Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Srila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur
bhajanesu sprha bhaktir anarthapagamas tatah
nistha rucir athasakti ratih prematha darsanam
harer madhuryanubhava ity arthah syus caturdase
At the dawn of one's spiritual life, one receives the mercy of great devotees. One then engages in the service of such devotees. This leads to development of faith in the devotional process, after which one attains the shelter of the lotus feet of a bona-fide spiritual master.
One then starts the process of bhajana, advancement, after which one experiences a sincere hankering for devotional service. This is followed by anartha-nivrtti, removal of unwanted desires from one's heart. This leads to awakening of the stages of nistha, steady devotional service, followed by ruci, genuine taste in such service, followed by asakti, attachment to the Lord. After this, one experiences rati, in timacy, and then develops prema, fully blossomed love for the Lord. One can then have darsana, direct perception of the Lord, and an experience of madhurya, comprehensive sweetness of the Lord. These are the fourteen stages of advancement in true love.
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