Bhakti Movement

The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during 6th century CE, it gained prominence through the poems and teachings of the Vaishnava Alvars and Shaiva Nayanars before spreading northwards. It swept over east and north India from the 15th century onwards, reaching its zenith between the 15th and 17th century CE.

The Bhakti movement regionally developed around different gods and goddesses, and some sub-sects were Shaivism (Shiva), Vaishnavism (Vishnu), Shaktism (Shakti goddesses), and Smartism.Wendy Doniger (2009)
"Bhakti"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Bhakti movement preached using the local languages so that the message reached the masses. The movement was inspired by many poet-saints, who championed a wide range of philosophical positions ranging from theistic dualism of Dvaita to absolute monism of Advaita Vedanta.

The movement has traditionally been considered an influential social reformation in Hinduism in that it provided an individual-focused alternative path to spirituality regardless of one's birth or gender. Contemporary scholars question whether the Bhakti movement ever was a reform or rebellion of any kind. They suggest the Bhakti movement was a revival, reworking, and recontextualization of ancient Vedic traditions. ''Bhakti'' refers to deep devotion (to a deity).

Scriptures of the Bhakti movement include the Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavata Purana and Padma Purana.

Terminology

The Sanskrit word ''bhakti'' is derived from the root , which means "divide, share, partake, participate, to belong to". The word also means "attachment, devotion to, fondness for, homage, faith or love, worship, piety to something as a spiritual, religious principle or means of salvation".Monier Monier-Williams, ''Monier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Motilal Banarsidass, page 743

The meaning of the term ''Bhakti'' is analogous to but different from Kama. The Kama connotes emotional connection, sometimes with sensual devotion and erotic love. Bhakti, in contrast, is spiritual, a love and devotion to religious concepts or principles, that engages both emotion and intellection. Karen Pechelis states that the word Bhakti should not be understood as uncritical emotion, but as committed engagement. Bhakti movement in Hinduism refers to ideas and engagement that emerged in the medieval era on love and devotion to religious concepts built around one or more gods and goddesses. Bhakti movement preached against the caste system using the local languages so that the message reached the masses. One who practices ''bhakti'' is called a ''bhakta''.

Textual roots

Ancient Indian texts, dated to be from the 1st millennium BCE, such as the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, the Katha Upanishad, and the Bhagavad Gita mention Bhakti.

Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The last of three epilogue verses of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, 6.23, uses the word Bhakti as follows,

This verse is notable for the use of the word ''Bhakti'', and has been widely cited as among the earliest mentions of "the love of God". ScholarsPaul Deussen, ''Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 301-304Max Muller
''The Shvetashvatara Upanishad''
Oxford University Press, pages xxxii – xlii have debated whether this phrase is authentic or later insertion into the Upanishad, and whether the terms "Bhakti" and "God" meant the same in this ancient text as they do in the medieval and modern era Bhakti traditions found in India. Max Muller states that the word ''Bhakti'' appears only in one last verse of the epilogue, could have been a later insertion and may not be theistic as the word was later used in much ''Sandilya Sutras''.Max Muller
''The Shvetashvatara Upanishad''
Oxford University Press, pages xxxiv and xxxvii Grierson, as well as Carus, note that the first epilogue verse 6.21 is also notable for its use of the word ''Deva Prasada'' (देवप्रसाद, grace or gift of God), but add that ''Deva'' in the epilogue of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad refers to "pantheistic Brahman" and the closing credit to sage Shvetashvatara in verse 6.21 can mean "gift or grace of his Soul".

Doris SrinivasanD Srinivasan (1997), ''Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes'', Brill, , pages 96-97 and Chapter 9 states that the Upanishad is a treatise on theism, but it creatively embeds a variety of divine images, an inclusive language that allows "three Vedic definitions for a personal deity". The Upanishad includes verses wherein God can be identified with the Supreme (Brahman-Atman, Self, Soul) in Vedanta monistic theosophy, verses that support the dualistic view of Samkhya doctrines, as well as the synthetic novelty of triple Brahman where a triune exists as the divine soul (Isvara, theistic God), individual soul (self) and nature (Prakrti, matter). Tsuchida writes that the Upanishad syncretically combines monistic ideas in Upanishad and self-development ideas in Yoga with personification of Shiva-Rudra deity. Hiriyanna interprets the text to be introducing "personal theism" in the form of Shiva Bhakti, with a shift to monotheism but in the henotheistic context where the individual is encouraged to discover his own definition and sense of God.

