According to Swami ("Summer Showers" at Brindavan in 1990) the nine modes of devotion are:

1.       Sravanam: Listening to the Lord's stories, Leelas and Mahimas

2.       Kirtanam: Singing the glories of the Lord's Name

3.       Smaranam: Remembrance of Lord's Name

4.       Pada Sevanam: Service to the Lotus Feet of the Lord

5.       Archanam Worship of the Lord

6.       Vandanam: Salutation of the Lord.

7.       Dasyam: Master and Servant Relationship like the one between Sri Rama and Hanuman.

8.       Sakhyam: Companionship of the Lord

9.       Atma Nivedanam: Offering oneself to the Lord in complete self-surrender.

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The following are “extracts" from an excellent book of M.R. Kundra who is looking after the North Indian Canteen in Prashanthi Nilayam

"IS SAI BABA GOD"

Baba has said,

Do not try to measure Me because you will only fail; try rather to discover your measure; then you will better succeed in discovering My measure. I engage in no asceticism; I do not meditate on anything at all; I do not study; I am not aspirant; I am neither man nor woman, neither old nor young; yet I am all these. I am a child amongst children; I am a student amongst students; I am a woman amongst women; I am a man amongst men and I am God when I am by myself. I like you to approach Me without fear as your right and as you ask for something from your father as a right.

You may be seeing Me today for the first time, but you are all old acquaintances for Me; I know you all, from age to age. I am not bound by the laws of cause and effect, so illusion cannot affect Me. I have come to show you how to live usefully and die profitably. If you approach one step nearer to Me, I shall advance three steps towards you.

I am happiest when a person carrying a heavy load of misery comes to Me; for he is most in need of what I have. Those who worship Me are not nearer to Me, than those who do not, all are Mine.

My powers do not abide Me a while and then fade away. All this is apparent manipulation by Divine Will. My Body, like all other bodies, is a temporary habitation; but My Power is Eternal, All pervasive, And Everlasting. This body has been assumed to serve a purpose; the establishment of Righteousness and the teaching of a code of conduct. When that purpose is over, this Body will disappear, like the bubble on the water.

When the Lord descends on this earth as a Poorna Avathar, He comes for a specific purpose. What is this purpose? At the age of 14, Baba threw away His schoolbooks and said to His sister-in-law, “ I am going, I do not belong to you, I have got My work, My devotees are waiting for Me.

What is this work that Baba was referring to?

My task is not merely to cure and console and removes individual misery, but it is something far more important. The removal of misery and distress is incidental to My mission. My main task is the re-establishment of the Vedas and Shastras, and revealing the knowledge about them to all people. The establishment of Dharma (Righteousness) is My aim. The spread of Dharma through teaching is my object. The Vedas are the root of Dharma. My task is to open your eyes to the glory of the Vedas and to convince you that Vedic injunctions, when put into practice, will yield the promised results. My love towards the Vedas is matched only by my love towards humanity. The Avathar behaves in a human way so that mankind feels kinship with the Avathar, but He rises to superhuman heights, so that mankind may aspire to reach the heights and through that aspiration reach Him. Realising the Lord within you as the motivator is the task for which He comes in human form. I have come to give you the key of the treasure of ‘Ananda’ or Bliss, and to tell you how to tap that spring; because you have forgotten the way to blessedness. I do not cause either joy or grief; you are the designer of both these chains that bind you. I am Anandaswarupa (Embodiment of Bliss).

Come take bliss from Me, dwell on that bliss and be full of peace. I do not take anything from any one except their love and devotion. This has been My consistent practice for the last many years and the people, who come here, give Me just the wealth of faith, devotion and love. Problems and worries are really to be welcomed as they teach you the lesson of humility and reverence. They are mere baits by which you have been brought here. I call you to Me and even grant worldly boons, so that you may turn Godward. No Avathar has done this before; going among the masses, counseling them, guiding them, consoling them uplifting them and directing them along the Path of Truth, Righteousness, Peace and Love. If you give up and surrender to the Lord, He will guide you and guard you. The Lord has come just for that very task. He is declaring that He will do so, because that is the very task that has brought Him here.

I do not encourage the adoration of Just One Name and One Form, particularly My present name and present Form. I have no wish to draw people towards Me, away from the Worship of My other Names and Forms. You may infer from what you call My miracles, that I am attracting people and causing attachment to Me and Me alone. But that is not so. These so-called miracles are merely spontaneous proofs of Divine Majesty. There is no need to change your chosen God and adopt a new one when you have seen Me or heard me. Continue your worship of chosen God along the lines already familiar to you and you will find, you are coming nearer and nearer to Me, for all names and forms Mine.

It serves no purpose if you merely acknowledge that the Lord has come and do not yearn to benefit by the Advent. In the previous Ages, many people did not accept the Incarnations of the Lord. Even their parents, kinsmen and comrades, hesitated to adore them. Only a few sages, who had cultivated the inner vision through study and spiritual practice, knew their inner Reality. But today, while faith and adoration are undermined, the good fortune that has brought you face to face with Me, is something for which you must thank your merit won through many lives. This is not just an ordinary good fortune. The present incarnation is moving amongst you and this relationship is something unique; it has to be kept unbroken until the Goal is reached. Cultivate nearness with Me in the heart and you will be rewarded. Then you too will acquire a fraction of the Supreme Love. This is a great chance. Be confident that you will all be liberated. Know that you are saved. Many hesitate to believe that things will improve; that life will be happy for all and full of joy and that the golden age will recur. Let Me assure you that this Divine Body has not come in vain. It will succeed in warding off the crisis that has come upon humanity.”