Navadha Bhakti - The Nine Ways of Connecting With God

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Navadha Bhakti – The Nine Ways of

Connecting with God
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Navadha Bhakti – The Nine Ways of Connecting
with God
Article of the Month - April 2013
Bhakti is the foundation of all spiritual practice. It is both a means and an end in itself. What
is the nature of Bhakti? The Narada Bhakti Sutras say: ‘It is of the nature of supreme love
towards God’ (2nd Sutra). How does this love towards the divine manifest itself? The Srimad
Bhagavatam (7.5.23), delineates the nine ways (Navadha Bhakti) in which we can lovingly
connect with God:
1). Hearing about God (Shravana)

2). Chanting His Name and Glory (Kirtana)
3). Remembering Him (Smarana)
4). Serving His Lotus Feet (Pada Sevana)
5). Worshipping Him as per the Scriptures (Archana)
6). Prostrating before Him (Vandana)
7). Being His Servant (Dasya)
8). Befriending Him (Sakhya)
9). Offering Oneself to Him (Atma Nivedana)
1). Shravana:
Listening to His divine name, His divine form, His Qualities, Actions, Mysteries etc., and
getting lost in His glorious Lila is known as Shravana. From should we hear about God? Shri
Krishna says in the Gita: "You can get that knowledge by humbly prostrating yourself before
a Jnani Guru" (4.34).
Therefore, the first step in Shravana is to take

recourse at the feet of a Guru. The Shravana
aspect of Bhakti is exemplified most completely in
King Parikshit, who listened to the Srimad
Bhagavatam from the great sage Shukadeva.
What effect did this listening have on Parikshit? At
the end he said: "Respected Shukadeva Ji, you
have made me experience the highest, fearless
state. As a consequence I am now totally at peace. I am not afraid of death; let it come to
me in any form now. I am totally fearless (Abhaya)" (12.6.7).
2). Kirtana:
Kirtana consists of chanting aloud God’s divine name and glories of His form, His qualities,
Mysteries, and Lilas; and, in the process of chanting, experiencing extreme thrill culminating
in tears and a lightening of the heart.
An instructive manual on chanting is presented in the Yoga Sutras of

Patanjali which say: ‘The name of God is OM. One should chant OM while
meditating on its meaning. By doing so, one overcomes all obstacles and
reaches God’ (1.27-29).
The very embodiment of Kirtana is the revered sage Narada. In fact, so

engrossed is Narada in the act of Kirtana that he was actually happy
when a curse was placed on him that he would not be able to stay in one
place and would have to roam around the three worlds. Instead of
lamenting this curse, he welcomed it saying that it would enable him to
spread the Lord’s name and glory all over the three worlds.
3). Smarana:
Smarana means the constant remembrance of God. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita:
"The one who sees Me in everything and everything in Me, I am always present for him and
he is always present for Me" (6.30).
"Therefore, always keep Me in mind and then enter the battle of life. Undoubtedly you will
attain unto me" (8.7-8).
"The one who does not ruminate on anything else but constantly remembers me only, he
finds it easy to reach Me" (8.14).
As per the Srimad Bhagavatam:
"The mind which thinks of material objects becomes attached to those very objects.
However, the mind which constantly remembers me, merges into Me" (11.14.27).
An inspiring example of Smarana is Prahlada, who due to

his constant remembrance of God was able to perceive
Him everywhere. In fact, when his evil father ridiculed him
saying that if God was everywhere, why did He not show
up in the pillar in front of them? The father then kicked the pillar, out of which sprang Lord
Narasimha, validating the truth of Prahlada’s conviction..
4). Pada Sevana:
The Srimad Bhagavatam says: ‘Only till we have not taken

recourse to the lotus feet of the Lord is there any cause of
concern from money, family etc, which otherwise are a cause
of fear and Dukha (3.9.6). The obvious example of this kind of
Bhakti is our mother goddess Lakshmi, who is seen in constant
service of Lord Vishnu’s lotus feet.
5). Archana:
Archana consists of the physical worship of God in the form of an

idol etc, using the correct rituals (upacharas) as prescribed in the
scriptures. These rituals consist of procedures like bathing and
clothing the Deity, and also offering Him scents, food etc. An
essential requirement of Archana is the presence of faith
(Shraddha) in the devotee. As Shri Krishna puts it in the Gita:
“Whatever is offered to me, whether it be a leaf, flower, fruit or
water, if it is done with Bhakti, I accept it” (9.26).
An example of Archana Bhakti is that of King Prithu in the Srimad Bhagavatam, who
satisfied Shri Vishnu with the selfless Vedic sacrifices he performed, so much so that the
Lord presented Himself in person before the king (4.20).
6). Vandana:
Vandana means prostrating oneself before the Lord. An illuminating example of this Bhakti
is Akrura, another great personality in the Srimad Bhagavatam. The great Bhakta Akrura
could not contain himself when he entered Vrindavana. He was overcome with emotion and
the consequent surge of affection for Krishna made his hair stand on its end and the
overflowing eyes began to shed tears. Akrura jumped onto the land of Vrindavana and rolled
around on the earth saying: “Oh! This is the dust touched by the feet of my beloved Lord”
(10.38.26).
On going further, he saw Krishna milking the cows. The physical beauty of the Lord
overwhelmed Akrura so much that he rushed down and prostrated himself at the feet of
Krishna. Understanding Akrura’s mental state, Krishna helped him to his feet, drew him to
His heart and then embraced His beloved devotee” (10.38.34).
7). Dasya:
Being in selfless service of God, fulfilling His intentions and unquestioningly

