राइट द डिफरेंस बिटवीन डिवोशन एंड लॉयल्टी
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Devotion and loyalty may be differentiated but actually these two are of the same whole. Devotion (bhakti) is larger concept, you may call it the mother concept and loyalty (nishtha) is one crucial step in that direction.
Nishtha (loosely speaking loyalty in the sense of steadfastness) leads to bhakti (devotion); bhakti, when mature, becomes bhava; bhava, when concentrated, becomes mahabhava; and last of all is prema. Prema is like a cord: by prema God is bound to the devotee; He can no longer run away. An ordinary man can at best achieve bhava. None but an Isvarakoti attains mahabhava and prema. Chaitanyadeva attained them. ~ The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,
In Bhakti Rasamrit Sindhu by Shri Roop Goswami nine stages of Bhakti (Devotion) are outlined. Of them loyalty (nishtha) is the fifth.
1. Shraddha: Faith, 2. Sadhu-sanga: Association with Saints, 3. Bhajana-Kriya: Performance of devotional practices, 4. Anartha Nivrtti: Decreasing of unwanted attachments, 5. Nistha: Steadiness, 6. Ruchi: Taste, 7. Asakti: Attachment, 8. Bhava: Love, 9. Prema: Pure love for God.
One accepts a spiritual master, it is binding on the disciple to have “Nishtha” or determined faith on the words of the spiritual master who is the seer of the Absolute. One must also have the same nishtha towards Shastra, the scripture as well. This loyalty to the Guru and the Shastra eventually leads to devotion.