10 Sept 2025 morning – Definitions of Bhakti (English) | Christchurch, New Zealand

– There are many definitions of bhakti.
– Verse: anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam… (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu (1.1.11)).
– Krishnarte akhila-cheshta and krishnarte bhoga-tyagi.
– Ashraya-tattva and vishraya-tattva.
– Srimati Radhika is a sevika.
– Sevya, seva and sevaka. Bhagavan, bhakti and bhakta.
– Anuloma and viloma.
– The person you serve should be happy; otherwise, it is not seva.
– Examples are given of Krishna being pleased (Chanura and Mushtika wrestlers), but this is not bhakti; and of Him being unhappy (Mother Yashoda saving the milk in the oven), but this is bhakti. The rules of overextension and underextension apply.
– A parent is the supreme well-wisher of their child.
– Lila: Krishna wrestling with Srimati Radhika.
– Deep attachment to the Lord is called ‘bhakti’ (sa para’nu-raktir isvare iti bhakti, Sandilya-rasa-stotra).
– The story of how Raskhan bought shoes for Thakuraji.
– Mother Yashoda and Nanda Maharaja do not allow Krishna to herd the cows but He disagrees.