The Essence of Bhakti yoga

by Swami Sivananda

The Essence of Bhakti Yoga coming as it does from the inspired pen of Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj is, therefore, a rare opportunity for the reading public and the surest guide for the Bhakti Yogi aspirant. It unfolds in the simplest language the secrets of the emotions of "Bhakti" or "Divine Love". It analyses the whole psychology of Bhakti and explains the significance of every element of it. It gives ample guidance in the difficult art of building those elements which constitute the psychosis of God-consciousness. It makes the practice of God's presence easy. It also makes the study of the poetics and rhetoric’s of emotions a very serene affair.

This study chastens and subdues the mind instead of making it turbulent as in the case of the study of the usual Rasas or poetic sentiments, in literature. As such it solves the difficult educational problem. It combines religious study with meditation. It leaves ample scope of exercise to the teacher and the taught alike to find out apt illustrations from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Purana. The essence of Bhakti Yoga can, therefore, be easily adapted as text-book for the benefit of the young.

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Essence of Bhakti
  • Philosophy of Bhakti
  • The Doctrine of Grace
  • The divine Name
  • Prayer
  • Faith and Aspiration
  • Four Kinds of Bhaktas
  • Nava-Vidha Bhakti
  • Nava-Vidha Bhakti According to
  • Ramacharitamanas of Tulasidasji
  • Bhava and Rasa in Bhakti
  • Five Kinds of Bhavas
  • Self-surrender
  • Para Bhakti
  • Siva Bhakti Sutras
  • Puja or Worship
  • Anushthana
  • Eleven Points for development of Bhakti
  • Bhakti: Yoga Alphabetsa
  • To Pseudo Para-Bhaktas
  • Nama-Aparadha
• Bhakti Rasamritam
  • Bhakti Marga
  • Bhava in Bhakti
  • Navavidha Bhakti
  • Feeling of separation
  • Prayer to Lord Krishna
  • Prayer to Lord Hari
  • Para Bhakti
  • Ninda Stuti
• Sankirtan Yoga
  • Sankirtan Purifies and Nourishes
  • Divya Nama Kirtan
  • Kirtan in Bengal
  • Kirtan in Maharashtra
  • Ardha Vasa
  • latvianSaniirtan
  • Kirtan at Ananda Kutir
  • Maharashtra Kirtan Dhwanis
  • Selected Kirtan Dhwanis
  • Eka Sloki Ramayana
  • Eka Sloki Bhagavata
• Appendix
  • Hari, Rama, Krishna
  • Radha, the Personification of Bhakti
  • Song of Navavidha Bhakti
  • Song of Immanence of Ram
  • A Conversation Between a Theist and an Atheist
  • Bhakti Yoga - I
  • Bhakti Yoga - II
  • What is Bhakti?
  • Navavidha Bhakti
  • Ten Bhakti Commandments
  • Rules for Japa
  • Yoga of Self-surrender - I
  • Yoga of Self-surrender - II
  • Harvest of God-reaslisation
  • Siva’s Kirtan
  • Devi Kirtan
  • Hari Kirtan Dhvanis
  • Narayana-Sadasiva Kirtan

About the Author:

Sri Swami Sivananda , born on the 8th September, 1887, in the illustrious family of Sage Appayya Dikshita and several other renowned saints and savants, Sri swami Sivananda had a natural flair for a life devoted to the study and practice of Vedanta.

He was an inborn eagerness to serve all and an innate feeling of unity with all mankind. He is the author of over 300 volumes and has disciples all over the world, belonging to all nationalities, religions and creeds. To read his works is to drink at the Fountain of Wisdom Supreme. On 14th July, 163 he entered Mahasamadhi.