BHAKTI MOVEMENT

• The term “Bhakti” symbolises devotion or a

passionate love for the divine. The Bhakti movement
stresses the mystical union of the individual with God.
Although the seeds of Bhakti can be found in the
Vedas, it was not emphasised during the early period.
• The process of adoration of a personal God developed
during the course of the 6th century BCE, with the
rise of the heterodox movements of Buddhism and
Jainism.
• For instance, under Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha
began to be worshipped in his gracious (avalokita)
form. The worship of Vishnu too started around the
same time, which was popularised to a great extent
by the Gupta kings.
• Vaishnava and Shaiva devotionalism were given
new emphasis and expression by the Alwars and
Nayanars saints of South India in the early medieval
period.
• As per the tradition, there were 12 Alwars and 63
Nayanars. Using devotion to achieve salvation was a
key component of the Bhakti movement which was
started as a religious reformation in medieval India.
• The period of the 8th to 18th century is dedicated
to the Bhakti movement where a number of saints
(Hindu, Muslim, Sikh) evolved as the messiah of
Bhakti (devotion), teaching people the transition of
life from normalcy to enlightenment through
salvation.
 The Bhakti movement in South India

• The development of the popular Bhakti movement

took place in south India between the 7th and 12th
centuries CE.
• It was based on religious equality and broad-based
social participation.
• The Shivaite Nayannars and the Vaishnavaite
Alvars, who preached the Bhakti cult under the
Pallavas, Pandyas and Cholas disregarded the
austerities preached by the Jains and the
Buddhists.
• They preached personal devotion to God as a
means of salvation. They disregarded the
rigidities of the caste system and carried the
message of love and personal devotion to God
to various parts of South India with the help of
local languages.
 The Bhakti movement in North India
• The Bhakti movement gained importance in
the northern parts of the country during the
12th-17th century CE.
• The Bhakti movement in north India is
sometimes seen as a continuation of the
movement that originated in the south.
Despite the similarities in the tradition of the
two regions, the idea of Bhakti varied in terms
of the teachings of each of the saints.
• The northern medieval Bhakti movement was
influenced by the spread of Islam in India. The
main features of Islam like belief in one God
(monotheism), equality and brotherhood, and
rejection of rituals and class divisions greatly
influenced the Bhakti movement of this era.
The movement also brought certain reforms
to society.
 Salient features of Bhakti Movement

• The Bhakti movement was based on the principles

of monotheism and it generally criticized idol worship.
• The Bhakti reformers believed in freedom from the
cycle of life and death and preached that salvation
could be attained only by deep devotion and faith in
God.
• They emphasised the importance of self-surrender for
obtaining the bliss and grace of God and also valued
the importance of Gurus who acted as guides and
preceptors.
• They preached the principle of universal
brotherhood.
• They were against rituals, pilgrimages and fasts.
They strongly opposed the caste system which
divided the people according to their birth.
• They also emphasised on the singing of hymns
with deep devotion and without considering
any language as sacred, they composed poems
in the language of the common people.
 Alvars and Nayanars of Tamil Nadu
• The Alvars and Nayanars led some of the
earliest Bhakti movements (c. sixth century).
• Alvars – those who are “immersed” in
devotion to Vishnu.
• Nayanars – those who are devotees of Shiva.
• They travelled from place to place singing
hymns in Tamil praising their gods.
• The Alvars and Nayanars initiated a movement
of protest against the caste system and the
dominance of Brahmanas or at least
attempted to reform the system. This is
supported by the fact that bhaktas or disciples
hailed from diverse social backgrounds
ranging from Brahmanas to artisans and
cultivators and even from castes considered
“untouchable”.
• The Nalayira Divya Prabandham (“Four
Thousand Sacred Compositions”) is one of the
major anthologies of compositions of the 12
Alvars collected and compiled in the
10th century by Nathamuni.
• Tevaram – a collection of the first seven
volumes of Tirumurai (Saiva devotional
poetry) contains the work of Tamil poets
– Appar, Sambandar, and Sundarar.
 Shankaracharya (c. 788 – 820 CE)