Bhagavad Gita

The ''Bhagavad Gita'', a post-Vedic scripture composed in 5th to 2nd century BCE, introduces ''bhakti marga'' (the path of faith/devotion) as one of three ways to spiritual freedom and release, the other two being ''karma marga'' (the path of works) and '' jnana marga'' (the path of knowledge). In verses 6.31 through 6.47 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna (A Yogi of its highest form, an enlightened being), the source of everything, describes ''bhakti yoga'' and loving devotion, as one of the several paths to the highest spiritual attainments.Christopher Key Chapple (Editor) and Winthrop Sargeant (Translator), ''The Bhagavad Gita: Twenty-fifth–Anniversary Edition'', State University of New York Press, , pages 302-303, 318 According to Krishna the enlightened Yogi, Bhakti yoga is one of the sweetest path to know the "self" and to reach to the ultimate truth. Among activities of Bhakti yoga, hearing and chanting the glories of the deities are most important. According to conclusion of all the revealed scriptures, by constantly chanting the holy names of the Lord Krishna, Lord Shiva and Devi or Adi Para Shakti (in their any form) one can achieve all perfection, even in this Dark Age of Kali. Therefore, one should constantly chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, - Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. A shiva devotee can chant " Om Namah Shivaya". A devotee of Mother Goddess or Devi can chant various Mantras or chant attached to Devi. One should accept a genuine spiritual master (Guru), and under him or her constantly practice the activities of Bhakti yoga to achieve the highest perfection of life. The Supreme Bramhan is most merciful.

Sutras

Shandilya and Narada are credited with two Bhakti texts, the ''Shandilya Bhakti Sutra'' and '' Narada Bhakti Sutra''.

History

The Bhakti movement originated in South India during the seventh to eighth century CE, spread northwards from Tamil Nadu through Karnataka and gained wide acceptance in fifteenth-century Assam, Bengal and northern India.

The movement started with the Shaiva Nayanars and the Vaishnava Alvars, who lived between 5th and 9th century CE. Their efforts ultimately helped spread ''bhakti'' poetry and ideas throughout India by the 12th–18th century CE.

Bhakti movement in Odisha known as Jnana Misrita bhakti or Dadhya Bhakti which started in the 12th century by various scholars including Jayadeva and it was in the form of mass movement in the 14th century. The Panchasakha Balarama Dasa, Achyutananda, Jasobanta Dasa, Ananta Dasa and Jagannatha Dasa (Odia poet) preaching Bhakti by doing mass sankritana across the Odisha before Chaitanya's arrival. Jagannath is the center of the Odisha bhakti movement.

The Alvars, which literally means "those immersed in God", were Vaishnava poet-saints who sang praises of Vishnu as they traveled from one place to another. They established temple sites such as Srirangam, and spread ideas about Vaishnavism. Various poems were compiled as Alvar Arulicheyalgal or Divya Prabhandham, developed into an influential scripture for the Vaishnavas. The Bhagavata Purana's references to the South Indian Alvar saints, along with its emphasis on ''bhakti'', have led many scholars to give it South Indian origins, though some scholars question whether this evidence excludes the possibility that ''bhakti'' movement had parallel developments in other parts of India.

Like the Alvars, the Saiva Nayanar poets were influential. The ''Tirumurai'', a compilation of hymns on Shiva by sixty-three Nayanar poet-saints, developed into an influential scripture in Shaivism. The poets' itinerant lifestyle helped create temple and pilgrimage sites and spread spiritual ideas built around Shiva. Early Tamil-Siva bhakti poets influenced Hindu texts that came to be revered all over India.

Some scholars state that the Bhakti movement's rapid spread in India in the 2nd millennium was in part a response to the arrival of Islam and subsequent Islamic rule in India and Hindu-Muslim conflicts.Karen Pechelis (2011), "Bhakti Traditions", in ''The Continuum Companion to Hindu Studies'' (Editors: Jessica Frazier, Gavin Flood), Bloomsbury, , pages 107-121 This view is contested by some scholars, with Rekha Pande stating that singing ecstatic bhakti hymns in local language was a tradition in south India before Muhammad was born. According to Pande, the psychological impact of Muslim conquest may have initially contributed to community-style bhakti by Hindus.Rekha Pande (2014), ''Divine Sounds from the Heart—Singing Unfettered in their Own Voices'', Cambridge UK, , page 25 Yet other scholars state that Muslim invasions, their conquering of Hindu Bhakti temples in south India and seizure/melting of musical instruments such as cymbals from local people, was in part responsible for the later relocation or demise of singing Bhakti traditions in the 18th century.

