Anagha Bhosale Instagram – jnana-yajnena chapy anye yajanto mam upasate ekatvena prithaktvena bahudha vishvato-mukham “Others, who engage in sacrifice by the cultivation of knowledge, worship the Supreme Lord as the one without a second, as diverse in many, and in the universal form.”—Bhagavad-gita 9.15 . Before this verse, Lord Krishna has just described the mahatmas, or the great souls, who worship the Supreme Lord by the process of kirtana. Kirtana means chanting. Or kirtana actually means describing. You can describe with music. You can describe with words. You can describe in speeches. Any sort of describing is called kirtana. And unless you hear, you cannot describe. If you do not know anything about the Supreme Lord, then how can you describe Him? Therefore hearing, shravanam, is the first of the nine processes of devotional service to the Lord.. The Vedic literature is called shruti-shastra. Sruti means to receive by hearing, and shastra means scripture. If you want to know the Supreme, you do not need to qualify yourself materially. You can remain what you are. God has given you the power of hearing. If you hear from authoritative sources, then you become perfect, simply by hearing. Therefore the first principle, hearing, is recommended. Formerly, students heard the Vedas from the spiritual master. In the Bhagavad-gita you’ll find that Arjuna is hearing from Krishna. He’s not studying Vedanta philosophy on the battlefield. He is simply hearing. That is the process. You can hear at any place. Even on the battlefield you can hear from the authoritative source.