Navavidha Bhakti- Nine types of Devotion
Bhakti means devotion and Bhakti Yoga means the devotional path of Yoga. In Bhakti Yoga emotions become devotions and the spiritual energy of bhakta(the devotee) is channelled towards the Lord. The thoughts or actions or words that are completely directed towards the Lord and the outside or material world is completely shut off for the devotee. In this extreme stage of devotion,you don't care about what is happening around you, you don't care about your surrounding places and you may even forget about yourselves. Here all your activities are performed as an offering to the Lord. In Srimad Bhagavatam, nine forms of Bhakti are stated. The first form of Bhakti is Shravanam which means hearing the names or glories of Lord. Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas Vishnu purana and Shiva purana contain stories and victories of the Lord. Hearing and understanding these stories helps you to get closer to the Lord...