What is Bhakti Yoga? The Five Stages of Devotion in Vedanta

Daniel McKenzie
Apr 27, 2023
6 min read

Updated: Aug 11

In Vedanta, bhakti yoga is defined as a means of devotion leading to union with God. Traditional Vedanta generally recommends three disciplines — karma yoga, upasana yoga, and jnana yoga. Bhakti yoga is not listed as a fourth, separate practice because bhakti is considered the attitude or approach applied to all three.

For example:

In karma yoga, bhakti is dedicating all actions to God and accepting the results as grace.
In upasana yoga, it is worship through single-pointed meditation on the attributes and glories of God.
In jnana yoga, bhakti is the discovery of the truth regarding the nature of existence, which is the same truth regarding God.

You cannot have karma yoga, upasana yoga, or jnana yoga without bhakti.

This point is seldom emphasized with Western students, partly because of a general aversion toward God — let alone any devotion to God. But in Vedanta, God is not seen as a separate being with human-like qualities, as in the Biblical tradition. Instead, God is defined as both the consciousness principle and the creative principle. The first is the formless “spirit” (pure consciousness), while the second is the force that includes the intelligence, energy, and matter of the material world.

From Duality to Non-Duality

More broadly, bhakti yoga is the devotee’s journey from dvaita (duality; the belief that God and I are separate) to advaita (non-duality; the knowledge that God and I are one). The outcome satisfies both the heart — our yearning to be in harmony with all that is — and the intellect — our desire to understand the nature of reality.

Bhakti yoga is the slow transformation from being an arta (from arti, meaning sorrow, grief, or trouble) to being a jnani (one who knows the Self — consciousness as the basis of reality). Jnana yoga, although not outwardly ritualistic, is considered the highest form of devotion because only through Self-knowledge can one realize unity with God. We were never apart from God; ignorance simply made us think so.

Another way to see bhakti is as the willful decision to seek security in what is unborn, unchanging, and always present. As jivas, it benefits us to build our foundation on what is substantial (the Self), rather than on what comes and goes — people, objects, events, and circumstances. Bhakti is also a way to be in harmony with a force we barely understand, even in an age of science.

Even the most resolute atheist must still ponder the how and why of existence.

The Inevitability of Worship

Writer David Foster Wallace once put it this way, in his speech This is Water:

Because here’s something else that’s weird but true: in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship — be it JC or Allah, be it YHWH or the Wiccan Mother Goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles — is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. On one level, we all know this stuff already. It’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of every great story. The whole trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness. Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on.

We are all devotees. The question isn’t whether we worship, but what we choose to worship.

The Bhagavata Purana offers a similar lesson in the form of a short parable: a wasp captures an insect and brings it to its nest. The insect, consumed with fear, can think of nothing else — until it becomes a wasp itself. The moral is simple: you become what you give your attention to. Worship money and you become greedy; worship sex and you become lecherous; worship power and you become tyrannical. All such devotions are selfish, worldly, and binding. Bhakti shifts attention from the small self (“me”) and the objects “out there” to that which frees rather than binds.

The Roadmap of Bhakti

Unique to bhakti yoga is that it provides a clear roadmap to moksha (spiritual freedom) — beginning with belief in God and maturing into knowledge of God. Most people never see devotion as a progression; they imagine worshiping a personal God is the end. In Vedanta, it is only the beginning. Faith is important at first, but it is meant to be a bridge to knowledge, not a substitute for it.

Bhakti yoga’s five stages form a continuum from dualistic to non-dual devotion:

Stage 1 – Informal devotion. Calling on God for help with security, pleasure, or emotional support. Worship is physical and extroverted: charity, puja, temple visits. This stage is not required for self-inquiry.

Stage 2 – Karma yoga. Offering all actions to God, accepting results as prasad (grace). Actions shift from selfish to selfless, often in service. Devotion remains outward.

Stage 3 – Upasana yoga (God with form). Meditation on a chosen deity such as Krishna or Rama. Life is simplified, the mind steadied. Worship turns inward.

Stage 4 – Upasana yoga (God as totality). Seeing God in all things, both “good” and “bad.” Understanding God as both maker and material. Worship remains inward and mental.

Stage 5 – Jnana yoga (Self-knowledge). Worship takes the form of self-inquiry:

Shravana — listening to Vedanta’s teachings.
Manana — reflecting until doubts are resolved.
Nididhyasana — contemplating the Self as the formless essence of all.

Here, God is no longer seen as separate. Worship is the steady recognition of one’s own nature.

Beyond the Stages

The first four stages are dvaita bhakti (dualistic worship); the last is advaita bhakti (non-dualistic worship). None negates the others — they simply expand the picture. A mature devotee can appreciate God as both form and formless, as personal deity and totality, as the very essence of all.

The roadmap also explains why few reach the last stage: it requires not only faith but understanding, and understanding requires preparation and the guidance of a qualified teacher.

The stages of devotion (credit: James Swartz)

In conclusion, bhakti yoga is more than emotional worship; it is the unifying spirit behind all spiritual disciplines in Vedanta. It begins with seeking from God and ends with seeing that you are not other than God. The journey transforms the heart, sharpens the intellect, and culminates in freedom — moksha — the recognition that the Self and the whole are one.

Root & Meaning

Sanskrit bhaj (“to share,” “to partake in,” “to love”) + yoga (“discipline” or “union”); literally “the discipline of devotion/love.”

Scriptural References

Bhagavad Gita (9.22, 9.34, 12.8–12.20) – Defines devotion, its forms, and the qualities of the true devotee; emphasizes surrender to God and constant remembrance.
Bhagavata Purana (11.14.21, 11.14.26) – Describes devotion as the supreme means to liberation, above all other yogas.
Narada Bhakti Sutras (2, 19, 27–28) – Outlines the nature of pure devotion and its stages from desire-based to desireless love for God.
Mundaka Upanishad (3.2.3–4) – States that the Self is attained by the one whom the Self chooses, emphasizing devotion as an essential qualification.
Vivekachudamani (31–32) – Identifies bhakti as seeking the truth of one’s own Self and recognizing it as non-different from Brahman.