Bhakti Songs Channel by Shemaroo

https://devotionalsongs.wordpress.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/bhaktisongs?feature=watch

Nine forms of devotion

Navadha Bhakti 

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Quotes Prahlad Maharaj
https://freeglobaluniversity.blogspot.com/search/label/Chaitanya

https://freeglobaluniversity.blogspot.com/search/label/Lion

Tulsidas's 

Shabri wanted to learn from Sri Ram about path of Bhakti(Devotion),Sri Ram explained:

https://freeglobaluniversity.blogspot.com/search/label/Tulsi 

Thyagaraja

Thyagaraja, in his long and rich enjoyment of Rama Bhakthi exemplified all these forms.

https://freeglobaluniversity.blogspot.com/search/label/Music 

The Lord's Pure Devotees

"There are instances in history of great personalities, including sages and kings, who attained perfection by this process. Some of them attained success even by adhering to one single item of devotional service with faith and perseverance. Some of these personalities are listed below.

1. Emperor Pariksit attained the spiritual platform simply by hearing from such an authority as Sri Sukadeva Gosvami.
2. Sri Sukadeva Gosvami attained the same simply by recitation, verbatim, of the transcendental message (which he received from his great father, Sri Vyasadeva.)
3. Emperor Prahlada attained spiritual success by remembering the Lord constantly(in pursuance of instructions given by Sri Narada Muni, the great saint and devotee.)
4. Laxmiji, the goddess of fortune, attained success simply by sitting and serving the lotus feet of the Lord.
5. King Prthu attained success simply by worshiping the Lord.
6. Akrura, the charioteer, attained success simply by chanting prayers for the Lord.
7. Hanuman (Mahavira), the famous nonhuman devotee of Lord Sri Ramacandra, attained success simply by carrying out the orders of the Lord.
8. Arjuna, the great warrior, attained the same perfection simply by making friends with the Lord, (who delivered the message of Bhagavad-gita to enlighten Arjuna and his followers.)
9. Emperor Bali attained success by surrendering everything unto the Lord, including his personal body.

Lecture / Tube
http://www.bnbtimes.com/bhagavathams-nine-types-of-devotion-by-sri-prema-pandurang/
https://www.youtube.com/results?q=Navadha+Bhakti

Kids
http://kids.baps.org/thingstoknow/satsang/46.htm

Series 
http://www.speakingtree.in/suvyakta.narasimha/blog

Gopi
http://gopiradhakrishna.blogspot.com/2011/06/separate-past-times-with-navadha-bhakti.html

Music / Dance
https://www.youtube.com/user/Musique4ever/videos?query=Nava+Vidha+Bhakthi

The Maharaja of Travancore, Sri Swati Tirunal's Navavidha Bhakti kritis are all addressed to Lord Padmanabha. The nine songs are:

Composition	Ragam	Talam	Bhakti- type
Bhavatheeyakatha	Bhairavi	Adi	Sravanam
Thavakanamani	Kedaragoula	Jhampa	Kirtanam
Satatam	Neelambari	Chappu	Smaranam
Pankajaksha tava	Thodi	Rupaka	Padasevanam
Aradhayami	Bilahari	Chappu	Archanam
Vande deva deva	Begada	Rupaka	Vandanam
Paramapurusha	Ahiri	Chapu	Dasyam
Bhavati Viswaro	Mukhari	Chappu	Sakhyam
Devadeva Kalpayami	Nadanamakriya	Rupaka	Atmanivedanam

https://www.youtube.com/user/gdavuluri/videos?query=Nava+Vidha+Bhakti

Nine Incarnations

http://cosmicinformation.blogspot.com/search/label/NineDaughtersMarriedToNineSages

Place

https://harekrishnainfo.blogspot.com/search/label/CowTrinityNabadwipGoloka

Bhakti / Movement / Faith

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti_movement
http://www.kamat.com/indica/faiths/bhakti/
http://puriwaves.nirmalya.in/puri-waves-search/?srch-term=tulsidas

Bandhav

http://bhaktabandhav.com/

Enemy

From when the Lord’s protection comes to us ?

