Extracted and translated from vijñapti to Śrī Haribhakti Vilāsa by Śrī Haridās Śāstri.
Niṣkāma-karma refers to doing actions (karma) as per varṇāśrama, ordained by the śāstra, with no desire for material results. When niṣkāma-karma is included as a part of one’s bhakti, then such bhakti is termed karma-miśrā-bhakti. Though its not really bhakti in its true sense, it brings about the purification of the mind (citta-śuddhi) as the result (phala). This is owing to the superimposition (āropa) of the inherent essence of bhakti (bhakti-tva) on it. In other words, its form (ākāra) is shaped by the form of bhakti, and thereby it is known as āropa-siddhā bhakti: meaning that which is not actually bhakti, but is labeled bhakti owing to the superimposition of bhakti-like aspects in offering one’s karma to Śrī Bhagavān.
Similarly, the practices of āsana (holding ordained postures), prāṇāyāma (regulated breathing) and the like are the elements of yoga-miśrā-bhakti (bhakti, in which yoga is mixed). And, the understanding (jñāna) that there is oneness in identity between the individual living being (jīva) and the supreme being (brahman) is a key element of jñāna-miśrā bhakti (bhakti mixed with jñāna). These too are not directly aspects of bhakti, but when done in association (saṅga) with bhakti lead to liberation from material existence (mokṣa), which is an outcome of bhakti. Hence, they are referred to as bhakti–ākāra-ākarita, meaning, they, whose form is aligned to that of bhakti. For this reason, they are termed saṅga-siddhā-bhakti, meaning, those that are not actually bhakti but are labelled as such owing to their association with it.
Uttamā-bhakti is nirguṇa since it is free from the three guṇas (ropes) of material nature. It is entirely distinct from the other types of bhakti mentioned earlier. Karma, yoga and jñāna are subordinate to uttamā-bhakti and depend on its potency. Hence they are said to be bhakti-mukhāpekṣī. Uttamā-bhakti is neither subordinate to nor dependent on karma, jñāna and so on, rather, it is completely independent (svādhīnā). By its own independence (svātantrya), it grants the fruit of niṣkāma-karma, which is the purification of the heart (citta-śuddhi), the fruit of yoga, which is gradual liberation (krama-mukti), and the fruit of jñāna, which is immediate liberation (sadyo-mukti) as well. But even beyond these, it also grants fruits such as the direct realisation of Śrī Bhagavān himself (śrī-bhagavat-sākṣātkāra) and so on.
The various practices (aṅgas) of uttamā-bhakti seem to resemble the activities and practices of karma, or jñāna or yoga. For example, bhakti practices like śravaṇa (hearing), kīrtana (chanting) and so on appear like the activities of karma, practices such as contemplation on one’s object of worship (bhajanīyatva-anusandhāna) and so on appear like those of jñāna, and practices like the deliberate placement of mantras on the body during mantra-meditation (nyāsa), finger-cum-hand postures during deity worship (mudra) and so on, appear like those of yoga. Yet, none of these practices in bhakti is really either karma, or jñāna or yoga. Rather, all of them, are the supreme manifestations (vṛttis) of Śrī Bhagavān’s own intrinsic potency, comprising His very being, His consciousness and His bliss (sac-cid-ānanda-mayī-svarūpa-śakti). In other words, these manifestations of bhakti are sheltered in the set of intrinsic potencies that are eternally present (nitya-siddha-svarūpa-śakti-samūha) in Śrī Bhagavān.
Śrī Bhagavān’s marginal potency (taṭastha-śakti) in the form of the individual living beings (jīvas, jīva-śakti), is endowed with the ability to mingle with both His internal potency (antaraṅgā-śakti), and His external potency (bahiraṅgā-śakti). In the same way, the senses of the spiritual practitioner (sādhaka) such as the sense of hearing are designed as the meeting ground between his perfected (siddha) and practitioner (sādhaka) states. If the practitioner’s senses were not designed that way, they would remain unperfected (asiddha). Thereby, such practitioners with senses that lack the ability to unite with their perfected states, will not be able, howsoever, to attain perfection (siddhatva).
So, in order to attract the yet-to-be-perfect practitioner, the intrinsic potencies eternally present in Śrī Bhagavān (nitya-siddha-svarūpa-śakti-vṛtti-samūha) descend into the practitioner’s senses (indriya-vṛtti), unite with them, adopt their respective forms and manifest themselves as the experiences of hearing (śravaṇa) and so on. It is solely because of the presence of these blissful manifestations (ānanda-mayī-vṛtti) of His intrinsic potency in them that the practitioner finds the experiences of hearing (śravaṇa), chanting, singing and narrating (kīrtana), blissful (ānanda-dāyaka). It is only by witnessing their manifestations through the senses that the practitioner experiences them as jñāna (knowledge), karma (activities) and so on, in the process of bhakti. In truth, however, activities centered on Śrī Bhagavān’s name (nāma), form (rūpa), qualities (guṇa) and divine activities (līlā) such as śravaṇa, kīrtana and so on, are blissful realities that are beyond jñāna, karma and the rest.
Hence, Bhagavān Kapiladeva has said:
“devānāṃ guṇa-liṅgānām ānuśravika-karmaṇām
sattva evaika-manaso vṛttiḥ svābhāvikī tu yā
animittā bhāgavatī bhaktiḥ siddher garīyasī
jarayaty āśu yā kośaṃ nigīrṇam analo yathā”
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.25.32–33)
Bhakti is that inherent state (svābhāvikī-vṛtti) of a person whose mind has a one-pointed focus on Śrī Viṣṇu, the embodiment of pure sattva (śuddha-sattva-mūrti) that is a manifestation of his intrinsic potency (svarūpa-śakti-vṛtti). Though he is situated among the devas, who are designated by the three guṇas, and whose activities are known through śruti, purāṇas and other texts, bhakti is that consciousness (jñāna-viśeṣa), which exclusively seeks the happiness (ānukūlyātmaka) of Śrī Viṣṇu, devoid of the pursuit of any other objective. Such bhakti is superior even to liberation from material existence (mukti). Similar to how the digestive fire digests the food eaten, this bhakti swiftly dissolves the subtle body that covers the living being.