The Hare Krishna Movement

This morning I was thinking about the different relationships one can have with the Lord. In “The Nectar of Devotion”, Srila Prabhupada describes the five primary kinds of devotional service-namely, neutrality, servitude, fraternity, parenthood and conjugal love. Over the course of the next five posts, I want to explore these five primary relationships.

But for today, I want to start with this nice verse from the Bhagavad-gita, where these five types of relationships are mentioned in purport.

For one who remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Pṛthā, because of his constant engagement in devotional service. (Bg 8.14)

…Bhakti-yoga is very simple and pure and easy to perform. One can begin by simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is very merciful to those who engage in His service, and He helps in various ways that devotee who is fully surrendered to Him so he can understand Him as He is. The Lord gives such a devotee sufficient intelligence so that ultimately the devotee can attain Him in His spiritual kingdom.

…Generally, the bhakti-yogīs are engaged in five different ways: 1) śānta-bhakta, engaged in devotional service in neutrality; 2) dāsya-bhakta, engaged in devotional service as servant; 3) sākhya-bhakta, engaged as friend; 4) vātsalya-bhakta, engaged as parent; and 5) mādhurya-bhakta, engaged as conjugal lover of the Supreme Lord. (from purport)

Full text and purport