Text 24] Pure Devotional Service: The Change in Heart
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rendering loving service to the Lord.  Vidhi-bhakti , or regulated devotional service by the limbs of the body (namely the eyes, the ears, the nose, the hands, the legs, as already explained hereinbefore), is now stressed herein in relation to the mind, which is the impetus of all activities of the limbs of the body. It is expected by all means that by discharging regulated devotional service one must manifest the change of heart. If there is no such change, the heart must be considered as steel-framed, for it is not melted even when there is chanting of the holy name of the Lord. We must always remember that hearing and chanting are the basic principles of discharging devotional duties, and if they are properly performed there will follow the reactional ecstasy with signs of tears in the eyes and standing of the hairs on the body. These are natural consequences and are the preliminary symptoms of  bhāva  stage, which occurs before one reaches the perfectional stage of  prema , love of Godhead.
If the reaction does not take place, even after continuous hearing and chanting of the holy name of the Lord, it may be considered to be due to offenses only. That is the opinion of the  Sandharbha . In the beginning of chanting of the holy name of the Lord, if the devotee has not been very careful about evading the ten kinds of offenses at the feet of the holy name, certainly the reaction of feelings of separation will not be visible by tears in the eyes and standing of the hair on end.
The  bhāva  stage is manifested by eight transcendental symptoms, namely stuntedness, perspiration, standing of hairs on end, failing in voice, trembling, paleness of the body, tears in the eyes and finally trance.  The Nectar of Devotion , a summary study of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī's  Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , explains those symptoms and vividly describes other transcendental developments, both in steady and accelerating manifestations.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākur has very critically discussed all these  bhāva  displays in connection with some unscrupulous neophyte's imitating the above symptoms for cheap appreciation. Not only Viśvanātha Cakravartī but also Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī treated them very critically. Sometimes all the above eight symptoms of ecstasy are imitated by the mundane devotees ( prakṛta sahajiyās ), but the pseudo symptoms are at once detected when one sees the pseudo devotee addicted to so many forbidden things. A person addicted to smoking, drinking or illegitimate sex with women, even though decorated with the signs of a devotee, cannot have all the above-mentioned ecstatic symptoms. But it is seen that sometimes they are willfully imitated, and for this reason Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī accuses the imitators of being stone-hearted men. They are even