Guest guest Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 In the Srimad-Bhagavata and the Vishnu Purana it is told that the nine forms of Bhakti are Sravana (hearing of God's Lilas and stories), Kirtana (singing of His glories), Smarana (remembrance of His name and presence), Padasevana (service of His feet), Archana (worship of God), Vandana (prostration to Lord), Dasya (cultivating the Bhava of a servant with God), Sakhya (cultivation of the friend-Bhava) and Atmanivedana (complete surrender of the self). A devotee can practice any method of Bhakti which suits him best. Through that he will attain Divine illumination. 1)Sravana ..is hearing of Lord's Lilas. Sravana includes hearing of God's virtues, glories, sports and stories connected with His divine Name and Form. The devotee gets absorbed in the hearing of Divine stories and his mind merges in the thought of divinity; it cannot think of undivine things. The mind loses, as it were, its charm for the world. The devotee remembers God only even in dream. The devotee should sit before a learned teacher who is a great saint and hear Divine stories. He should hear them with a sincere heart devoid of the sense of criticism or fault-finding. The devotee should try his best to live in the ideals preached in the scriptures. One cannot attain Sravana-Bhakti without the company of saints or wise men. Mere reading for oneself is not of much use. Doubts will crop up. They cannot be solved by oneself easily. An experienced man is necessary to instruct the devotee in the right path. King Parikshit attained Liberation through Sravana. He heard the glories of God from Suka Maharishi. His heart was purified. He attained the Abode of Lord Vishnu in Vaikuntha. He became liberated and enjoyed the Supreme Bliss. 2)Kirtana.. is singing of Lord's glories. The devotee is thrilled with Divine Emotion. He loses himself in the love of God. He gets horripilation in the body due to extreme love for God. He weeps in the middle when thinking of the glory of God. His voice becomes choked, and he flies into a state of Divine Bhava. The devotee is ever engaged in Japa of the Lord's Name and in describing His glories to one and all. Wherever he goes he begins to sing and praise God. He requests all to join his Kirtana. He sings and dances in ecstasy. He makes others also dance. 3)Smarana..is remembrance of the Lord at all times. This is unbroken memory of the Name and Form of the Lord. The mind does not think of any object of the world, but is ever engrossed in thinking of the glorious Lord alone. The mind meditates on what is heard about the glories of God and His virtues, Names, etc., and forgets even the body and contents itself in the remembrance of God, just as Dhruva or Prahlada did. Even Japa is only remembrance of God and comes under this category of Bhakti. Remembrance also includes hearing of stories pertaining to God at all times, talking of God, teaching to others what pertains to God, meditation on the attributes of God, etc. Remembrance has no particular time. God is to be remembered at all times without break, so long as one has got his consciousness intact. 4)Padasevana is serving the Lord's Feet. Actually this can be done only by Lakshmi or Parvati. No mortal being has got the fortune to practice this method of Bhakti, for the Lord is not visible to the physical eyes. But it is possible to serve the image of God in idols and better still, taking the whole humanity as God. This is Padasevana. Padasevana is service of the sick. Padasevana is service of the whole humanity at large. The whole universe is only Virat-Swarupa. Service of the world is service of the Lord. 5)Archana.. is worship of the Lord. Worship can be done either through an image or a picture or even a mental form. The image should be one appealing to the mind of the worshipper. Worship can be done either with external materials or merely through an internal Bhava or strong feeling. The latter one is an advanced form of worship which only men of purified intellect can do. The purpose of worship is to please the Lord, to purify the heart through surrender of the ego and love of God. 6)Vandana.. is prayer and prostration. Humble prostration touching the earth with the eight limbs of the body (Sashtanga-Namaskara), with faith and reverence, before a form of God, or prostration to all beings knowing them to be the forms of the One God, and getting absorbed in the Divine Love of the Lord is termed prostration to God or Vandana. The ego or Ahamkara is effaced out completely through devout prayer and prostration to God. Divine grace descends upon the devotee and man becomes God. 7)Dasya Bhakti ..is the love of God through servant-sentiment. To serve God and carry out His wishes, realizing His virtues, nature, mystery and glory, considering oneself as a slave of God, the Supreme Master, is Dasya Bhakti. Serving and worshipping the Murtis in temples, sweeping the temple premises, meditating on God and mentally serving Him like a slave, serving the saints and the sages, serving the devotees of God, serving poor and sick people who are forms of God, is also included in Dasya-Bhakti. To follow the words of the scriptures, to act according to the injunctions of the Vedas, considering them to be direct words of God, is Dasya Bhakti. Association with and service of love-intoxicated devotees and service of those who have knowledge of God is Dasya Bhakti. The purpose behind Dasya Bhakti is to be ever with God in order to offer service to Him and win His Divine Grace and attain thereby immortality. 