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It was Prahlada, a five-year old boy, spiritually oriented even as he was born, who taught his boyhood contemporaries the Nine Expressions of Bhakti – a concept that is most well-known in Hindu religious world. Bhakti is intense devotion towards the Almighty. The nine manifestations of Bhakti are all sure paths to God according to all Hindu scriptures. - Shravanam: Listening to the stories and glories of God.
- Kīrtanam: Singing or Reciting the names and glories of God.
- Smaranam: Recalling God and His exploits.
- Pāda-sevanam: Waiting on Him.
- Archanam: Ritual Worship of God’s forms or images.
- Vandanam: Prostration to God.
- Dāsyam: Service to His personality or incarnation.
- Sakhyam: Befriending Him.
- Ātma-nivedanam: Dedicating oneself to him, heart and soul.
The oft-quoted source of this is the verse from the Bhagavatam (7.5.23-24):
śrī-prahrāda uvāca: - śravaṇaḿ kīrtanaḿ viṣṇoḥsmaraṇaḿ pāda-sevanam
- arcanaḿ vandanaḿ dāsyaḿ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam
- iti puḿsārpitā viṣṇau bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā
- kriyeta bhagavaty addhā tan manye 'dhītam uttamam
Translation:Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name,
form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words) — these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṇa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.
The puranas as well as recorded biographies in history give several instances where devotees of God have practised one or more of these ways and finally attained God-Realisation.
- King Parikshit listened to the recital of the Bhagavatam for seven continuous days from Sage Shuka.
- Mirabai, Chaitanya and Tyagaraja in historical times and Nārada, the wandering sage of all the puranas are monumental examples who practised sankirtanam of names of God and attained Moksha.
- Sage Shuka himself is the undisputed example for the recalling of God’s deeds.
- Kings Ambarisha and Prithu, (from the Bhagavatam) and all the
Pontiffs of Hindu religious organizations of recorded history, are foremost examples for the practice of Archanam.
- The example from Ramayana for the vandana method of worship is that of Bharata who worshipped Rama’s sandals and governed Ayodhya for fourteen years as a servant of those sandals.
- The standard example for the dāsya (service to God) method of worship is that of Hanuman of the Ramayana. Taking Service to the devotees of God and to people in general as Service to God Himself, we have umpteen instances of the dāsya method of worship, all around our every day world.
- Sugriva of the Ramayana and Arjuna of the Mahabharata are the examples for the sakhya method of worshipping the Absolute. Sugriva befriended Rama and Arjuna befriended Krishna.
- Those who have given their very lives to the Lord are the standing examples for worship by means of Atma-nivedanam. The mythological model is King Bali who gave his very head for the third Cosmic step of God in his Vamana avatar.
Source: Srimad Bhagavatam. Topics in Hinduism
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