According to Wendy Doniger, the nature of Bhakti movement may have been affected by the "surrender to God" daily practices of Islam when it arrived in India. In turn it influenced devotional practices in Islam such as Sufism, and other religions in India from the 15th century onwards, such as Sikhism, Christianity,Stephen Neill (2002), ''A history of Christianity in India, 1707–1858'', Cambridge University Press, , page 412 and Jainism.Mary Kelting (2001), ''Singing to the Jinas: Jain laywomen, Maṇḍaḷ singing, and the negotiations of Jain devotion'', Oxford University Press, page 87,

Klaus Witz, in contrast, traces the history and nature of the Bhakti movement to the Upanishadic and the Vedanta foundations of Hinduism. He writes, that in virtually every Bhakti movement poet, "the Upanishadic teachings form an all-pervasive substratum, if not a basis. We have here a state of affairs that has no parallel in the West. Supreme Wisdom, which can be taken as basically non-theistic and as an independent wisdom tradition (not dependent on the Vedas), appears fused with the highest level of bhakti and with the highest level of God-realization."

Poets, writers and musicians

The Bhakti movement witnessed a surge in Hindu literature in regional languages, particularly in the form of devotional poems and music. This literature includes the writings of the Alvars and Nayanars, poems of Andal, Basava, Bhagat Pipa, Allama Prabhu, Akka Mahadevi, Kabir, Guru Nanak (founder of Sikhism), Tulsidas, Nabha Dass, Gusainji, Ghananand, Ramananda (founder of Ramanandi Sampradaya), Ravidass, Sripadaraja, Vyasatirtha, Purandara Dasa, Kanakadasa, Vijaya Dasa, Six Goswamis of Vrindavan, Raskhan, Ravidas, Jayadeva Goswami, Namdev, Eknath, Tukaram, Mirabai, Ramprasad Sen, Sankardev, Vallabha Acharya, Narsinh Mehta, Gangasati and the teachings of saints like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

The writings of Sankaradeva in Assam however, not only included an emphasis on the regional language, but also led to the development of an artificial literary language called ''Brajavali''. ''Brajavali'' is to an extent, a combination of medieval Maithili and Assamese. The language was easily understood by the local populace, in line with the Bhakti movement's call for inclusion, but it also retained its literary style. A similar language, called ''Brajabuli'' was popularised by Vidyapati, which was adopted by several writers in Odisha in the medieval times, and in Bengal during its renaissance.

The earliest writers from the 7th to 10th century CE known to have influenced the poet-saints driven movements include, Sambandar, Tirunavukkarasar, Sundarar, Nammalvar, Adi Shankara, Manikkavacakar and Nathamuni. Several 11th and 12th century writers developed different philosophies within the Vedanta school of Hinduism, which were influential to the Bhakti tradition in medieval India. These include Ramanuja, Madhva, Vallabha and Nimbarka.Richard Kieckhefer and George Bond (1990), ''Sainthood: Its Manifestations in World Religions,'' University of California Press, , pages 116-122Axel Michaels (2003), ''Hinduism: Past and Present'', Princeton University Press, , pages 62-65 These writers championed a spectrum of philosophical positions ranging from theistic dualism, qualified nondualism and absolute monism.

The Bhakti movement also witnessed several works getting translated into various Indian languages. Saundarya Lahari, written in Sanskrit by Adi Shankara, was translated into Tamil in the 12th century by Virai Kaviraja Pandithar, who titled the book ''Abhirami Paadal''. Similarly, the first translation of the Ramayana into an Indo-Aryan language was by Madhava Kandali, who translated it into Assamese as the ''Saptakanda Ramayana''.

Philosophy: Nirguna and Saguna Brahman

The Bhakti movement of Hinduism saw two ways of imaging the nature of the divine (Brahman) – ''Nirguna'' and ''Saguna''. ''Nirguna'' Brahman was the concept of the Ultimate Reality as formless, without attributes or quality. ''Saguna'' Brahman, in contrast, was envisioned and developed as with form, attributes and quality. The two had parallels in the ancient pantheistic unmanifest and theistic manifest traditions, respectively, and traceable to Arjuna-Krishna dialogue in the Bhagavad Gita. It is the same Brahman, but viewed from two perspectives, one from ''Nirguni'' knowledge-focus and other from ''Saguni'' love-focus, united as Krishna in the Gita. ''Nirguna'' bhakta's poetry were ''Jnana-shrayi'', or had roots in knowledge. ''Saguna'' bhakta's poetry were ''Prema-shrayi'', or with roots in love. In Bhakti, the emphasis is reciprocal love and devotion, where the devotee loves God, and God loves the devotee.

