Within Dvaita Vedānta, bhakti is not an optional ornament to spiritual life but the very heart of the path. Because the individual self (jīva or ātman) and Brahman (Viṣṇu) are held to be eternally distinct, the highest relationship between them is not one of identity but of loving dependence. Devotion thus becomes the natural and proper stance of the finite soul before the infinite Lord: a posture of reverence, service, and love directed toward a personal, all-perfect deity. In this vision, the soul’s eternal difference from God is not a limitation to be overcome, but the ground for an everlasting devotional bond.

Bhakti is regarded as the primary means to liberation (mokṣa), surpassing knowledge and ritual action when taken in isolation. While right understanding and ethical conduct have their place, they are viewed as incomplete without a devotional orientation toward Viṣṇu. Liberation is ultimately a gift of divine grace, and that grace is said to be drawn by unwavering, heartfelt devotion. Through such bhakti, the soul comes to experience eternal bliss in the presence of the Lord, not by merging with Him, but by dwelling in a state of loving proximity and service.

This devotional stance also reflects the soul’s inherent nature as a servant (dāsa) of Viṣṇu, a status that is neither temporary nor merely pedagogical. Bhakti acknowledges and reinforces the eternal hierarchy between the Supreme and the individual soul, preserving the dualistic framework in which God remains forever the object of worship rather than one’s own deepest identity. In this way, devotion functions both as the path and the goal: it is the means through which grace is received and, at its culmination, it flowers into prema, a fully awakened divine love that endures eternally in the soul’s relationship with Viṣṇu.