There are two kinds of
bhakti
—
aiśhwarya
bhakti
and
mādhurya
bhakti
.
Aiśhwarya
bhakti
is that where the devotee is motivated to engage in devotion by contemplating upon the almighty aspect of God. The dominant sentiment in
aiśhwarya
bhakti
is of awe and reverence. In such devotion, the feeling of remoteness from God and the need for maintaining propriety of conduct is always perceived. Examples of
aiśhwarya
bhakti
are the residents of Dwaraka and the residents of Ayodhya, who worshipped Shree Krishna and Lord Ram respectively as their kings. Ordinary citizens are highly respectful and obedient toward their king, although they never feel intimate with him.
Mādhurya
bhakti
is that where the devotee feels an intimate personal relationship with God. The dominant sentiment in such devotion is “Shree Krishna is mine and I am his.” Examples of
mādhurya
bhakti
are the cowherd boys of Vrindavan who loved Krishna as their friend, Yashoda and Nand baba, who loved Krishna as their child, and the
gopīs
who loved him as their beloved.
Mādhurya
bhakti
is infinitely sweeter than
aiśhwarya
bhakti
. Hence, Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj states
sabai sarasa rasa dwārikā, mathurā aru braja māhiñ
madhura, madhuratara, madhuratama, rasa brajarasa sama nāhiñ
(Bhakti Śhatak verse 70)[v22]
“The divine bliss of God is immensely sweet in all his forms. Yet, there is a gradation in it—the bliss of his Dwaraka pastimes is sweet, the bliss of his Mathura pastimes is sweeter, and the bliss of his Braj pastimes is the sweetest.”
In
Mādhurya
bhakti
, forgetting the almightiness of God, devotees establish four kinds of relationships with Shree Krishna
Dāsya bhāv
—Shree Krishna is our Master and I am his servant. The devotion of Shree Krishna’s personal servants, such as Raktak, Patrak, etc. was in
dāsya bhāv
. The sentiment that God is our Father or Mother is a variation of
dāsya bhāv
and is included in it.
Sakhya bhāv
—Shree Krishna is our Friend and I am his intimate companion. The devotion of the cowherd boys of Vrindavan, such as Shreedama, Madhumangal, Dhansukh, Mansukh, etc. was in
sakhya bhāv
.
Vātsalya bhāv
—Shree Krishna is our Child and I am his parent. The devotion of Yashoda and Nand baba was in
vātsalya bhāv
.
Mādhurya bhāv
—Shree Krishna is our Beloved and I am his lover. The devotion of the
gopīs
of Vrindavan was in
mādhurya bhāv
.
Arjun is a
sakhya bhāv
devotee and relishes a fraternal relationship with the Lord. On seeing the universal form of God, Arjun experienced tremendous awe and reverence, and yet he longed for the sweetness of
sakhya bhāv
that he was used to savoring. Hence, he prays to Shree Krishna to hide the almighty form that he is now seeing and again show his human form.