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INTRODUCTION

Bhakti as a religious concept means devotional surrender to a supreme God for attaining salvation. This doctrine has been traced to various scriptures such as the Gita and both the Brahmanical and Buddhist traditions of ancient India. But between the seventh and tenth century in South India, Bhakti grew from a mere religious doctrine into a popular movement based on religious equality and broad-based social participation. The movement was led by popular saintpoets. The brightest stars among them were Kabir, Tulsidas, Meera bai, Guru Nanak, Chaitanya, Namdev, etc. They were egalitarian society, a society in which there are respect and concern towards each other, human dignity and feeling of fraternity. It reached its climax in the tenth century after which it began to decline. But it was revived as a philosophical and ideological movement by a series of scholars or acharyas beginning with Ramanuja in the eleventh century. The Bhakti saints used images of daily life and always tried to identify themselves in one way or another with the sufferings of the common people. The establishment of the Delhi sultanate in early thirteenth century showed great explosion of many diverse socio religious movements in various parts of the country which brought into play of the Bhakti movement.

THE BHAKTI TRADITION


In medieval India it was caste structures that governed the lives of men and the networks of relations that they could enter into. The structure of social divisions that arose thus was, as mentioned, a rigid, inflexible and unequal one that created extremes of inequality, privileges and non-privileges between men and social groups. Although this was an extremely unfair system, little could be done or said against it as it was supported by Hindu religious ideology, particularly the notions of high and pure birth and occupation as against the low and impure. In other words, Hinduism was as much a social system as it was a religion, and provided an ideological framework on the basis of which Hindu society arose.

In other words, Hinduism was both religion and social framework and governed the lives of Hindus. To be a Hindu meant that one's life was governed by factors such as being born in a caste, being subject to ones' actions or karma, to be a part of Brahman and aim at achieving Moksha or Liberation of ones soul or salvation. Further, it must be remembered that Hinduism was not a revealed religion that had just a single text. With every phase in the development of Hinduism came new scriptures and texts. Thus we have the Veda, the Upnishad, the Purana and the Bhagavad Gita. Even though we have stressed that the caste system was a system that formed the basis of life in Hindu India and was rigid and unchangeable, there nevertheless occurred many anti-caste movements in the course of the development of the religion. Buddhism and Jainism in the 6th century B.C. spoke up against caste divisions and social inequality. This struggle was carried forward and saw its culmination in the rise of the medieval movement of Bhakti or 'selfless' devotion to a single God, with which this unit is primarily concerned. Hinduism was greatly has criticized great and faced many This movements is so against. Of these, though

the Bhakti movement

significance.

because

even

the Bhakti movement was against some of the tenets of Hinduism, much of what is a part of Hinduism in later ages developed as an outcome of the Bhakti tradition. This tradition was widespread, in fact from North to South India.

REASONS

FOR

EMERGENCE

OF

THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT

The Bhakti movement which influenced large number of people during 14th-17th centuries in North India emerged due to a number of political, socio economic and religious factors.

Political Factors for the rise of the Bhakti Movement


1. Initially, the popular Bhakti movement could not take root in Northern India before the

Turkish conquest because the socio-religious milieu was dominated by the RajputBrahman alliance which was hostile to any heterodox movement. Consequently, the Turkish conquest brought the supremacy of this alliance to an end. The advent of Islam with the Turkish conquest also caused a setback to the power by the Brahmans. However,

the way was paved for the growth of the movements with anti-caste and antiBrahmanical ideology.
2. The Brahmans had always made the people believe that the images and idols in the

temple were not just the symbols of God but were gods themselves who possessed divine power and who could influence by the Brahmans. Here, the Turks deprived Brahmans of their wealth and state support. However, the Brahmans suffered both materially and ideologically. The loss of power and influence by the Brahmans and the new political situation ultimately created conditions for the rise of the popular monotheistic movements and other Bhakti movements in Northern India.

Socio-Economic Factors
1. It has been argued that the Bhakti movements of medieval India represented sentiments

of the common people against feudal oppression. And it is in this series, sometimes the medieval Bhakti movements are regarded as Indian matching part of the Protestant reformation in Europe. Nevertheless, they didnt represent the class interest of the peasantry against the surplus-extracting feudal state. For that reason, the Bhakti movements cannot be regarded as Indian variant of European Protestant Reformation which was a far greater social turmoil linked to the decline of feudalism and the rise of capitalism. 2. The Turkish ruling class, unlike Rajputs, lived in towns. The demands of the resource using class for manufactured goods, luxuries and other necessaries led to the introduction of many new techniques and crafts. The growing classes of urban artisans were attracted towards the monotheistic movement because of its egalitarian ideas as they were not satisfied with the low status accorded in Brahmanical hierarchy. 3. In Punjab, the popularity of the movement did not remain to urban classes: it acquired a broader base by the merging of the Jat peasants. The support extended by the Jats of the Punjab to Guru Nanaks movement contributed to the development of Sikhism as a mass religion.

