It was Prahlada, a five-year old boy, spiritually oriented even as he was born, who taught his boyhood contemporaries the Nine Expressions of Bhakti – a concept that is most well-known in Hindu religious world. Bhakti is intense devotion towards the Almighty. The nine manifestations of Bhakti are all sure paths to God according to all Hindu scriptures. In Hinduism, Prahlada was a son of Hiranyakashipu, a Daitya who hated the devas, and most especially, God or Vishnu, the followers of whom he began to torture. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Bhakti is a Tamil or Sanskrit term from Hinduism that means intense devotion expressed by action (service). ...

• Shravanam : Listening to the stories and glories of God.

• Kīrtanam: Singing or Reciting the names and glories of God.

• Smaranam: Recalling God and His exploits.

• Pāda-sevanam: Waiting on Him.

• Archanam: Ritual Worship of God’s forms or images.

• Vandanam: Prostration to God.

• Dāsyam: Service to His personality or incarnation.

• Sakhyam: Befriending Him.

• Ātma-nivedanam : Dedicating oneself to him, heart and soul.

The oft-quoted source of this is the verse from the Bhagavatam (VII – 5 – 23):

Shravanam kīrtanam vishnoh smaranam pādasevanam;

Archanam vandanam dāsyam sakhyam ātma-nivedanam.

The puranas as well as recorded biographies in history give several instances where devotees of God have practised one or more of these ways and finally attained God-Realisation. The Puranas (Sanskrit purāṇá ancient, since they focus on ancient history of the universe) are part of Hindu Smriti; these religious scriptures discuss varied topics like devotion to God in his various aspects, traditional sciences like Ayurveda, Jyotish, cosmology, concepts like dharma, karma, reincarnation and many others. ...

• King Parikshit listened to the recital of the Bhagavatam for seven continuous days from Sage Shuka.

• Meerabai, Chaitanya and Thiagaraja in historical times and Nārada, the wandering sage of all the puranas are monumental examples who practised sankirtanam of names of God and attained Moksha. Deities of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (right) and Sri Nityananda (left) at Radha-Krishna temple in Radhadesh, Belgium Caitanya Mahaprabhu (also transliterated Chaitanya) (1486 - 1534), was an ascetic Hindu monk and social reformer in 16th century Bengal, India (present-day West Bengal and Bangladesh). ...

• Sage Shuka himself is the undisputed example for the recalling of God’s deeds.

• Lakshmana of the Ramayana is the standing example for Pada-sevanam. Lakshaman(far left) with Rama(center) and Sita (far right) and Hanuman(kneeling)-Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford, England Lakshmana was the son of Dasaratha, King of Ayodhya and Sumitra. ... Lord Ram, Laxman, Sita and Hanuman(crouching) The Ramayana (Sanskrit: march (ayana) of Rama) is part of the Hindu smriti, written by Valmiki. ...

• Kings Ambarisha and Prithu, (from the Bhagavatam) and all the Pontiffs of Hindu religious organizations of recorded history, are foremost examples for the practice of Archanam.

• The example from Ramayana for the vandana method of worship is that of Bharata who worshipped Rama’s sandals and governed Ayodhya for fourteen years as a servant of those sandals. This article is about a Hindu incarnation of God (i. ...

• The standard example for the dāsya (service to God) method of worship is that of Hanuman of the Ramayana. Taking Service to the devotees of God and to people in general as Service to God Himself, we have umpteen instances of the dāsya method of worship, all around our every day world. Lord Hanuman In Hinduism, Hanuman is a vanara who aided Rama (an avatar of Vishnu) in rescuing his wife, Sita, from the Rakshasa king Ravana. ...

• Sugriva of the Ramayana and Arjuna of the Mahabharata are the examples for the sakhya method of worshipping the Absolute. Sugriva befriended Rama and Arjuna befriended Krishna. In Hinduism, Sugriva was the younger brother of Vali. ... In Hindu Mythology, Arjuna is one of the heroes of the epic Mahabharata. ... The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाभारत, phonetically Mahābhārata - see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is one of the two major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the other being the Ramayana. ... Lord Krishna Krishna (कृष्ण, Sanskrit for black. Also said to mean All Attractive), is, according to common Hindu tradition, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. ...

• Those who have given their very lives to the Lord are the standing examples for worship by means of Atma-nivedanam. The mythological model is King Bali who gave his very head for the third Cosmic step of God in his Vamana avatar. Topography Map showing Bali within Indonesia Sunset at Jimbaran Beach, Bali Young Balinese Dancers Bali rice terraces Balis Sanur Beach Statue of Dewi Sri — Ubud, Bali Bali is an Indonesian island. ...

Source: Srimad Bhagavatam