8)Sakhya-Bhava.. is the cultivation of the friend-sentiment with God. The inmates of the family of Nandagopa cultivated this Bhakti. Arjuna cultivated this kind of Bhakti towards Lord Krishna. To be always with the Lord, to treat Him as one's own dear relative or a friend belonging to one's own family, to be in His company at all times, to love Him as one's own self, is Sakhya-Bhava of Bhakti-Marga. How do friends, real friends, love in this world ? What an amount of love they possess between one another ? Such a love is developed towards God instead of towards man; physical love turned into spiritual love. There is a transformation of the mundane into the Eternal. 9)Atma-Nivedana.. is self-surrender. The devotee offers everything to God, including his body, mind and soul. He keeps nothing for himself. He loses even his own self. He has no personal and independent existence. He has given up his self for God. He has become part and parcel of God. God takes care of him and God treats him as Himself. Grief and sorrow, pleasure and pain, the devotee treats as gifts sent by God and does not attach himself to them. He considers himself as a puppet of God and an instrument in the hands of God. This self-surrender is Absolute Love for God exclusively. There is nothing but God-consciousness in the devotee. Even against his own wishes, the devotee shall become one with God and lose his individuality. This is the law of being. The highest truth is Absoluteness and the soul rises above through different states of consciousness until it attains Absolute Perfection when it becomes identical with God. This is the culmination of all aspiration and love. The nine modes of Bhakti are the ways in which a devotee attains the Supreme Ideal of life. A devotee can take up any of these paths and reach the highest state. The path of Bhakti is the easiest of all and is not very much against the nature of human inclinations. It slowly and gradually takes the individual to the Supreme without frustrating his human instincts. It is not direct assertion of God, but a progressive. | Jaigurudev | Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 18, 2007 Report Share Posted October 18, 2007 Jai Gurudev..... Dear Ganeshbhai, I read the last 3 mail you posted on the list. They are very very inspirational and life changing. Please keep up the work. I personally thank you very much for sending such mails. Regards Jai Gurudev Vishal Thacker > " Ganesh *** " <Kriyababa1 > >kriyababa_spiritualjourney > >>> 9 Types of Bhakti>>> >Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:24:42 +0530 > >In the Srimad-Bhagavata and the Vishnu Purana it is told that the nine >forms >of Bhakti are > > 1. *Sravana *(hearing of God's Lilas and stories), > 2. *Kirtana *(singing of His glories), > 3. *Smarana* (remembrance of His name and presence), > 4. *Padasevana *(service of His feet), > 5. *Archana* (worship of God), > 6. *Vandana *(prostration to Lord), > 7. *Dasya* (cultivating the Bhava of a servant with God), > 8. *Sakhya *(cultivation of the friend-Bhava) and > 9. *Atmanivedana *(complete surrender of the self). > >A devotee can practice any method of Bhakti which suits him best. Through >that he will attain Divine illumination. > >*1)Sravana *..is hearing of Lord's Lilas. Sravana includes hearing of God's >virtues, glories, sports and stories connected with His divine Name and >Form. The devotee gets absorbed in the hearing of Divine stories and his >mind merges in the thought of divinity; it cannot think of undivine things. >The mind loses, as it were, its charm for the world. The devotee remembers >God only even in dream. > >The devotee should sit before a learned teacher who is a great saint and >hear Divine stories. He should hear them with a sincere heart devoid of the >sense of criticism or fault-finding. The devotee should try his best to >live >in the ideals preached in the scriptures. > >One cannot attain Sravana-Bhakti without the company of saints or wise men. >Mere reading for oneself is not of much use. Doubts will crop up. They >cannot be solved by oneself easily. An experienced man is necessary to >instruct the devotee in the right path. > >King Parikshit attained Liberation through Sravana. He heard the glories of >God from Suka Maharishi. His heart was purified. He attained the Abode of >Lord Vishnu in Vaikuntha. He became liberated and enjoyed the Supreme >Bliss. > > >*2)Kirtana..* is singing of Lord's glories. The devotee is thrilled with >Divine Emotion. He loses himself in the love of God. He gets horripilation >in the body due to extreme love for God. He weeps in the middle when >thinking of the glory of God. His voice becomes choked, and he flies into a >state of Divine Bhava. The devotee is ever engaged in Japa of the Lord's >Name and in describing His glories to one and all. Wherever he goes he >begins to sing and praise God. He requests all to join his Kirtana. He >sings >and dances in ecstasy. He makes others also dance. > >*3)Smarana..