This protection is offered to a devotee even from the very beginning of his devotional service.  Kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati (Bhagavad Gita 9.31).  If one simply begins devotional service, he is immediately protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.  This is also confirmed in Bhagavad Gita (18.66) : aham tvam sarva papebhyo moksayisyami.  Protection begins immediately.  The Lord is so kind and merciful that He gives the devotee proper guidance and all protection, and thus the devotee very peacefully makes solid progress in Krishna Consciousness without outward disturbances.  A serpent may be very angry and ready to bite, but the furious snake is helpless when faced by a blazing fire in the forest.  Although an enemy of a devotee may be very strong, he is compared to an angry serpent before the fire of devotional service.

   Srimad Bhagavatham, Canto - 9, Chapter – 4 , Text – 48.

Feature

Tranquility

Back To Godhead

Gyan Bhakti Vairagya

http://tvpbooks.com/2012/04/the-story-of-bhakti-devi/

Glory of Bhagavatam / More

http://vedicpriest.tripod.com/id26.html

http://starttoendcycle.blogspot.com/

Gold Coast

http://www.bhakticentregoldcoast.com.au/

Bhakt

http://haribhakt.com/
https://harekrishnainfo.blogspot.com/search/label/BhaktivinodaThakuraBhaktiSiddhantaBhaktivedantaPrabhupada

Form

http://formsofdevotion.org/

Lower or Higher

Four Types

Chapter 7. Knowledge of the Absolute

TEXT 15

na mam duskrtino mudhah
prapadyante naradhamah
mayayapahrta-jnana
asuram bhavam asritah

SYNONYMS

na--not; mam--unto Me; duskrtinah--miscreants; mudhah--foolish;prapadyante--surrender; nara-adhamah--lowest among mankind;mayaya--by the illusory energy; apahrta--stolen by illusion; jnanah--knowledge; asuram--demonic; bhavam--nature; asritah--accepting.

TRANSLATION

Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.

PURPORT

It is said in Bhagavad-gita that simply by surrendering oneself unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality Krsna, one can surmount the stringent laws of material nature. At this point a question arises: How is it that educated philosophers, scientists, businessmen, administrators and all the leaders of ordinary men do not surrender to the lotus feet of Sri Krsna, the all-powerful Personality of Godhead? Mukti, or liberation from the laws of material nature, is sought by the leaders of mankind in different ways and with great plans and perseverance for a great many years and births. But if that liberation is possible by simply surrendering unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then why don't these intelligent and hard-working leaders adopt this simple method? 

The Gita answers this question very frankly. Those really learned leaders of society like Brahma, Siva, Kapila, the Kumaras, Manu, Vyasa, Devala, Asita, Janaka, Prahlada, Bali, and later on Madhvacarya, Ramanujacarya, Sri Caitanya and many others--who are faithful philosophers, politicians, educators, scientists, etc.--surrender to the lotus feet of the Supreme Person, the all-powerful authority. Those who are not actually philosophers, scientists, educators, administrators, etc., but who pose themselves as such for material gain, do not accept the plan or path of the Supreme Lord. They have no idea of God; they simply manufacture their own worldly plans and consequently complicate the problems of material existence in their vain attempts to solve them. Because material energy (nature) is so powerful, it can resist the unauthorized plans of the atheists and baffle the knowledge of "planning commissions." 

The atheistic plan-makers are described herein by the wordduskrtinah, or "miscreants." Krtina means one who has performed meritorious work. The atheist planmaker is sometimes very intelligent and meritorious also, because any gigantic plan, good or bad, must take intelligence to execute. But because the atheist's brain is improperly utilized in opposing the plan of the Supreme Lord, the atheistic planmaker is called duskrtina, which indicates that his intelligence and efforts are misdirected. 

