The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c11.133

v1.c11.133

The Bhaktas believe that for the attainment of supreme beatitude, they must pass through five stages or states of probation. The first of these is called *Śānta* or quietism, or a state of calm contemplation of the Deity. The second is *Dāsya* or servitude, which in a more active state leads on to the third or *Sakhya* or friendship, and that in its turn to the fourth or *Vātsalya* (filial affection), and lastly to *Mādhurya* or love, when the devotee, rising above all idea of divinity, entertains the same ardent attachment for the Deity which a human lover feels for the object of his love, or “what the milkmaids of Vṛndāvana entertained for their charming Kṛṣṇa”.