In the stage of transcendental love of God there are further developments, known as transcendental affection, emotion, ecstasy, and extreme and intense attachment. These are technically known by the terms rāga, anurāga, bhāva and mahābhāva. The progress from one stage to another is like the thickening of sugarcane juice. In the first stage sugarcane juice is a thin liquid. When, by evaporation, it becomes thicker and thicker, it turns into molasses. Then it turns into granules of sugar, then rock candy, and so on. Just as sugarcane juice progresses from one stage to another, similarly transcendental love for the Supreme Lord develops by stages.
When one actually becomes situated on the transcendental platform, he becomes steady. Unless one is so situated, his position is not steady and he may fall down. When one is actually situated transcendentally, there is no fear of falling down. This stage is technically called sthāyi-bhāva. There are further developments within this stage, known as vibhāva, anubhāva, sāttvika and vyabhicārī. When these four ingredients are added to the steadfast position of pure transcendental life, there is actually an exchange of rasa, or transcendental mellows, with the Supreme Lord. This exchange in loving reciprocation between the lover and the beloved is generally called kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa, the transcendental taste of exchanging loving sentiments between the devotee and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It should be noted, however, that the transcendental loving exchanges stand on the steadfast position of sthāyi-bhāva, as explained above. The basic principle of vibhāva is sthāyi-bhāva, and all other activities are auxiliary for the development of transcendental love.
The ecstasy of transcendental love has two components—the context and the cause of the excitement. The context is also divided into two parts—the subject and the object. The exchange of devotional service is the subject, and Kṛṣṇa is the object. His transcendental qualities are the causes of excitement. This means that a devotee who becomes enamored by the transcendental qualities of Kṛṣṇa becomes excited to serve Him. The impersonal (Māyāvādī) philosophers say that the Absolute Truth is nirguṇa, "without qualities," but the Vaiṣṇava philosophers say that the Absolute Truth is described as nirguṇa because He has no material qualities. This is not to say that He has no spiritual qualities. Indeed, the Lord's spiritual qualities are so great and so enchanting that even liberated persons become attracted to Him. This is explained in the ātmārāma verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.7.10), where it is said that those who are already situated on the platform of self-realization are attracted by the transcendental qualities of Kṛṣṇa. This means that Kṛṣṇa's qualities are not material but are pure and transcendental.
The highest stage of ecstasy is characterized by the following thirteen transcendental activities: (1) dancing, (2) rolling on the floor, (3) singing, (4) clapping, (5) stretching the body, (6) thundering, (7) yawning, (8) breathing heavily, (9) forgetting social conventions, (10) drooling, (11) laughing, (12) shaking the head, and (13) hiccoughing. All these symptoms are not awakened simultaneously; they appear according to the exchange of transcendental mellows. Sometimes one symptom is prominent, and at another time another is prominent.