In the Gita it is clearly mentioned that material energy works fully under the direction of the Supreme Lord. It has no independent authority. It works as the shadow moves, in accordance with the movements of the object. But still material energy is very powerful, and the atheist, due to his godless temperament, cannot know how it works; nor can he know the plan of the Supreme Lord. Under illusion and the modes of passion and ignorance, all his plans are baffled, as in the case of Hiranyakasipu and Ravana, whose plans were smashed to dust although they were both materially learned as scientists, philosophers, administrators and educators. These duskrtinas, or miscreants, are of four different patterns, as outlined below: 

(1) The mudhas are those who are grossly foolish, like hard-working beasts of burden. They want to enjoy the fruits of their labor by themselves, and so do not want to part with them for the Supreme. The typical example of the beast of burden is the ass. This humble beast is made to work very hard by his master. The ass does not really know for whom he works so hard day and night. He remains satisfied by filling his stomach with a bundle of grass, sleeping for a while under fear of being beaten by his master, and satisfying his sex appetite at the risk of being repeatedly kicked by the opposite party. The ass sings poetry and philosophy sometimes, but this braying only disturbs others. This is the position of the foolish fruitive worker who does not know for whom he should work. He does not know thatkarma (action) is meant for yajna (sacrifice). 

Most often, those who work very hard day and night to clear the burden of self-created duties say that they have no time to hear of the immortality of the living being. To such mudhas, material gains, which are destructible, are life's all in all--despite the fact that themudhas enjoy only a very small fraction of the fruit of labor. Sometimes they spend sleepless days and nights for fruitive gain, and although they may have ulcers or indigestion, they are satisfied with practically no food; they are simply absorbed in working hard day and night for the benefit of illusory masters. Ignorant of their real master, the foolish workers waste their valuable time serving mammon. Unfortunately, they never surrender to the supreme master of all masters, nor do they take time to hear of Him from the proper sources. The swine who eat the soil do not care to accept sweetmeats made of sugar and ghee. Similarly, the foolish worker will untiringly continue to hear of the sense-enjoyable tidings of the flickering mundane force that moves the material world. 

(2) Another class of duskrtina, or miscreant, is called thenaradhama, or the lowest of mankind. Nara means human being, andadhama means the lowest. Out of the 8,400,000 different species of living beings, there are 400,000 human species. Out of these there are numerous lower forms of human life that are mostly uncivilized. The civilized human beings are those who have regulative principles of social, political and religious life. Those who are socially and politically developed, but who have no religious principles, must be considered naradhamas. Nor is religion without God religion, because the purpose of following religious principles is to know the Supreme Truth and man's relation with Him. In the Gita the Personality of Godhead clearly states that there is no authority above Him and that He is the Supreme Truth. The civilized form of human life is meant for man's reviving the lost consciousness of his eternal relation with the Supreme Truth, the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, who is all-powerful. Whoever loses this chance is classified as a naradhama. We get information from revealed scriptures that when the baby is in the mother's womb (an extremely uncomfortable situation) he prays to God for deliverance and promises to worship Him alone as soon as he gets out. To pray to God when he is in difficulty is a natural instinct in every living being because he is eternally related with God. But after his deliverance, the child forgets the difficulties of birth and forgets his deliverer also, being influenced by maya, the illusory energy. 

It is the duty of the guardians of children to revive the divine consciousness dormant in them. The ten processes of reformatory ceremonies, as enjoined in the Manu-smrti, which is the guide to religious principles, are meant for reviving God consciousness in the system of varnasrama. However, no process is strictly followed now in any part of the world, and therefore 99.9 percent of the population is naradhama. 

