7/27/2019 Nine Forms of Bhakti

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Nine forms of Bhakti

An ocean of literature on Bhakti is available in the great Epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata and in the Puranas.

According to BhAgavata PurAna there are nine forms in which bhakti might be expressed:

Sravana (Listening to recitals of the names and glories of God): The tradition of Katha Kalachepam (Recitation of stories

from Ramayana, Bhagavatam and other Puranic stories) and musical recitals are good examples. In the south, thousands

of people gather to listen to Sengalipuram AnatarAma Dikshidar and other great story tellers. Thousands of people also

attend Carnatic music recitals to listen to the Kirthanas (poems in musical form) composed by Saints Meera, Tyagaraja,Tulasidas, Purandaradas and others.

Nama-sankirtana (Reciting the names of God as did Narada, Chaitanya, Meera, Tyagaraja, Ramdas, Purandaradas, etc.)

Bhakti in this form infers that the Bhakta sings the glory of his Lord twenty four hours a day without stopping!

Smarana (Recalling the glory of the Lord and His Deeds): The greatest example for this form of devotion is the story of

PrahlAda. The empty mind of Hiranyakasipu (father of Prahlada) was filled with proud and ego. On the other hand,

PrahlAda's mind was filled with the glory of Narayana. Hiranya asked Prahlada tenderly, "Son! Tell me what you have

learnt at school." Prahlada replied, "I have learnt that the essence of Bhakti from all scriptures as - OM NAMO

NARAYANAYA."

Pada-sevana (Go along the footsteps of the Lord and follow him wherever. He goes): Lakshmana, the younger brother ofLord Rama is an excellent example to illustrate Pada-sevana. Rama's younger brother Bharathan was in fact a great

devotee of Rama and he worshiped and treated the Sandals (Pathuka) of Rama equivalent to His Pada!

Archana (Worshiping the Lord through Pujas): Temple visitations and conducting Pujas at home on regular basis fall into

this form of worship.

Vandana (Saluting the Lord through prayers): All forms of temple worship will fall into this classification of Bhakti.

Dasya (Service with total dedication without ego): Hanuman is the greatest example for this form of Bhakti. Ramakrishna

Paramahamsa gave a beautiful example to illustrate Hanuman's Bhakti toward Shri Ram. The Lord once asked Hanuman,

"What is your attitude toward men? How do you look upon, think of and worship me?" Hanuman replied, " O Rama, I amconscious of my body when I feel that I am this visible body and then I have the conviction that thou art the Lord and I am

thy servant. Thou art to be served and I am the one to serve. When I am conscious of my self as the individual self, one

with the mind, the intellect and the soul, I have the conviction that thou art the whole and I am thy part. When again, I

remain in samadhi, in the mood that I am the pure Self without all qualifying adjuncts, I have the conviction that I am also

verily that which Thou art. Thou and I are one. There is no difference whatsoever."

Sakhya (Befriending Him): Arjuna, Sugriva, Guka and Vibhishna, are good illustrations for this form of Bhakti.

Atma-nivedana (Total dedication of oneself to Him). The story of Kannappa Nayanar illustrates this form of Bhakti.

In all these form of bhakti, prema (love) is the essential component. The purest form of prema was shown by the great

bhaktas, Meera, Andal, Tyagaraja, Chaitanya, Tukaram, and Jayadeva, the Nayanars and Alwars of south India and

others. In fact whenever, we bow to God, we do namaskara. Na-mama-kara declares that "all that I am and have is due to

Your Grace." During our temple worship through Archana, the term "Namah" is invariably used. The Taittiriya-

Upanishad acclaims the virtue of using "Namah" while worshiping and says; "Desires fall at the feet of such a one who

worships Him by saying Namah: tam nama ityupAsIta, namyante-asmai kAmAh.

Among the nine forms of Bhakti described above, four have contemporary relevance; Sravana, Nama-sankritana,

smarana, and archana. All these rest on the glory of Ishwara and His Glory. Our mind is always riddled and unsteady with

desire and hate and lust and greed. Reciting the names of Ishwara in rhythmic pattern (Japa) will help us for turning the

mind inward. We are at the elementary stage of spiritual evolution and repeating the name of Ishwara is a potent form of

disciplining the unsteady mind from desire, hate, lust and greed. Faith is an integral part of Bhakti and the rule of thump

for Bhaktas is to Do What Rama did and Krishna Said!