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Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
[Antya-līlā, Ch. 4]
TEXT 70
ভজনের মধ্যে শ্রেষ্ঠ নববিধা ভক্তি ।  
 ‘কৃষ্ণপ্রেম’, ‘কৃষ্ণ’ দিতে ধরে মহাশক্তি ॥ ৭০ ॥
bhajanera madhye śreṣṭha nava-vidhā bhakti 
  ‘kṛṣṇa-prema’, ‘kṛṣṇa’ dite dhare mahā-śakti
SYNONYMS
bhajanera madhye —in executing devotional service;  śreṣṭha —the best;  nava-vidhā bhakti —the nine prescribed methods of devotional service;  kṛṣṇa-prema —ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa;  kṛṣṇa —and Kṛṣṇa;  dite —to deliver;  dhare —possess;  mahā-śakti —great potency.
TRANSLATION
“Among the ways of executing devotional service, the nine prescribed methods are the best, for these processes have great potency to deliver Kṛṣṇa and ecstatic love for Him.
PURPORT
The nine kinds of devotional service are mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.5.23):
śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ 
  smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam 
  arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ 
  sakhyam ātma-nivedanam
These nine are hearing, chanting, remembering Kṛṣṇa, offering service to Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, offering worship in the temple, offering prayers, working as a servant, making friendship with Kṛṣṇa and unreservedly surrendering to Kṛṣṇa. These nine processes of devotional service can grant one Kṛṣṇa and ecstatic love for Him. In the beginning one has to discharge devotional service according to regulative principles, but gradually, as devotional service becomes one’s life and soul, one achieves the most exalted position of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. Ultimately, Kṛṣṇa is the goal of life. One need not have taken birth in an aristocratic  brāhmaṇa  family to attain the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, nor is a person born in a low family unfit to achieve Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.33.7) Devahūti says to Kapiladeva:
aho bata śva-paco ‘to garīyān 
  yaj-jihvāgre vartate nāma tubhyam