When the whole population becomes naradhama, naturally all their so-called education is made null and void by the all-powerful energy of physical nature. According to the standard of the Gita, a learned man is he who sees on equal terms the learned brahmana, the dog, the cow, the elephant and the dog-eater. That is the vision of a true devotee. Sri Nityananda Prabhu, who is the incarnation of Godhead as divine master, delivered the typical naradhamas, the brothers Jagai and Madhai, and showed how the mercy of a real devotee is bestowed upon the lowest of mankind. So the naradhamawho is condemned by the Personality of Godhead can again revive his spiritual consciousness only by the mercy of a devotee. 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in propagating the bhagavata-dharmaor activities of the devotees, has recommended that people submissively hear the message of the Personality of Godhead. The essence of this message is Bhagavad-gita. The lowest amongst human beings can be delivered by this submissive hearing process only, but unfortunately they even deny giving an aural reception to these messages, and what to speak of surrendering to the will of the Supreme Lord? Naradhamas, or the lowest of mankind, will fully neglect the prime duty of the human being. 

(3) The next class of duskrtina is called mayayapahrta-jnanah, or those persons whose erudite knowledge has been nullified by the influence of illusory material energy. They are mostly very learned fellows--great philosophers, poets, literati, scientists, etc.--but the illusory energy misguides them, and therefore they disobey the Supreme Lord. 

There are a great number of mayayapahrta-jnanah at the present moment, even amongst the scholars of the Gita. In the Gita, in plain and simple language, it is stated that Sri Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is none equal to or greater than Him. He is mentioned as the father of Brahma, the original father of all human beings. In fact, Sri Krsna is said to be not only the father of Brahma but also the father of all species of life. He is the root of the impersonal Brahman and Paramatma; the Supersoul in every entity is His plenary portion. He is the fountainhead of everything and everyone is advised to surrender unto His lotus feet. Despite all these clear statements, the mayayapahrta-jnanah deride the personality of the Supreme Lord and consider Him merely another human being. They do not know that the blessed form of human life is designed after the eternal and transcendental feature of the Supreme Lord. 

All the unauthorized interpretations of the Gita by the class ofmayayapahrta-jnana, outside the purview of the parampara system, are so many stumbling blocks in the path of spiritual understanding. The deluded interpreters do not surrender unto the lotus feet of Sri Krsna, nor do they teach others to follow this principle. 

(4) The last class of duskrtina is called asuram bhavam asritah, or those of demonic principles. This class is openly atheistic. Some of them argue that the Supreme Lord can never descend upon this material world, but they are unable to give any tangible reasons as to why not. There are others who make Him subordinate to the impersonal feature, although the opposite is declared in the Gita.Envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the atheist will present a number of illicit incarnations manufactured in the factory of his brain. Such persons whose very principle of life is to decry the Personality of Godhead cannot surrender unto the lotus feet of Sri Krsna. 

Sri Yamunacarya Albandaru of South India said, "O my Lord! You are unknowable to persons involved with atheistic principles despite Your uncommon qualities, features, and activities and despite Your personality being confirmed by all the revealed scriptures in the quality of goodness, and despite Your being acknowledged by the famous authorities renowned for their depth of knowledge in the transcendental science and situated in the godly qualities." 

Therefore, (1) grossly foolish persons, (2) the lowest of mankind, (3) the deluded speculators, and (4) the professed atheists, as above mentioned, never surrender unto the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead in spite of all scriptural and authoritative advice.

Chapter 7. Knowledge of the Absolute

TEXT 16

catur-vidha bhajante mam
janah sukrtino 'rjuna
arto jijnasur artharthi
jnani ca bharatarsabha

SYNONYMS

catuh-vidhah--four kinds of; bhajante--render services; mam--unto Me; janah--persons; su-krtinah--those who are pious; arjuna--O Arjuna; artah--the distressed; jijnasuh--the inquisitive; artha-arthi--one who desires material gain; jnani--one who knows things as they are; ca--also; bharata-rsabha--O great one amongst the descendants of Bharata.

TRANSLATION

O best among the Bharatas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me--the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.

