When one gains scriptural faith, one will naturally start devotional practice.
Then again when akaitava  bhakti appears, one’s heart will rush towards the Lord like the river Gangā does towards the sea.
This frame of mind occurs only in special cases.

Suppose a devotee has  bhakti, but has material desires.
This is the first stage called ‘undecided’.

Śrīla Viśvanātha has stated in his book ‘Mādhurya Kādambinī’ that such a devotee,
in the next stage, gets rid of tendencies for material desires, starts performing disciplined bhajan and cuts the sub-branches comprising of profit, fame etc…
This stage is called ‘decided’ or ‘stable’. At this stage, the devotee gets rid of minute anarthas viz. laya, vikṣep, kaṣāya, apratipatti and rasāsvāda.

laya – one feels more and more sleepy during chanting, hearing and meditating (in this order).

vikṣep – discussing or remembering material topics while chanting or hearing is called viksep.

apratipatti – Suppose there is no laya or vikṣep. In spite of this our chanting and hearing is not proper. Then this is called apratipatti.

kaṣāya – When we show signs of anger, greed etc. while hearing and chanting.

rasāsvād – It is deep engrossment in material subjects while hearing etc.

When all these obstacles are lacking, we are said to have attained ‘stability’ (nistha).
This is followed by ‘deep interest with taste’ (ruci). At this stage the devotee feels no fatigue or boredom in spite of performing lots of bhajan all day and night.

Then the devotee is promoted to the stage of ‘addiction’ (asakti).
Śrī Jīva has said –
“rucis tu buddhipūrvaka, āsaktistu svārasikī.”

Meaning – “In the stage of ‘interest’ the devotee performs Bhajan wishfully, voluntarily or consciously.
But in the stage of ‘addiction’ (asakti),  devotional service becomes involuntary action or spontaneous. Asakti has been described in Mādhurya Kādambinī so beautifully and wonderfully that in spite of reading over and over again, we are left desiring for more. It says –

“āsaktir evāntaḥkaraṇa mukuraṁ tathā mārjayati yathā tatra sahasā pratibimbito bhagavān avalokyamāna iva bhavati.”

Meaning – “Asakti cleanses the devotee’s mirror-like heart to such an extent that on suddenly seeing the Lord’s reflection in it, one would mistake it to be the Lord Himself.”

But even this stage is not considered to be ‘uninterrupted’. After this comes the stage of divine passion (bhava).
Now the devotee’s heart loses all material desires and becomes fully spiritual.
In this stage, the devotee never forgets Kṛṣṇa, whether he is awake, asleep or semi-conscious. This stage is called ‘uninterrupted bhakti’.

Śrī Jīva Goswāmī has described this ‘uninterrupted bhakti’ as ‘dhruvānusmṛti’.

Bṛhad-Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad says –

“sattva śuddhau dhruvānusmṛti smṛtilambhe sarvagranthināṁ vipramokṣaḥ”.

Meaning – “The purification of consciousness results in constant remembrance of God. After acquiring constant remembrance (dhruvānusmṛti), all material bondage is cut free.”

When  bhakti is practised repeatedly, one crosses the stage of addiction.
This is called akaitava bhakti. It is not only supremely rare but also supremely incomprehensible.

Uninterrupted flow of the heart is called ‘permanent mood’.
In our bhakti literature, divine passion is said to be the ‘permanent mood’.
We have seen how this permanent mood can be achieved. From this, the reader has surely concluded that it is not very easy.
Śrī Jīva says that, at first we should hear and chant the Holy Name, followed by hearing about Kṛṣṇa’s form and qualities, and last of all, His pastimes.
When the heart is quite cleansed we should hear and meditate on the divine form.
This makes the heart more clear.

“Kṛṣṇa sphure tāra man haiyāche nirmal”
– (C. C.)

Hearing about the qualities of Kṛṣṇa makes the heart even cleaner. Ordinarily it is seen that the qualities attract and impress the heart even more than the form. Often the heart melts when one hears of the Lord’s qualities such as parental affection towards the devotees. When the heart melts, it becomes more clear and soft.

“bhaktir hi bhakta (citta) koṭī praviṣṭatadārdrībhāvayitṛ tacchakti viśeṣa iti.” –
(Bhakti Sandarbha 180)

Meaning – “Bhakti is that special power of Śrī Bhagavan that enters the devotee’s heart and melts it.”

Ordinarily, the heart of a living entity is hard like lac and devoid of any sweetness or ‘rasa’.
When bhakti appears, the heart melts, becomes clean, soft and rasa-filled.
Then by devotional practise, divine passion can be attained.

On the appearance of the permanent mood, one has the desire to behold the Lord, serve Him and establish an intimate relationship with Him.

When a devotee attains the permanent mood, he feels grateful and blessed.
The permanent mood gives rise to divine inspirations constantly.
This is the initial success in devotional practise.

Hence Śrī Jīva has written –

“siddhiś cātrāntaḥkaraṇa kāmādi doṣa kṣayakāri раrатānаnda parākāṣṭhāgāmi Śrī hari sphuraṇa rūpaiva jñeyā.”
(Bhakti Sandarbha)

Meaning – “The success of devotional practise is constant divine inspiration in the heart due to which all inauspicious qualities such as lust etc… are driven away and one reaches the zenith of supreme bliss.”

When the devotee attains the permanent mood, he can relish divine rasa without any hindrance. Then he does not face any obstacle or interruption in relishing rasa. Sometimes he gets overjoyed and lost in divine inspiration and at other times, he feels sad and depressed by the lack of it.
Sometimes he cries and sometimes he laughs. Sometimes he sings and dances in joy.
In this way, he relishes rasa without obstruction.

The following pathway results in unlimited bliss:

The association of a sat guru -> hearing -> pondering -> scriptural faith -> taking initiation and instructions -> saraṇāgati -> serving Guru and Vaiṣṇavas -> enthusiasm in bhajan -> akaitava devotional practise -> interest in Bhajan -> addiction to the Lord -> UNLIMITED BLISS.

Radhakunda Mahanta Sri Srimat Ananta das Babaji, RASA DARSHAN