tat-tad-abhimāna-lakṣaṇa-bhāva-viśeṣaṇena svābhāvika-rāgasya vaiśiṣṭye
tat-tad-abhimāna-lakṣaṇa-bhāva-viśeṣaṇena svābhāvika-rāgasya vaiśiṣṭye sati tat-tad-rāga-prayuktā śravaṇa-kīrtana-smaraṇa-pāda-sevana-vandanātma-nivedana-prāyā bhaktis teṣāṁ rāgātmikā bhaktir ity ucyate | tasyāś ca sādhyāyāṁ rāga-lakṣaṇāyāṁ bhakti-gaṅgāyāṁ taraṅga-rūpatvāt sādhyatvam eveti, na tu sādhana-prakaraṇe’smin praveśaḥ | ato rāgānugā kathyate |
(Excerpted from Bhakti Sandarbha: 310)
“Since [this] natural (svābhāvika) rāga has distinctiveness [i.e., is of various types] on account of [each of its manifestations having] a distinctive bhāva the characteristic of which is a particular sense of identity (abhimāna) [in relation to Bhagavān, viz., that of being a servant, friend, elder, or beloved of Bhagavān], the bhakti on their part [i.e., on the part of Bhagavān’s personal associates who have one of these senses of identity] beget by a particular rāga [i.e., by a rāga characterized by one of the aforementioned specific senses of identity in relation to Bhagavān] and largely [consisting of] hearing, praising, remembering, serving the feet, and offering obeisances [to Bhagavān] is known as rāgātmikā-bhakti [i.e., bhakti constituted of rāga]. On account of its [i.e., rāgātmikā-bhakti’s] being, in form, [like] waves in the Gaṅgā of bhakti that is possessed of the characteristic of rāga, the goal (sādhya) [i.e., since rāgātmikā-bhakti is constituted of rāga for Bhagavān and expressions of rāga for him, just as waves of the Gaṅgā are made of the Gaṅgā’s water and are expressions of the Gaṅgā, and since rāga for Bhagavān is itself the goal (sādhya), that is, the object to be attained by engaging in sādhana-bhakti], it is itself the goal (sādhya) [i.e., rāgātmikā-bhakti is itself the goal (sādhya), that is, sādhya-bhakti], and thus [it] has no entry into this section on sādhana [i.e., since rāgātmikā-bhakti is itself the goal (sādhya), it will not be discussed further here in Bhakti Sandarbha, where only the abhidheya, that is, the means to attain, viz., the process of sādhana-bhakti, is discussed; rāgātmikā-bhakti will instead be discussed further ahead in Prīti Sandarbha, where sādhya-bhakti is explained in detail]. Therefore, rāgānugā [-bhakti] is [now] discussed.”