Jeaneane Fowler states that the concepts of Nirguna and Saguna Brahman, at the root of Bhakti movement theosophy, underwent more profound development with the ideas of Vedanta school of Hinduism, particularly those of Adi Shankara's Advaita Vedanta, Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta, and Madhvacharya's Dvaita Vedanta. Two 12th-century influential treatises on bhakti were ''Sandilya Bhakti Sutra'' – a treatise resonating with Nirguna-bhakti, and ''Narada Bhakti Sutra'' – a treatise that leans towards Saguna-bhakti.

''Nirguna'' and ''Saguna'' Brahman concepts of the Bhakti movement has been a baffling one to scholars, particularly the ''Nirguni'' tradition because it offers, states David Lorenzen, "heart-felt devotion to a God without attributes, without even any definable personality". Yet given the "mountains of ''Nirguni'' bhakti literature", adds Lorenzen, bhakti for ''Nirguna Brahman'' has been a part of the reality of the Hindu tradition along with the bhakti for ''Saguna Brahman''.David Lorenzen (1996), ''Praises to a Formless God: Nirguni Texts from North India'', State University of New York Press, , page 2 These were two alternate ways of imagining God during the bhakti movement.

Social impact

The Bhakti movement led to devotional transformation of medieval Hindu society, wherein Vedic rituals or alternatively ascetic monk-like lifestyle for moksha gave way to individualistic loving relationship with a personally defined god. Salvation which was previously considered attainable only by men of Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya castes, became available to everyone. Most scholars state that Bhakti movement provided women and members of the Shudra and untouchable communities an inclusive path to spiritual salvation. Some scholars disagree that the Bhakti movement was premised on such social inequalities.

Poet-saints grew in popularity, and literature on devotional songs in regional languages became profuse. These poet-saints championed a wide range of philosophical positions within their society, ranging from the theistic dualism of Dvaita to the absolute monism of Advaita Vedanta. Kabir, a poet-saint for example, wrote in Upanishadic style, the state of knowing truth:

The early 15th-century Bhakti poet-Sant Pipa stated,Nirmal Dass (2000), ''Songs of the Saints from the Adi Granth'', State University of New York Press, , pages 181-184

The Bhakti movement also led to the prominence of the concept of female devotion, of poet-saints such as Andal coming to occupy the popular imagination of the common people along with her male counterparts. Andal went a step further by composing hymns in praise of God in vernacular Tamil rather than Sanskrit, in verses known as the Nachiyar Tirumoli, or the ''Woman's Sacred Verses'':

The impact of the Bhakti movement in India was similar to that of the Protestant Reformation of Christianity in Europe. It evoked shared religiosity, direct emotional and intellection of the divine, and the pursuit of spiritual ideas without the overhead of institutional superstructures. Practices emerged bringing new forms of spiritual leadership and social cohesion among the medieval Hindus, such as community singing, chanting together of deity names, festivals, pilgrimages, rituals relating to Saivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism. Many of these regional practices have survived into the modern era.

''Seva'', ''dāna'', and community kitchens

The Bhakti movement introduced new forms of voluntary social giving such as ''Seva'' (service, for example to a temple or ''guru'' school or community construction), ''dāna'' (charity), and community kitchens with free shared food. Of community kitchen concepts, the vegetarian Guru ka Langar introduced by Nanak became a well-established institution over time, starting with northwest India, and expanding to everywhere Sikh communities are found. Other saints such as Dadu Dayal championed the similar social movement, a community that believed in Ahimsa (non-violence) towards all living beings, social equality, and vegetarian kitchen, as well as mutual social service concepts. Bhakti temples and matha (Hindu monasteries) of India adopted social functions such as relief to victims after a natural disaster, helping the poor and marginal farmers, providing community labor, feeding houses for the poor, free hostels for poor children and promoting folk culture.

Sikhism, Shakti, and Bhakti movement

Some scholars call Sikhism a Bhakti sect of Indian traditions. In Sikhism, "nirguni Bhakti" is emphasised – devotion to a divine without Gunas (qualities or form),Hardip Syan (2014), in ''The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies'' (Editors: Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech), Oxford University Press, , page 178 but it accepts both nirguni and saguni forms of the divine.

