There are many stages in the appearance of Prema (love of Godhead). Those which are noticeable in all circumstances wiÿl be described. In the first instance it is seen that the world is made up of unlimited souls who, due to the fault of being inimical towards the Supreme Lord, have no permanent shelter and are therefore carried hither and thither by the waves in the ocean of material existence. When the Lord's favour somehow or other shines on them the shackles which are keeping them tightly bound in material existence begin to rust away and the first thing that happens is that they get the association of saintly persons. In the association of such saintly persons they are then eligible to receive the great fortune of being able to hear from the scriptures about the greatness and influence of devotees, devotion and the Supreme Lord. By hearing from the scriptures faith and confidence can make their appearance. In this instance faith means that one comes to firmly believe in the import, reason and basis of the scriptures.
After the generation of firm faith, the association of saintly persons next affords one of the opportunity to learn the customs, practices and rites of adoration and service. Beginning from this one may begin to execute these different practices beginning with accepting the shelter of a spiritual master. By executing these different practices the unwanted things subside. These unwanted things are of 4 kinds: duskrtottah — (that which incites wicked behaviour) ignorance, self-conceit, thinking of oneself as the doer, attachment to worldly affairs, malice, hatred, wantonness; sukrtottah — persistent devotion to sense enjoyment; paradhottah — that which gives rise to committing offences; and bhaktyuttah — devotion which results in desires for profit, adoration and distinction. After the cessation of unwanted behaviour comes niṣtha, steadiness or undistracted, undivided, full attention towards devotional service. Next ruci develops, a taste or an ardent desire, eagerness or longing for the object of devotional service. Hereafter asakti (attachment) becomes manifest. The difference between steadiness and attachment is that steadiness is the result of the action of intelligence whereas attachment is spontaneous and not dependent on any kind of reasonable arguments. Now come bhava or rati (deep attachment), followed by prema. These are the gradual stages culminating in prema.