PATHS

AND

PILLARS

OF

BHAKTI

IN

HINDU TRADITION

From a modern historical standpoint the development of Bhakti is the coming together of considerably earlier theistic tendencies in three major religious traditions of ancient India:
i) the sacrificial cult of the invading Aryans and the recitation of the Brahmana priests that

become the foundation of the Vedas;


ii) the practice of bodily mortification and groups known as Sramanas probably continuing

traditions of earlier inhabitants of India but soon adapted by some of the Aryans; and iii) The pre Aryan cults of spirits and village goddesses inhabiting trees and rocks and protecting special people or special groups. Those who worship Vishnu as the Supreme' diety are known as Vaishnavas; likewise those who accord the Supreme place to Shiva are known as Saivas; and those who are devotees of the Goddess of Power are known as Saktas. Each sect is subdivided into lineages of teachers and teachings. The major forms of Bhakti are divided according to the various mood of the devotees. Raw emotion or bhava is transformed in drama to a refined mood or rasa. Each combination of bhava or rasa uses a particular human relationship or devotional stances such as servant to master or child to parent or friend to friend, parent to child and beloved to lover. While Bhakti stresses passionate attachment it is in striking contrast with Yoga which stresses detachment. Yet many forms of Bhakti do talk of detachment such as that taught in the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhakti movements, stand religiously between the extreme ascetic paths and popular Hindu religiosity. Bhakti generally shares the ascetic concern for moksa - release from finite existence and realization of transcendent beatitude. What is primary is communion with the lord. A few bhaktas make the total commitment of time and style of life characteristic of Hindu 'renouncers' spending whole days in chanting and singing the praise of their Lord. Bhakti shares with popular Hinduism the basic ritual of puja, worship of the diety in image form with fruit, flower and vegetables which are returned after worship as prasada that is material substance filled with the Lord's grace. Such puja may take place in the home shrine or local temple. The

worship could be for any spiritual or mundane purpose. There are &o distinctive Bhakti rituals communal singing of hymns and chants, performance of dramas, dances and chants and recital of heroic deeds of Vishnu. These three paths of Bhakti that Lord Krishna offered to Arjuna were:
i) the path of knowledge or Gyan; ii) the path of action or Karma and iii) the path of devorion or Bhakti

The Sanskrit term Bhakti is most often translated as "devotion" and Bhakti Marg as "path of devotion". Bhakti is the divine-human relationship as experienced from the human side. There are at least three major forms of Bhakti that is Vaisnavas, Saivas, and worshippers of the great power (Shakti). Each sect is divided into many subjects. Bhakti is between popular religion and asceticism. Bhakti shares the concern for moksa that is release from the bondages of life on earth. The ritual of puja is very important. There are other rituals too communal singing of hymns and chants; recitations of epics; recounting of sacred lore. It is this last path of devotion that forms the basis of a religious tradition that survives and proliferates today even across international boundaries. The basic teaching of this tradition was the idea of 'loving devotion' by concentrating upon the image of a single God and without any thought for oneself, as being the way of liber'ation of ones soul. Any God could be the focus of one's devotion. This God was then seen as ones personal God or ishta deva. Ishta deva is a deity that the worshipper chooses as a personal diety and accords it personal devotion. The most often chosen God for ones devotion we find, has been Krishna and most of the Bhakti tradition has evolved around him. It is particularly his character as the incarnation of Vishnu and his relationship to the Gopis and Radha in particular, which are of central importance here. Gopis is the name given to the ladies who were worshippers of ~rishna and with whom he played many of his divine games (lila). In fact, the love that the Gopis had for Krishna has been regarded as

the best example of the devotion of the individual for God. The idea of 'self abandonment' or the forgetting of everything in !he presence of one's God, is also seen as an important part of the bhakta or devotee's devotion to God. This particular form of relationship between the God and devotee has been called Viraha Bhakti. Viraha Bhakti is the name given to exclusive personal devotion to Sri Krishna where feeling of separation or longing is felt for the deity by the devotee. The devotion to Krishna and the Bhakti cult that arose around him became prominent in South India around the 8th century. We now turn to the pillars of Bhakti. The two main pillars of the Bhakti tradition are 'love' and 'meditation'. The 'love' is for God, and it is ecstatic in nature as well as symbolizing a feeling of bliss or happiness that is unparalleled; and an intimacy or closeness with God, like that with ones beloved. The idea that is being conveyed here is to be lost in the love of God as though He were a beloved. At that time the relationship that arises here may be one of dependence upon the God. On the other hand, as far as the aspect of meditation is concerned, there are two kinds of meditation in Bhakti:
i) Saguna Bhakti, where one meditates on God as a separate being, through disciplined

practice;
ii) Nirguna Bhakti, where God and self are merged into one and little distinction is made

between self and God.

BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN NORTH INDIA


In north India, during the Sultanate period (13th-15th century), arose many popular socioreligious movements in North and East India and Maharashtra. Almost all the Bhakti movements of the Sultanate period have been related to South Indian vaishnava acharyas. For these reasons, many scholars believe that the Bhakti movements of the sultanate period were continuation of the elder Bhakti movement. They argued that there existed philosophical and ideological links between the two. There are similarities between the older Bhakti tradition of south India and various Bhakti movements in the Sultanate and Mughal periods. The popular monotheistic movement of Kabir,

Nanak and other low caste saints showed that both the two have possessed many common features. For example, like the south Indian Bhakti movement, the Vaishnava Bhakti movements of North, Eastern India, and Maharashtra never condemned the caste system, the authority of Brahmanical scriptures and privileges as such. Consequently, like the South Indian Bhakti movements, most of the vaishnava movements of the later period were assimilated into the Brahmanical religion and thus underwent many changes and gradually differed from south Indian Bhakti movements. The Bhakti movements of the medieval india differed in many significant respects not only from the older South Indian Bhakti but also among themselves. Each of them had its own regional identity and socio-historical cultural contexts. During the later period, when the vaishnava Bhakti movement crystallized into sects, there arose frequent disputes between them which sometimes even turned violent. Among all the Bhakti movements of the period between the 14th and 17th century, the popular monotheistic movements of Kabir, Nanak, Raidas and other lower caste saints become really different. In the centuries following the establishment of the Delhi sultanate and advent of Islam in north India, popular monotheistic movement and vaishnava Bhakti movement arose in that part of the country at the same time. For this reason, the rise of both two movements is often attributed to common causes such as the influence of Islam on Hinduism. The popular monotheistic movements reached their climax in the Sultanate period, while the vaishnava movements reached their climax during the Mughal period.

BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN SOUTH INDIA


The Sai Nayanar saints and Vaishnava Alvar saints of South India spread the doctrine of Bhakti among different sections of the society irrespective of caste and sex during the period between seventeenth and the tenth century. Some of these saints came from the lower castes and some were women. They preached Bhakti in an intense emotional manner and promoted religious egalitarianism. They spread the doctrine with rituals and passed through the region, several times singing, dancing and advocating Bhakti. The Alvar and Nayanar saints used the Tamil language for preaching and composing devotional songs. All these features gave the movement popular character. These poet-saints resisted the authority of the Orthodox Brahmans by making Bhakti accessible to all irrespective of any caste and sex. But it had its limitation as well. It never opposed the Varna and caste systems at the social level. There was no limitation of Brahmanical rituals such as worship of idols, recitation of the Vedic mantras and pilgrimages to sacred places in spite of took priority over Bhakti as the superior mode of worship. Ultimately, after the movement reached its climax in the tenth century, it was gradually assimilated into the conventional Brahmanical religion. But despite these limitations, the South Indian Bhakti movement succeeded in championing the cause of religious equality and the Brahmans had to accept the right of the low caste to preach, to have access to the Vedas and to have access to Bhakti as a mode of worship. Ramanuja (11th century), the first Brahmans acharya, gave philosophical justification for Bhakti. He tried to establish a careful balance between orthodox Brahmanism and popular Bhakti which was open to all. Though he did not support the idea of the lower castes having access to the Vedas, he advocated Bhakti as a mode of worship accessible to all including the sudras and even the outcastes. While propagating Bhakti, he did not observe caste distinctions and ever tried to eradicate untouchability.

A. RELIGIOUS effect 1) Protection of Hinduism 2) Increase in places of pilgrimage 3) Progress of Islam Checked 4) Decline of Buddhism 5) Birth of Sikhism B. SOCIAL AND CULTURAL EFFECTS 1) Hindu-muslim unity and co-operation 2) Broad outlook of people 3) Uplift of lower classes 4) Feeling of Social Service 5) Social Reforms 6) Development of regional literature 7) Development of Hindu-muslim Art. C. POLITICAL EFFECTS 1) liberal Religious Policy of Akbar 2) Emergence of the sikh power 3) Rise of the Maratha Power

CONCLUSION
The Bhakti Movement of the Sultanate period represented the most widespread group of socio religious movements in Indian history after the rise of heterodox movements of the 6th century B.C. They influenced the whole country at different times by advocating new socio religious ideas and practices. They also contributed to the growth of modern dialect of languages, emergence of organized religious communities like the Sikhs and evolution of various sects and the most important outcome was on the metaphysical and philosophical thoughts, beliefs and practices. Guru Nanak, Meera Bai, Namdev and Tulsidas brought remarkable Bhakti compositions to the Indian literature. These works brought Indians closer to each other, between Muslims and Hindus in particular.

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