The ''Guru Granth Sahib'', the scripture of the Sikhs, contains the hymns of the Sikh gurus, thirteen Hindu bhagats, and two Muslim bhagats. Some of the bhagats whose hymns were included in the Guru Granth Sahib, were bhakti poets who taught their ideas before the birth of Guru Nanak – the first of Sikh Guru. The thirteen Hindu bhagats whose hymns were entered into the text, were poet saints of the Bhakti movement, and included Namdev, Pipa, Ravidas, Beni, Bhikhan, Dhanna, Jayadeva, Parmanand, Sadhana, Sain, Surdas, Trilochan, while the two Muslim bhagats were Kabir and Sufi saint Farid. Most of the 5,894 hymns in the Sikh scripture came from the Sikh gurus, and rest from the Bhagats. The three highest contributions in the Sikh scripture of non-Sikh bhagats were from Bhagat Kabir (292 hymns), Bhagat Farid (134 hymns), and Bhagat Namdev (60 hymns).

While Sikhism was influenced by Bhakti movement, Quote: "Historically, Sikh religion derives from this nirguni current of bhakti religion"Louis Fenech (2014), in ''The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies'' (Editors: Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech), Oxford University Press, , page 35, Quote: "Technically this would place the Sikh community's origins at a much further remove than 1469, perhaps to the dawning of the Sant movement, which possesses clear affinities to Guru Nanak's thought sometime in the tenth century. The predominant ideology of the Sant ''parampara'' in turn corresponds in many respects to the much wider devotional Bhakti tradition in northern India."Sikhism
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2014), Quote: "In its earliest stage Sikhism was clearly a movement within the Hindu tradition; Nanak has raised a Hindu and eventually, belonged to the Sant tradition of northern India," and incorporated hymns from the Bhakti poet-saints, it was not simply an extension of the Bhakti movement. Sikhism, for instance, disagreed with some of the views of Bhakti saints Kabir and Ravidas.These views include Sikhs believing in achieving blissful mukhti while alive, Sikhs emphasizing the path of the householder, Sikh's disbelief in Ahinsa, and the Sikhs afterlife aspect of merging with God rather than physical heaven.

Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru and the founder of Sikhism, was a Bhakti saint. He taught, states Jon Mayled, that the most important form of worship is Bhakti. ''Nam-simran'' – the realisation of God – is an important Bhakti practice in Sikhism. Guru Arjan, in his ''Sukhmani Sahib'', recommended the true religion is one of loving devotion to God. The Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib includes suggestions for a Sikh to perform constant Bhakti. The Bhakti themes in Sikhism also incorporate Shakti (power) ideas.

Some Sikh sects outside the Punjab-region of India, such as those found in Maharashtra and Bihar, practice Aarti with lamps in a Gurdwara. ''Arti'' and devotional prayer ceremonies are also found in Ravidassia sect, previously part of Sikhism.

Buddhism, Jainism, and Bhakti movement

Bhakti has been a prevalent practice in various Jaina sects, wherein learned Tirthankara (''Jina'') and human ''gurus'' are considered superior beings and venerated with offerings, songs and Āratī prayers. John Cort suggests that the ''bhakti'' movement in later Hinduism and Jainism may share roots in ''vandal'' and ''puja'' concepts of the Jaina tradition.John Cort, ''Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India'', Oxford University Press, ISBN, pages 64-68, 86-90, 100-112

Medieval-era bhakti traditions among non-theistic Indian traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism have been reported by scholars, wherein the devotion and prayer ceremonies were dedicated to an enlightened guru, primarily Buddha and Jina Mahavira respectively, as well as others. Karel Werner notes that ''Bhatti'' (Bhakti in Pali) has been a significant practice in Theravada Buddhism, and states, "there can be no doubt that deep devotion or ''bhakti / Bhatti'' does exist in Buddhism and that it had its beginnings in the earliest days".

