Śuddhā bhakti is a book about pure (śuddhā) devotion (bhakti). Such a book should be of great value on the threshold of the third millennium when the world is overburdened more than ever before with war, intolerance, hatred and atheism.

Bhakti-yoga is the spiritual practice by which the soul can reunite (yoga) in love (bhakti), with the Supreme Lord, for only divine love makes life worth living. This reunion should not however be misunderstood as the merging of the individual soul (jīvātmā) with the formless, all-pervading aspect of the Absolute, the Brahman. Love is a relational affair and bhakti-yoga implies an eternal relationship between creator and created, sustainer and sustained, lover and beloved, or God and the soul.

The immortal Bhagavad-gītā, probably the most celebrated and widely-read sacred text of ancient India, stresses the importance of ācāryopāsana, or adherence to the spiritual guide, for all those who wish to reconnect with the Divinity. Elevated and self-realized souls who can awaken one’s spiritual nature are, as the Gītā states, very rare. We therefore feel fortunate to present this book of selected discourses by Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tīrtha Mahārāja, in whom we recognize all the characteristics of pure devotion. He is a humble but powerful practitioner and teacher of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition of divine love propagated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the 15th-century master of devotional ecstasy. This book is compiled from lectures given on his second visit to Europe in 1999.

The first part of this book, entitled Sambandha, delineates the foundation of knowledge necessary to enter a life of devotion. Part two, entitled Abhidheya, discusses the means of practice, sādhanā, in which a sādhaka must engage to attain the desired result (sādhya). For the followers of Śri Caitanya this goal is prema-bhakti: spontaneous, unalloyed loving devotion to Vrajendranandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the divine Gopāla (cowherd boy) of the beautiful transcendental pasture grounds of Vṛndāvana, Whom the Gauḍīya Vaishnavas accept as God Himself. This ultimate aim is also known as Prayojana, the title and focus of the last chapter of this book.

We hope that all practitioners—aspiring, novice and advanced—will relish this book. We pray to Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāja for his continuous blessings upon all sincere sādhakas pursuing the path of devotion. May Śrī Kṛṣṇa be pleased with this attempt to serve the lotus feet of His pure devotee.

Humbly,
The publishers.