obeying all His orders is known as Dasya. The most powerful embodiment
of this kind of Bhakti is undoubtedly Shri Hanuman, who as soon as he
caught a glimpse of Shri Rama, declared himself to be the latter’s servant.
Being a servant of God means leaving aside one’s most important work to
respectfully do the Lord’s bidding; leaving all of one’s own desires to fulfil
His desire; considering even the greatest effort done for Him to be
miniscule; thinking His ownership over our body to be greater than even
our own; understanding that our wealth, life, body etc is useful only as long as it is in the use
of God and so on. Hanuman had all these qualities, and no wonder that Shri Rama
embraced him saying: “You are more dear to me than even Lakshmana” (Ramayana of
Tulsidas).
8). Sakhya:
Sakhya means personal friendship with God, a

friendship in which there is a constant desire to stay in
His company, and one enjoys conversations only with
Him, and becomes extremely pleased on the mere
mention of one’s friend from a third person. Krishna
Himself tells us who His friend is: “O Arjuna, you are
both my friend and Bhakta” (Gita 4.3).
Stories about the friendship of Krishna and Arjuna abound in the Mahabharata and
Bhagavatam. Narratives show how they indulged in light banter, sports etc, which provide us
with ample glimpses into the nature of their mutual friendship.
9). Atmanivedana:
Offering oneself wholly, including all of one’s material possessions, with firm
conviction, is known as Atmanivedana. The example of such surrender is
king Bali, who was asked by an adolescent Brahmin for a piece of land
equivalent to the distance measured by the latter’s three footsteps. The
Brahmin, who was none other than the Vamana Avatara of Lord Vishnu,
measured out all the worlds with only two of His steps and finally there
remained nowhere to place the promised third.
Seeing that there was no place left for Vamana’s last
step, Bali, bowing before Him, requested Him to place it
on his head. In the end, after having thus given up
everything, did the king feel any remorse or bitterness?
No. In fact, this is what he said: “Thank you God for
your grace. Indeed, when we become blind with pride
due to our wealth, you, by taking away our money, give
us back our eyes” (Srimad Bhagavatam 8.22.5). This
was the glorious Bali who gave up his all to the Lord.
Conclusion:
These are the nine ways in which we can relate to God. We are free to select the particular
connection with God which suits our personal temperament. However remember that all
these nine qualities existed together in the Bhaktas mentioned above. Did Arjuna not have
Pada Sevana, Smarana etc? Of course he did. For us this means that once we have
imbibed even one of these virtues properly, all others will follow suit, and the person
becomes a Shuddha Bhakta, one whose each and every action can be deemed as Bhakti.
References & Further Reading:
• Chinmayananda, Swami. The Holy Geeta: Mumbai, 2002.

• Goyandka, Shri Harikrishnadas. Translation of Shankracharya's Commentary of the
Bhagavad Gita (Hindi): Gorakhpur, 2006.
• Goyandka, Jayadayal. Navadha Bhakti: Gorakhpur, 2011.
• Karanbelkar, Dr. P.V. Patanjala Yoga Sutras: Lonavla.
• Khemka, Radheyshaym (ed). Bhaktamala: Gorakhpur, 2013.
• Saraswati, Swami Akhandananda (tr). Shrimad Bhagavata Purana (2 Volumes):
Gorakhpur, 2004.
• Swami Prabhupada, A.C. Bhaktivedanta. Srimad Bhagavatam: Mumbai.
This article by Nitin Kumar.
We hope you have enjoyed reading the article. Any comments you may have will be
greatly appreciated. Please send your feedback to [email protected].
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Newsletter Archives

Navadha Bhakti – The Nine Ways of

The material contained in this newsletter/article is owned by ExoticIndiaArt Pvt Ltd.

Copyright © 2013, exoticindia.com

Article of the Month - April 2013

1). Hearing about God (Shravana)

Therefore, the first step in Shravana is to take

An instructive manual on chanting is presented in the Yoga Sutras of

The very embodiment of Kirtana is the revered sage Narada. In fact, so

As per the Srimad Bhagavatam:

An inspiring example of Smarana is Prahlada, who due to

4). Pada Sevana:

The Srimad Bhagavatam says: ‘Only till we have not taken

Archana consists of the physical worship of God in the form of an

Being in selfless service of God, fulfilling His intentions and unquestioningly

Sakhya means personal friendship with God, a

References & Further Reading:

• Chinmayananda, Swami. The Holy Geeta: Mumbai, 2002.

This article by Nitin Kumar.

Copyright © 2013, exoticindiaart.com

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