Debates in contemporary scholarship

Contemporary scholars question whether the 19th- and early 20th-century theories about the Bhakti movement in India, its origin, nature, and history are accurate. Pechilis in her book on Bhakti movement, for example, states:

Madeleine Biardeau states, as does Jeanine Miller, that Bhakti movement was neither reform nor a sudden innovation, but the continuation and expression of ideas to be found in Vedas, Bhakti Marga teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, the Katha Upanishad and the Shvetashvatara Upanishad.Madeleine Biardeau (1994), ''Hinduism: The Anthropology of a Civilization'' (Original: French), Oxford University Press, (English Translation by Richard Nice), pages 89-91

John Stratton Hawley describes recent scholarship which questions the old theory of Bhakti movement origin and "story of south-moves-north", then states that the movement had multiple origins, mentioning Brindavan in north India as another center. Hawley describes the controversy and disagreements between Indian scholars, quotes Hegde's concern that "Bhakti movement was a reform" theory has been supported by "cherry-picking particular songs from a large corpus of Bhakti literature" and that if the entirety of the literature by any single author such as ''Basava'' is considered along with its historical context, there is neither reform nor a need for reform.

Sheldon Pollock writes that the Bhakti movement was neither a rebellion against Brahmins and the upper castes nor a rebellion against the Sanskrit language, because many of the prominent thinkers and earliest champions of the Bhakti movement were Brahmins and from upper castes, and because much of the early and later Bhakti poetry and literature was in Sanskrit. Further, states Pollock, evidence of Bhakti trends in ancient southeast Asian Hinduism in the 1st millennium CE, such as those in Cambodia and Indonesia where Vedic era is unknown, and where upper caste Tamil Hindu nobility and merchants introduced Bhakti ideas of Hinduism, suggest the roots and the nature of Bhakti movement be primarily spiritual and political quest instead of the rebellion of some form.Keat Gin Ooi (2004), ''Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia'', , page 587

John Guy states that the evidence of Hindu temples and Chinese inscriptions from the 8th century CE about Tamil merchants, presents Bhakti motifs in Chinese trading towns, particularly the Kaiyuan Temple (Quanzhou). These show Saivite, Vaishnavite and Hindu Brahmin monasteries revered Bhakti themes in China.John Guy (2001), ''The Emporium of the World: Maritime Quanzhou, 1000–1400'' (Editor: Angela Schottenhammer), Brill Academic, , pages 283-299

Scholars increasingly are dropping, states Karen Pechilis, the old premises and the language of "radical otherness, monotheism and reform of orthodoxy" for Bhakti movement. Many scholars are now characterizing the emergence of Bhakti in medieval India as a revival, reworking, and recontextualization of the central themes of the Vedic traditions.

See also

* A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
* Achintya Bheda Abheda
* Buddhist devotion
* Bhatti Puja in Theravada Buddhism
* Devotional movements
* Ekasarana Dharma
* Nama sankeerthanam
* Puja (Buddhism)
* Puja (Hinduism)
* Ravidassia religion
* Shaiva Siddhanta
* Yidam

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

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Further reading

* Kishwar, Madhu (1989). ''Women Bhakta Poets: Manushi''. Manushi Publications. ASIN B001RPVZVU.

External links

Bhakti bibliography
Harvard University Archive (2001)
* Definition of Bhakti, Swami Vivekananda, Wikisource
* George Spencer (1970)
"The Sacred Geography of the Tamil Shaivite Hymns"
''Numen'', Vol. 17, Fasc. 3, pages 232–244
* Glenn Yocum (1973)
"Shrines, Shamanism, and Love Poetry: Elements in the Emergence of Popular Tamil Bhakti"
''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'', Vol. 41, No. 1, pages 3–17
* SM Pandey (1965)
"Mīrābāī and Her Contributions to the Bhakti Movement"
''History of Religions'', Vol. 5, No. 1, pages 54–73
* Vijay Pinch (May 2003)
"Bhakti and the British Empire"
''Past & Present'', No. 179, pages 159–196
* John Hawley (1984)
"The Music in Faith and Morality"
''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'', Vol. 52, No. 2, pages 243–262
* John Hawley (1988)
"Author and Authority in the Bhakti Poetry of North India"
''The Journal of Asian Studies'', Vol. 47, No. 2, pages 269–290
* Karen Pechilis (2015)
"Female Gurus and Ascetics"
Karen Pechilis (2015), ''Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism''. Edited by: Knut Jacobsen et al. (Requires subscription)
* {{citation , url= http://www.ic.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/276.pdf , title= The Vithoba Faith of Maharashtra: The Vithoba Temple of Pandharpur and Its Mythological Structure , journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies , volume=15 , issue=2–3 , first=Shima , last=Iwao , date=June–September 1988 , publisher=Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture , pages=183–197 , issn=0304-1042 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326062749/http://www.ic.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/276.pdf , archive-date=2009-03-26

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