To practice bhakti means to center our life on God. The Bhagavad-gita (12.19) substantiates this by indicating that Krishna is the home for the consciousness of exalted devotees. He is the pivot of their inner world, the point to which their thoughts naturally return after dealing with various subjects in his service.

We too can follow in the footsteps of such devotees by striving to connect whatever we do with Krishna. We can surcharge our heart with his remembrance and infuse our various activities with a mood of service.

Additionally, to become strongly fixed in devotion, we need to make Krishna our life’s circumference, meaning that we don’t let our actions cross the boundaries he sets. That is, we avoid doing those things that he disapproves, as conveyed by scriptures and sages.

After all, love always brings boundaries. When we love someone, we don’t just do the things that please them; we also avoid the things that displease them. The same principle applies to our relationship with Krishna. To make our devotion authentic, we need to regulate our life according to his guidelines. If we strive to make him our center, but not our circumference, then our non-devotional or anti-devotional actions will prevent our devotion from becoming deep-rooted.

Of course, not everyone can connect with Krishna at the same level. Accordingly, the Gita (12.08-12) outlines various levels at which we can connect with him. These represent circles of increasing circumference to accommodate people at decreasing levels of spiritual evolution.

Once our life is firmly centered on Krishna, we can, if needed, expand the circumference for taking his message to others. But to share the joy of devotion, we should first be relishing it ourselves. And for accessing that joy, we need to make Krishna both our center and our circumference.

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