4 kinds of Devotee

NAME Four Kinds of Bhaktas?

chapter 7 of Bhagavd Gita explains about all these four types of devotees:-

Bhaktas or devotees of God are of four types. Arta, Jijnasu, Artharthi and Jnani.

Arta (the distressed):------

These are the people who are experiencing pain and suffering either at physical level or at mental level. They are very much upset with their lives and have no hope on it. In such a scenario when they are completely broken and shattered with grief from all sides, they still have faith in GOD and He is the only ONE from whose side Hope is yet not gone for them. 

They approaches GOD to get liberated from their pains and hence are called ‘Arta’ Although Artas are not high level of Bhaktas and their devotion to God is the result of their pain, It is still to be understood that in most difficult times of our life , it is not easy to have faith even in GOD. 

And hence if a person is able to keep his trust and faith in GOD even though in tough times- it is a good sign and the person itself is called as one of the devotees of GOD.

Arta is the distressed devotee who is suffering very much and who craves for the grace of God, in order to get himself relieved from pain and sorrow,Draupadi and Gajendra are examples of Arta-Bhaktas. 

When Dussasana dragged her before the court of the Kauravas and pulled her sari, Draupadi cried for Krishna in order to guard her respect. Gajendra called on Narayana when a crocodile was dragging him in water.

Artharti (Devotees with certain wishes) –----

These devotees approaches GOD with the desires of material wealth, kids, name and fame. Although devotion of such people towards GOD is for wealth and specific desires, they are also termed as a Bhakta as because of any reasons they are associated with Artharthi is the seeker of wealth, who longs for earthly possessions, money, land, etc., in order to enjoy a happy life, and who propitiates God to get His grace to amass wealthThe seeker after wealth craves for money, wife, children, position, name and fame. 

Sugriva and Dhruva were Artharthi-Bhaktas.

 Sugriva wanted to drive away Vali and get his kingdom. Vibhishana wanted to put an end to Ravana and get Lanka. Dhruva wanted a kingdom where his step mother would not trouble and ill-treat him.

.Divine.Jigyasu (Knowledge Seeker)------

These are the devotees who have faith in God and want to explore more about Him. They are just curious to know more about Divine and are very much inquisitive about BRAHMAN. They read scriptures and other literature from saints and try to figure out ways and means to discover greater depths of infinite GOD.Jijnasu is the enquirer. He is dissatisfied with the world. There is a void in his life. He always feels that sensual pleasure is not the highest form of happiness and there is yet pure eternal bliss unmixed with grief and pain, which is to be found within.

Uddhava was a Jijnasu. He was dissatisfied with the world and got wisdom from Sri Krishna. This is recorded in the Bhagavata.

Jnani (Self Realised)------

These are the devotees who have finally realized GOD and have true knowledge of Him, His creation and the entire cosmos. They understand Brahman and are liberated from all Karma specific boundations of life. Jnani is the wise, the sage who is satisfied with the Self, who is contented in the Self, who has no desires, who is freed from desires, who has fulfilled all desires, whose only desire is the Self; who considers his own Self as the All-inclusive God.The Jnani is a man of knowledge who has attained Self-illumination. Suka-Maharshi was a Jnani-Bhakta. He was a Brahma-Jnani of the highest type. He realised that everything was his own Self. He taught the Srimad-Bhagavata to Parikshit

Vaira Bhaktas----

.There is another type of Bhaktas, called Vaira Bhaktas. These Bhaktas are negative Bhaktas. They do not have positive devotion for God. They hate God and thus remember Him always. Hatred also requires a constant remembrance of the enemy. So these also are a kind of Bhaktas only. They attain salvation through Vaira-Bhakti. Kansa, Sisupala and others thought of the Lord constantly on account of their deep hatred for Him. Thus they attained Salvation.--SHIVOHAM