srI swAmiji went on to narrate the different forms of devotion:
Sage sukA expounded the bhAgavata to King parIkShit. sukA's words never deviated from the main topic, viz., divine play of the Lord. There are some who always remember IshwarA even when they are involved in activities like talking, eating, writing and walking. Contemplation on IshwarA is also a form of devotion. Another form of devotion is serving the lotus feet of Lord. There are many devotees who are ever intent on serving bhagavAn.
Some people are very keen on performing divine worship. They would be happy if they were allowed to remain in their worship for hours, without any disturbance. In contrast to this, there are some who are too impatient to sit for even ten minutes more in pUjA than the usual duration. They ask their purOhit to chant the sahasranAmam fast. During the pUjA, their minds think of the engagement they have to attend to after some time. They do not consider it important to focus their attention on pUjA even for a brief while. On the other hand, a true devotee is oblivious of the passage of time whenever he sits for worship. Performing pUjA is one form of devotion.
There are some devotees who do not feel satisfied even after they have prostrated many times before bhagavAn's idol. They keep doing namaskArams, while others may feel, "Why do these people repeatedly prostrate before the idol or the guru?" Offering salutations too is a form of devotion.
There are some who find delight in always functioning as the servitors of the Lord. Such people would not be keen on performing any other activity. One example of this type of devotion is srI AnjanEyA. His only aim in life was to serve his Master, Lord rAmachandrA.
Some feel like associating with the Lord as a friend. Is this possible? Yes, it is possible. arjunA had the opportunity to have Lord kRushnA as his dear friend, arjunA submitted to Him.
सखेति मत्वा प्रसभं यदुक्तं
हे कृष्ण हे यादव हे सखेति ।sakhEti matvA prasabham yaduktam
hE kRuShNa hE yAdava hE sakhEti
O, Lord, I dealt with You thinking of You as my friend. Please pardon me for that sin." Lord kRushnA blessed arjunA with shrEyas or higher good.
There are some devotees who wish to offer all their possessions, including themselves, to the Lord. One example of this is Emperor bali to give Him a piece of land covered by three steps. When bali casually agreed, Lord vAmanA covered the entire universe with His first step. The second step covered AkAshA. Immediately, Emperor bali bowed down his head to enable the Lord to place His third step on it. He thereby totally surrendered himself to the Lord. This is Atma nivEdana or self-surrender. If a person does not consider anything as his but considers even himself as belonging to the Lord, it is called Atma nivEdana.
Hearing about the Lord, singing His praise, contemplating Him, serving His lotus feet, worshipping Him, prostrating before Him, serving Him as His slave, moving with Him as His friend and surrendering oneself to Him are the nine forms of devotion spoken of in the shAstrAs. We shall attain shrEyas even if we practice any one of the above types of devotion. As we have already seen, the exmples for the various types of devotion are found in purAnAs such as bhAgavatA. It is our immeasurable good fortune that has enabled us to come across these descriptions.
If we conduct ourselves without being devoted to IshwarA in any manner, our life will serve no purpose whatsoever. All of us know that human birth is very rare to attain. Hence it is but imperative that we resort to a means like devotion to achieve the purpose of human life.
Just summarized for ease -
- shravanam - Listening to the Lord's stories, Leelas and Mahimas.
- kIrtanam - Singing the glories of the Lord's Name.
- smaranam - Remembrance of Lord's Name.
- pAda sEvanam - Service to the Lotus Feet of the Lord.
- archanam - Worship of the Lord.
- vandanam - Salutation of the Lord.
- dAsyam - Master and Servant Relationship like the one between Sri Rama and Hanuman.
- sakhyam - Companionship of the Lord.
- Atma nivEdanam - Offering oneself to the Lord in complete self-surrender.
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