Unlike the miscreants, these are adherents of the regulative principles of the scriptures, and they are called sukrtinah, or those who obey the rules and regulations of scriptures, the moral and social laws, and are, more or less, devoted to the Supreme Lord. Out of these there are four classes of men--those who are sometimes distressed, those who are in need of money, those who are sometimes inquisitive, and those who are sometimes searching after knowledge of the Absolute Truth. These persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service under different conditions. These are not pure devotees because they have some aspiration to fulfill in exchange for devotional service. Pure devotional service is without aspiration and without desire for material profit. The Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhudefines pure devotion thus:

anyabhilasita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanu-silanam bhaktir uttama

"One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Krsna favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service." 

When these four kinds of persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service and are completely purified by the association of a pure devotee, they also become pure devotees. As far as the miscreants are concerned, for them devotional service is very difficult because their lives are selfish, irregular and without spiritual goals. But even some of them, by chance, when they come in contact with a pure devotee, also become pure devotees. 

Those who are always busy with fruitive activities come to the Lord in material distress and at that time associate with pure devotees and become, in their distress, devotees of the Lord. Those who are simply frustrated also come sometimes to associate with the pure devotees and become inquisitive to know about God. Similarly, when the dry philosophers are frustrated in every field of knowledge, they sometimes want to learn of God, and they come to the Supreme Lord to render devotional service and thus transcend knowledge of the impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramatma and come to the personal conception of Godhead by the grace of the Supreme Lord or His pure devotee. On the whole, when the distressed, the inquisitive, the seekers of knowledge, and those who are in need of money are free from all material desires, and when they fully understand that material remuneration has nothing to do with spiritual improvement, they become pure devotees. As long as such a purified stage is not attained, devotees in transcendental service to the Lord are tainted with fruitive activities, and they search after mundane knowledge, etc. So one has to transcend all this before one can come to the stage of pure devotional service.

Bhakti has also been said to be of four kinds. There is the Bhakti of (1) Arta, that is, devotion performed by one when afflicted with some kind of pain or suffering, e.g., Draupadi, the drowning elephant, etc. ; (2) devotion by the seeker and the person who tries to find the path to redemption, like Pareekshit, etc., (3) the Artharthi, devotion performed by one seeking wealth and treasures, like Dhruv, etc. ; and (4) the Gyani, devotion performed by the seeker after knowledge, like Prahlad, etc.

Red

https://www.youtube.com/user/RedRibbonDevotional/videos

Devotional

https://www.youtube.com/user/Devotional/videos

Etiquette / Tube

http://www.radhagopinath.com/manuals/Vaishnava_Etiquette_Manual.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/results?q=Vaishnava+Etiquette+Lectures

Making offering to the Supreme Lord

Bhagavad Gita 9.26

patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahritam ashnami prayatatmanah

TRANSLATION
If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.

Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad Gita that if one offers him with devotion a leaf, fruit, flower or water with love and devotion He will accept it. This verse encourages everyone to take to the path of devotional service highlighting the simplicity of devotional service. Devotees all over the world offer these four items by keeping them in front of the Lord’s picture/deity form and chanting the offering prayers. However offering these four items to the Lord does not end with this alone. By performing sincere devotional service we can offer these four items to the Lord always in our lives. This is explained by great acharyas as follows.

Patram (Leaf):- Offering of leaf is not limited to offering Tulasi leaves, Cooked spinach leaves alone. In the verse 15.1 of the Gita, the Lord compares the material manifetstaion to a tree and the Vedas to the leaves of the tree.(Chandamsi yasys parnaani). So reading and teaching of the Vedas to other is equivalent to offering of leaf to the Lord. And in Kali yuga, we don’t have the time and intelligence to go through all the Vedic shakas and understand them. In Kali Yuga the essence of the Vedas is available in the form of Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad Gita and Sri Isopanishad and Srila Prabhupada has made them very simple by his wonderful commentaries. Whenever we read, understand and explain these scriptures (which are compared to leaves) to others (considering ourselves as humble servants of our acharya), the Lord accepts this service as offering of leaf to Him.

