The
following is based on the darshans by His Holiness Om Astottara-sat
Sri Srimad Haridas Shastri Maharaj, called by
his
disciples Maharajji.
Uttama
bhakti is
the highest bhakti. Its synonyms are vraja bhakti
and manjari bhava.
According
to Rupa Gosvami in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu
(1.1.11), uttama bhakti is the desire to please
Krishna (anukulyena
- doing things favourable to Him) with no hidden agenda (jnana-karmady-anavrtam
- with no desire for bhukti or mukti), with no other desire than that
for
service (anyabhilasita-sunyam - devoid even of tendency
to desire
anything else) with all one's activities centered
around Him (krsnanusilanam).
When
one hears about ragatmikas and their dealings with
Krishna, one becomes qualified for raganuga bhakti
by developing strong
desire to serve Him in the same way as they do. Following their mood,
such a
person is happy when Krishna, the object of his/her love, is happy.
Manjari
bhava
primarily means bhava, or consciousness,
of a
manjari, and not so much the body of a manjari, as
it has become popular
today. Manjari bhava is the highest manifestation of serving mood where
all
one's intentions, activities and thoughts are heavily
intensified for the
sake of service. Its basic characteristic is that one does not become
happy by
one's own happiness, nor does one become distressed by one's own
distress. When
the object of service, whether it is the guru or Krishna, is happy then
the
devotee is also happy. When He is in distress then the devotee is also
in distress,
just like the manjari.
Clearly,
the highest bhakti is such an extremely strong and
permanent serving mood towards Krishna that it pervades and shapes
one's entire
life, leaving no scope for anything else than service to Him, making
thus one's
happiness and distress entirely dependent on happiness and distress
felt by Him.
However, the question remains how this kind of bhakti can be
obtained.
