13 April 2017


Navdha Bhakti

Jai Swaminarayan, friends!

How many of us like to do our daily puja, listen to bhajans or kirtans, and do seva at mandir? We may be doing these things often, but it has become so routine that we don’t realize it is a form of bhakti. Have you ever heard of Navdha Bhakti? Bhakti is the act of worshipping God or offering devotion to God. The word “navdha” means nine. Let's put it all together now! Navdha bhakti means nine types of bhakti, which are essentially the nine ways we can offer devotion to Maharaj. Today we are going to learn all nine!

The first form is Shravanam. This is when we hear about God, which can be done through katha and kirtans. The second form is Kirtanam. It is exactly what it sounds like! This is singing the glory of God! We are doing this while singing along to our favorite bhajan or kirtan all the time! The third form is Smaranam, which is remembering God and all of his divine actions. This can be done easily in our morning puja. The fourth form is Padsevanam, which is serving God’s holy feet and we can do this by performing seva. The fifth form is Archanam, which is offering pujan/worshipping God. There are many ways we can perform Archanam such as our daily puja, mansi, thaal, and mahapuja. The sixth form is Vandanam, which is bowing down before God. We are doing this every time we do a dandvat or pachang pranam. The seventh form is Dasyam. This is when we offer devotion to God as His servant, such as the seva we do without expecting any reward or prize in return. The eighth form is Sakhyam, which is offering devotion to God as a close friend of his. We can do this by forming a friendship with God and remembering Him all day. Last but not least, the ninth type of bhakti is Atmanivedanam, which is offering ourselves and everything we have to God.

I know what you’re thinking, that’s a lot of bhakti! How do we know which one is the best and which one we should do the most? Easy. Maharaj says in Vachanamrut Gadhada III-14, “Of the nine types of bhakti, whichever type aids one in developing firm attachment to God is the best type of bhakti for that particular person”. This basically means that you can pick your favorite one that helps you feel the most connected to Maharaj and that is the best type of bhakti for you! From today, let’s all try to incorporate the nine types of bhakti into our lives. As we do bhakti, we become closer and closer to Maharaj and Mahant Swami to make them both raaji!

Until next time!

Jay Swaminarayan from the ‘kids.baps.org’ team

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http://kids.baps.org/kidscreation/index.htm