Pushpam (Flower):- While we can offer different kinds of flowers like Rose, Jasmine and lotus flowers to the Lord and decorate His deity/picture manifestation, the scriptures give us the list of eight metaphorical flowers which are very dear to Lord Vishnu and cause great delight to Him.

In the Pancaratra text it is mentioned:


ahimsaa prathamam pushpam / pushpam indriya-nigrahah
sarva-bhuta-dayaa pushpam / kshamaa pushpam visheshatah
jnaanam pushpam tapah pushpam / dhyaanam pushpam tathaiva ca
satyam ashtavidham pushpam / vishnoh preetikaram bhavet

“The flower of non-violence is the first and foremost (prathamam); The second is the flower of sense control; The third is the flower of showing compassion to all living beings; The fourth is the flower of tolerance/patience which is very special; The fifth flower is transcendental knowledge; The sixth is the flower of austerity; The seventh is the flower of contemplative meditation on the Lord; The eighth is the flower of truth (speaking according to scriptures); these eight kinds of flowers delight Lord Vishnu and are very dear to Him.”

In our spiritual lives, whenever we endeavor to develop one/more of these qualities to the best of our capacity and according to our situation, the Lord accepts this endeavor as offering of most delightful flowers to Him.

Phalam (Fruit):- While offering of fruits means offering Apple, Orange, Bananas etc., it is not limited to offering of these fruits alone. The Lord states that one should offer the fruits of his activities to Him. There are different activities such as activities for bodily maintenance such as job, and taking care of the family, religious activities etc.

When we do these activities immaculately well as offering to Him, without attachment to the fruits, the Lord accepts these activities as offering of fruits to Him. Also when we seriously study Srimad Bhagavatam which is the ripened fruit of Vedic Literatures and explain to others, the Lord accepts this service as offering of fruit to Him. Making contribution in any form to spiritual cause also is accepted as offering of fruits by the Lord.

Thoyam (Water):- While offering of water includes offering water, milk, fruit juices to the Lord, it is not limited to these items alone. The Lord wants everyone to purify the heart completely so that we’ll shed tears on hearing His holy name, fame, qualities etc. The Lord happily accepts these tears as offering of water to Him. We cannot imitate this act of shedding tears till we’re completely purified. However, in conditional life, due to envious nature, we shed tears (internally and sometimes externally also) by seeing other’s prosperity and well-being. It is unbearable to us. When we stop/reduce these tears, the Lord accepts this improvement as offering of water to Him.

Thus the process of devotional service is so wonderfully designed by the Lord and the great acharyas that when we execute the different activities of devotional service sincerely, we’ll attain the stage where our entire life becomes an offering to the Supreme Lord. The pure devotees and the spiritual master are living examples for a life of such offering.

Five kinds of relationships

http://www.krishna.com/topic-term/relationships-krishna-see-also-rasas
http://krishnaseva.blogspot.in/2014/09/sadhana-bhakti-five-types-of.html

Silence

http://silenceinformation.blogspot.com/

Twelve Paths

http://starttoendcycle.blogspot.com/2009/12/twelve-maha-bhagavatas.html

Guidelines for the devotional service

1. Take shelter of a bonafide spiritual master.
2. Receive initiation ( diksha) from spiritual master.
3. Serve the spiritual master.
4. Inquire & learn from spiritual master
5. Follow the footstep of holy persons devoted to the transcendental loving service of the Lord.
6. Prepare to give up all kind of enjoyment & miseries for the satisfaction of Krishna.
7. Live in a place where Krishna had his pastimes.
8. Be satisfied by whatever is sent by Krishna for the maintenance of body and hanker for no more.
9. Observe fasting on Ekadasi day.
10. Show respect to devotees, cows & sacred trees.

Source
Commentary on Bhagavad Gita As It is , Srila Prabhupad

Hare Krsna

http://harekrsna.com/practice/practice.htm

http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/bhaktiyoga/

Dinesh

http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.in/