*is remembrance of the Lord at all times. This is unbroken >memory of the Name and Form of the Lord. The mind does not think of any >object of the world, but is ever engrossed in thinking of the glorious Lord >alone. The mind meditates on what is heard about the glories of God and His >virtues, Names, etc., and forgets even the body and contents itself in the >remembrance of God, just as Dhruva or Prahlada did. Even Japa is only >remembrance of God and comes under this category of Bhakti. Remembrance >also >includes hearing of stories pertaining to God at all times, talking of God, >teaching to others what pertains to God, meditation on the attributes of >God, etc. Remembrance has no particular time. God is to be remembered at >all >times without break, so long as one has got his consciousness intact. > >*4)Padasevana* is serving the Lord's Feet. Actually this can be done only >by >Lakshmi or Parvati. No mortal being has got the fortune to practice this >method of Bhakti, for the Lord is not visible to the physical eyes. But it >is possible to serve the image of God in idols and better still, taking the >whole humanity as God. This is Padasevana. Padasevana is service of the >sick. Padasevana is service of the whole humanity at large. The whole >universe is only Virat-Swarupa. Service of the world is service of the >Lord. > > >*5)Archana..* is worship of the Lord. Worship can be done either through an >image or a picture or even a mental form. The image should be one appealing >to the mind of the worshipper. > >Worship can be done either with external materials or merely through an >internal Bhava or strong feeling. The latter one is an advanced form of >worship which only men of purified intellect can do. The purpose of worship >is to please the Lord, to purify the heart through surrender of the ego and >love of God. > >*6)Vandana..* is prayer and prostration. Humble prostration touching the >earth with the eight limbs of the body (Sashtanga-Namaskara), with faith >and >reverence, before a form of God, or prostration to all beings knowing them >to be the forms of the One God, and getting absorbed in the Divine Love of >the Lord is termed prostration to God or Vandana. > >The ego or Ahamkara is effaced out completely through devout prayer and >prostration to God. Divine grace descends upon the devotee and man becomes >God. > >*7)Dasya Bhakti* ..is the love of God through servant-sentiment. To serve >God and carry out His wishes, realizing His virtues, nature, mystery and >glory, considering oneself as a slave of God, the Supreme Master, is Dasya >Bhakti. > >Serving and worshipping the Murtis in temples, sweeping the temple >premises, >meditating on God and mentally serving Him like a slave, serving the saints >and the sages, serving the devotees of God, serving poor and sick people >who >are forms of God, is also included in Dasya-Bhakti. > >To follow the words of the scriptures, to act according to the injunctions >of the Vedas, considering them to be direct words of God, is Dasya Bhakti. >Association with and service of love-intoxicated devotees and service of >those who have knowledge of God is Dasya Bhakti. The purpose behind Dasya >Bhakti is to be ever with God in order to offer service to Him and win His >Divine Grace and attain thereby immortality. > >*8)Sakhya-Bhava..* is the cultivation of the friend-sentiment with God. The >inmates of the family of Nandagopa cultivated this Bhakti. Arjuna >cultivated >this kind of Bhakti towards Lord Krishna. > >To be always with the Lord, to treat Him as one's own dear relative or a >friend belonging to one's own family, to be in His company at all times, to >love Him as one's own self, is Sakhya-Bhava of Bhakti-Marga. How do >friends, >real friends, love in this world ? What an amount of love they possess >between one another ? Such a love is developed towards God instead of >towards man; physical love turned into spiritual love. There is a >transformation of the mundane into the Eternal. > >*9)Atma-Nivedana..* is self-surrender. The devotee offers everything to >God, >including his body, mind and soul. He keeps nothing for himself. He loses >even his own self. He has no personal and independent existence. He has >given up his self for God. He has become part and parcel of God. God takes >care of him and God treats him as Himself. Grief and sorrow, pleasure and >pain, the devotee treats as gifts sent by God and does not attach himself >to >them. He considers himself as a puppet of God and an instrument in the >hands >of God. > >This self-surrender is Absolute Love for God exclusively. There is nothing >but God-consciousness in the devotee. Even against his own wishes, the >devotee shall become one with God and lose his individuality. This is the >law of being. The highest truth is Absoluteness and the soul rises above >through different states of consciousness until it attains Absolute >Perfection when it becomes identical with God. This is the culmination of >all aspiration and love. >The nine modes of Bhakti are the ways in which a devotee attains the >Supreme >Ideal of life. A devotee can take up any of these paths and reach the >highest state. The path of Bhakti is the easiest of all and is not very >much >against the nature of human inclinations. It slowly and gradually takes the >individual to the Supreme without frustrating his human instincts. It is >not >direct assertion of God, but a progressive. > >| Jaigurudev | Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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