In plain words
He had the strength to declare firmly, in any circumstance, even before those who hated him, ‘I am Rāma's servant.’ What are devotees like today? When they go to the mandir, they put on vibhūti. When they go outside, they take a hand kerchief and wipe it off. When they are near Swami, when they are moving about close by, they show themselves in every way as devotees. Once they go into some place opposed to Bhakti: we are not Sai devotees; we just keep coming and going, that is all. How can such cowards be devotees? Into whatever place you may go, you must drum it out and proclaim it. Bhakti must be endowed with that kind of bold strength. Yes, I am a devotee. Hanumān was one endowed with courage of this kind. That is why, practising service, he made his life worthwhile and has stayed on, deathless.
Next, friendship. Here it is Arjuna. In every circumstance, never leaving Kṛṣṇa, he lived on ceaselessly at His side as His companion. They suffered many hardships. They bore many reproaches and taunts. In the end they fell into a kind of disgrace. At every moment they would take refuge in Kṛṣṇa in every way, with nothing but the prayer, ‘Kṛṣṇa! We have none but You.’ ‘You alone and none beyond do I know; there is no one but You’: so they would pray. Regarding Him in this way as a shadow, as a friend, and trusting Him as kin, Arjuna made use of Kṛṣṇa in everything. That is why He stood by him even as charioteer and went on giving him victories of many kinds. He took God as the charioteer of the chariot of his life. Him they called Pārthasārathi. The charioteer of Pārtha's life.
Next, the last, the ninth: the offering of the self. The one who made this offering of the self, gave what was asked and so made his life worthwhile was Emperor Bali. He was Prahlāda's grandson. He was one immersed in Bhakti and surrender towards God. He performed the sacrifice called Viśvajit and won victory over the world itself. He offered up his own head and entered the Pātāla world. He believed, ‘In whatever way it may be, His grace alone is what matters to me.’ Even when his guru, Śukrācārya, stood in the way of the gift, he held, ‘No, no; my body, my frame, my karma, my duty, all of it is offered to God.’
So, from ancient times, there were emperors and great devotees who lived the nine kinds of path of Bhakti and showed forth the nine kinds of path as an ideal.