What is pushti-bhakti and pushti and tushti in bhakti?
From Vrindavaneshvari Mataji
While explaining types of Bhakti by different Vaishnav Acharayas; Vallabha acharaya explains that Bhakti is love, Maryada and PUSHTI. Please elaborate what is Pushti Bhakti or Pushti in Bhakti?
Also kindly throw light on the difference between Pushti and Tushti Bhakti.
Answer Podcast:
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Question from Vandavaneshwari Mataji. What is Pushti Bhakti or Pushti Bhakti as Vallabhacharya explains it? And how do they differ between Pushti Bhakti and Pushti Bhakti? Answer, Pushti Marga is one of the paths of Bhakti.
It is taught by Vallabhacharya. And he explains that basically Bhakti ultimately satisfies our heart. So, Pushti, Tushti, Kshitapaya, these three words are used in the Bhagavatam, the Vedanta Canto to describe, I will give an effort to explain how Bhakti works.
So, when we eat food, what happens? We get Pushti, we get nourishment. Tushti, we get satisfaction. And Kshitapaya, the hunger goes away.
Similarly, when we practice Bhakti, we get satisfaction through the experience of Pareesh Anubhav, the experience of the Transcendental Lord. And that leads to Viraktir Anyatra Chah, that leads to detachment from worldly things. Now, the Pushti Marga is basically Rupa Goswami and Jiva Goswami, they were soon after the time Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Vallabhacharya were more or less contemporaries.
And Rupa Goswami, Jiva Goswami have written about the principles of Bhakti. And basically, they compare just as in the analysis of Bhakti as given by Rupa Goswami, in the Sadhana Bhakti, there is Vaidhi Bhakti and Raga Bhakti. So, similarly, the Pushti Marga is roughly parallel to the level of Raga Bhakti.
So, the idea is that when the soul satisfies the Supreme Lord, by satisfying the Supreme Lord, the soul also becomes satisfied. And that’s how we get the ultimate spiritual nourishment. And we become one with the Lord, not in existence, but in desires.
Now, Tushti Bhakti, the compound word is Pushti Marga, it is not Tushti Marga. But Tushti, in general, refers to satisfaction. So, Tushti is one of the results that comes when we practice Bhakti, whether it is with the process that we are practicing right now in Lodhya Vaishnavism, or it is as Vallabha Acharya has taught in his organization.
The important point is that Rupa Goswami does acknowledge that, yes, Raga Marga is also one kind of Bhakti that is being practiced. And that can lead to spiritual advancement. And it is advanced level of Bhakti if one comes to that level of selfless love.
So, the way Bhakti is analyzed, the specific nomenclature used, that can vary from tradition to tradition, because different traditions may stress different aspects of scripture. And based on those aspects of scripture, they may derive certain terms, emphasize certain terms. And that’s how the emphasis can vary.
The important point is we need to move from our self-centered devotion towards selfless devotion. And that’s what the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition guides us to do by the practice of Bhakti Yoga. Thank you.
Hare Krishna.