna and fixing the mind on him only. Krishna has himself said, 'Devoting the mind exclusively to me is the virtue of shama'. Vide the Bhágabat, XI. xix. 33:
'Shama consists in fixing the mind on me; dama is control of the organs of the senses; titikshá is endurance of sorrow; and dhriti is checking what rises on the tongue.'
"It is the duty of a shánta votary to give up thirst for everything except Krishna; hence a shánta and a bhakta of Krishna are identical terms. Krishna's devotee regards heaven and even salvation as no better than hell. Vide the Bhágabat, VI. xvii. 23.
"Devotion to Krishna and conquest of desire are the two marks of a shánta bhakta. All the five kinds of bhaktas are necessarily marked by these qualities, just as sound, the attribute of the sky, is possessed by the other four elements also. A shánta votary's attachment to Krishna is like an odourless flower; he has only acquired a true sense of God's nature, as the supreme spirit and divinity. The dásya mood better develops the cognition of Krishna as the Lord of full powers. A dás bhakta constantly gratifies Krishna by serving him with a sense of his divinity, honour, and great glorification; dásya ras has the merit of the shánta ras plus service, i.e., it has two merits. The sakhya ras possesses these two merits [plus absolute trust in Krishna]. In dásya Krishna's service is marked by honour and glorification; in sakhya by reliance.