Namaste HDF,

'Kamya bhakti' is the term denoting rendering bhakti with anticipation for some result to be awarded by god in return. Following the recent discussion at the Shaiva forum on the topic 'fasting for shiva 16 straight mondays', I found this good article published earlier on the Hindu:

From http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...le5224398.ece:

"Karma, bhakti and jnana are shown to lead to God realisation. The Gita stresses the efficacy of bhakti while explaining the three paths and maintaining that these are not mutually exclusive, pointed out Swami Omkarananda in a lecture.The Lord tells Arjuna that He is bound by true devotion and that a devotee who seeks Him for His sake alone is most dear to Him. But not all jivatmas are ready to qualify for that kind of superior and selfless devotion though the concept of having God in one’s consciousness in our daily life is embedded in our culture.
The tendency to bring God at the individual, family and social levels helps to build strength of mind and fearlessness. Usually people seek Him for fulfilment of their daily needs, aspirations and achievements in life, and this is popularly known as sadana bhakti or kamya bhakti.
The Lord says that He initially encourages this kind of devotion to build a bond between a jivatma and Him. He says whatever material benefits are sought from Him are granted but He waits for the jivatma to seek only Him.
In the long run, it is recognised that material gains at best can give only ephemeral joy and not peace of mind. In fact, all such gains only increase anxiety and sorrow. Spiritual progress in an individual is manifest when one realises that bhakti is not just seeking material gains from God through prayers and that the desire to serve God at all times is the ultimate goal one should aspire for.
Desires are the cause of the prominent feelings of like and dislike. When devotion to God becomes stronger, the pulls of worldly attractions weaken automatically and the devotee is no longer affected by base feelings. When the bhakta dedicates himself to God, he progresses in his quest for salvation.
Arjuna wonders aloud about the relative merits of the worship of the formless (nirguna) Brahman and of the manifested form that is accessible to all. To focus on the former is a harder task to the aspirant while the Lord stands revealed through untarnished bhakti that surrenders absolutely to Him."

These are my conclusions regarding Kamya Bhakti:

1. There is nothing wrong with Kamya Bhakti. No scripture speaks against this form of bhakti, especially for aspirants who are in the beginning stages of bhakti (which 99% of the world are). This is to mean that there is no necessity for discouraging someone from doing Kamya Bhakti.

2. Kamya bhakti, as stated in the above article, will over a long run, perhaps an entire lifetime or more, will lead to Nishkamya Bhakti, or bhakti without expecting any results. The gradual change in the aspirant in his attitude towards bhakti, that is his change from Kamya to Nishkamya form of bhakti, is seen as a by-product of several happenings: the happening on his life-front: As he gets rewarded, his desires for asking for more may subdue. As he gets rewarded, he may also develop a certain bonding and filled with gratitude for the Lord. Secondly and most importantly, as he does more and more of Kamya bhakti, the Lord himself grants him real bhakti and makes the aspirant feel true love for him. This is a very, very rare occuring indeed, which can happen only with the blessing from Lord. It is said, inspite of every effort the thumb makes, it cannot touch the tip of the index finger (god) unless the index finger bends on its own. This is how it is compared with the aspirant-god scenario. An aspirant cannot develop true bhakti towards god unless aided by the Lord himself! And Kamya bhakti is one form of valid bhakti to pursue in initial stages to reach out to the Lord in some way.

3. Kamya Bhakti and true love for god can co-exist in the same person: This is to say that, we should never doubt someone and criticize his bhakti as 'inferior' if he says he is doing Kamya bhakti.

4. Kamya Bhakti cannot and will not block one's development of Nishkamya bhakti: It is seen as a gradual process in its initial stages that one resorts to Kamya bhakti and it has true potential to lead one towards Nishkamya Bhakti.

These are my conclusions (and also original ideas on Kamya bhakti). Do you agree?

Thanks.