BRS 1.4.15
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Verse Text
ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhusaṅgo ’tha bhajanakriyā |
tato ’narthanivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ ||15||
tathāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ premābhyudaṣcati |
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ prādurbhāvaḥ bhavet kramaḥ ||16||
Translation
First, there is association with devotees, by which one gains faith. Then, one associates with the devotees to learn the scriptures, and then practices bhakti. The anarthas are then destroyed. Steady bhakti without confusion follows. Desire for the Lord (ruci) appears. This is followed by spontaneous desire for the Lord (āsakti). This becomes bhāva and then prema. This is the progression for manifesting prema for those performing sādhana-bhakti.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Though there are many steps in the progression of bhakti, the most common sequence is stated in two verses. In the beginning (ādau), by hearing the scriptures in association with the devotees, one attains faith (śraddhā). Śraddhā means trust or confidence. Then, after faith appears, again association with devotees takes place (sadhu-saṅga), for learning how to practice bhakti. Niṣṭhā means continuous bhakti without confusion. Ruci means desire for the Lord, but with direction by the intellect. Āsakti means desire, which is natural or spontaneous (without intellectual direction).
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Association with Pure Devotees
Although many different processes for developing love of Godhead have been explained so far, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī now gives us a general description of how one can best achieve such a high position. The beginning of ecstatic love of Godhead is basically faith. There are many societies and associations of pure devotees, and if someone with just a little faith begins to associate with such societies, his advancement to pure devotional service is rapid. The influence of a pure devotee is such that if someone comes to associate with him with a little faith, one gets the chance of hearing about the Lord from authoritative scriptures like Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Thus, by the mercy of the Lord, who is situated in everyone’s heart, one gradually develops his faith in the descriptions of such authoritative scriptures. This is the first stage of association with pure devotees. In the second stage, after one becomes a little advanced and mature, he automatically offers to follow the principles of devotional service under the guidance of the pure devotee and accepts him as the spiritual master. In the next stage, under the guidance of the spiritual master, the devotee executes regulative devotional service, and as a result of such activities, he becomes freed from all unwanted occupations. When he is freed from unwanted occupations, his faith becomes steadily fixed, and he develops a transcendental taste for devotional service, then attachment, then ecstasies, and in the last stage there is pure love of Godhead. These are the different stages of the development of pure love.