---
type: Reference
title: "Bhāgavata Purāṇa (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam)"
description: "The pre-eminent Vaiṣṇava Purāṇa; source of the navadhā (ninefold) bhakti taxonomy (7.5.23)."
darshana:
  - Bhakti (Vaiṣṇava Vedānta)
tags:
  - primary-source
  - bhakti
  - purana
timestamp: "2026-06-25"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Bhāgavata Purāṇa (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam)

## What It Is

The foremost devotional Purāṇa, centered on Viṣṇu-Kṛṣṇa. It gives the canonical ninefold (navadhā) enumeration of bhakti through Prahlāda's speech (7.5.23): hearing (śravaṇa), chanting (kīrtana), remembering (smaraṇa), serving the feet (pāda-sevana), worship (arcana), obeisance (vandana), servitude (dāsya), friendship (sakhya), and self-offering (ātma-nivedana). It also narrates the gopīs' prema as the highest devotional exemplar.

## Why It Matters Here

The source text for the navadhā structure in `bhakti`, the prema exemplars, `kirtana`, `puja`/`arcana`, and `seva`. Cited bundle-wide.
