Bhakti Ratnavali - or A Necklace of Devotional Gems
Compiled by Vishnu Puri
An anthology of about four hundred verses selected by a medieval ascetic named Vishnu Puri, from the Srimad Bhagavata. In these verses we get a clear outline of the doctrine of Bhakti, both in its theory and practice, as conceived by the great devotional text, the Bhagavata.
Those who have succeeded in attaching or detaching their minds at will have succeeded in Pratyahara, which means gathering towards, checking the outgoing powers of the mind, freeing it from the thralldom of the senses. When we can do this, we shall really possess character; then alone we shall have taken a long step towards freedom. Before that, we are mere machines.
-Swami Vivekananda