There are five stages of loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead—śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and mādhurya
SB 10.3.31, Purport: There are
five stages of loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead—śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and mādhurya. Devakī is on the platform of vātsalya. She wanted to deal with her eternal son, Kṛṣṇa, in that stage of love, and therefore she wanted the Supreme Personality of Godhead to withdraw His opulent form of Viṣṇu. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura illuminates this fact very clearly in his explanation of this verse.
Bhakti, bhagavān and bhakta do not belong to the material world. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (14.26):
- mäà ca yo 'vyabhicäreëa
- bhakti-yogena sevate
- sa guṇān samatītyaitān
- brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
"One who engages in the spiritual activities of unalloyed devotional service immediately transcends the modes of material nature and is elevated to the spiritual platform." From the very beginning of one's transactions in bhakti, one is situated on the transcendental platform. Vasudeva and Devakī, therefore, being situated in a completely pure devotional state, are beyond this material world and are not subject to material fear. In the transcendental world, however, because of pure devotion, there is a similar conception of fear, which is due to intense love.