Baba taught not one but nine forms of devotion...

Anant Rao Patankar of Poona was a Vedic scholar; though he read Vedas and puranas he had no peace of mind. He came to visit Baba. He fell at Baba’s feet and pleaded with him to show compassion and bless him. Then Baba said,” Once a merchant came to me. He wanted to put some questions to me but could not do so. He was looking straight at me. Just then a mare in front of him passed stools in the shape of nine balls. The merchant collected all the nine balls and put them in his upper cloth by which he was able to concentrate his mind and thus have peace. ”baba, explained the significance of the story as follows.

“Merchant means a person having special qualities not found in ordinary people, a jnani. A mare means god’s grace Nine balls of horses excretion means nine kinds of devotion. The devotee in search of god should fix his mind on the Sadguru, and serve the guru sincerely. The devotee can choose any one of the following nine ways and reach god-

1. Shravan – hearing the divine stories and reading the puranas
2. Kirtan - Singing devotional songs in praise of the greatness of god
3. Smaran - To recollect what one had heard through sravan, and always remembering them
4. Pada seva – Worship of the feet and prostration
5. Archana – Different kinds of rituals performed daily
6. Namaskar – Bowing the head in respect, and salutations
7. Dasya – Doing service to god like a servant
8. Sukhyatva – Considering God as a friend and making friendship
9. Atma nivedan- Surrendering one’s life and Atman to god

Devotion is of nine kinds. As progressive and the mind begin to settle down, we can worship God in all the nine ways”.