• One of the mystic Bhakti poet-saint leaders

who gave a new orientation to Hinduism.
• He was born in Kaladi in Kerala. He
propounded the Advaita (Monism) philosophy
and the idea of Nirgunabrahman (god without
attributes).
• In Advaita, the reality of the world is denied
and Brahman is considered the only reality. It
is only Brahman at its base that gives it its
reality.
• His famous quotes include, ‘Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya Jivo
Brahmatra Naparaha’ meaning, “The Absolute Spirit is the
reality, the world of appearance is Maya” and ‘Ekameva
Adviteeyam Brahma’ meaning, “The absolute is one alone, not
two”.
• He laid emphasis on knowledge (gyan) as that can alone lead
to salvation.
• Upadesasahasri, Vivekachudamani, Bhaja Govindum Stotra are
some of the works authored by Shankaracharya. He also wrote
commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, the Brahma Sutra and
the Upanishads.
• He set up mathas at Dwarka, Puri, Sringeri and Badrinath.
 Ramanuja (c. 1017 – 1137 CE)

• In the 12th century, Ramanuja, who was born at

Sriperumbudur near modern Chennai,
preached Vishista Advaitavada (qualified monism).
According to him, God is Saguna Brahman (with
attributes) and the creative process including all
the objects in creation are real and not illusory as
was held by Shankaracharya. Therefore, according
to Ramanuja, God, soul, and matter are real.
However, God is the inner substance and the rest
are his attributes.
• In Vishista Advaitavada, the universe and
Brahman are considered two equally real
entities, as in dualism, but here the universe is
not separate from Brahman but is formed out
of Brahman.
• The Brahman is considered as a personal god
with omniscient qualities who has created the
world out of his own self.
• Thus, the world bears to Brahman the relation
of the part to the whole, or the relation of
a ‘qualified effect’ to the base (hence qualified
monism).
• The famous analogy given for this is the sea
and wave – Brahman is the sea and the
objects of the world, both living and nonliving
are the waves upon this sea.
• According to Ramanuja, Brahman is an entirely personal
god and is considered to be Vishnu or one of his avatars.
He believed that Vishnu has created the world out of his
love for humans, and he also controls the world at every
step. He also held that Vishnu has all the qualities of a
personal god – omniscient, omnipotence, etc.
• The difference between Dualism and Vishista Advaita is
that “mankind enjoys higher status than in pure dualistic
worship and is nearer to God”. In Vishista Advaita, both the
world and Brahman are considered equally real; they are
not considered to be two separate entities as in Dualism.
• Ramanuja advocated prabattimarga or the
path of self-surrender to God. He invited
downtrodden people to Vaishnavism and
advocated salvation by Bhakti.
• He authored Sribhashya, Vedanta Dipa, Gita
Bhasya and Vedantasara.
 Madhavacharya (c. 1238 – 1317 CE)
• Madhava from Kannada preached Dvaita or
the dualism of Jivatma and Paramatma.
According to his philosophy, the world is not
an illusion but a reality and full of real
distinction.
• God, soul and matter are unique in nature,
and are irreducible to each other.
• He founded the Brahma Sampradaya.
• He considered Brahman and the universe to
be two equally real entities that are not
related in any way. The God of dualism is
Vishnu who has created the universe, and the
universe is separate from God and in an
inferior position to God with no link between
the two. Vishnu controls all worldly affairs and
to worship and pray to God is the duty of all
persons.
 Namadeva (c. 1270 – 1350)
• A Maharashtrian saint, who flourished in the first part
of the 14th century. Namadeva was a tailor who is said
to have taken to banditry before he became a saint.
• His poetry which was written in Marathi breathes a
spirit of intense love and devotion to God.
• He is considered one of the five revered gurus in the
Dadupanth tradition within Hinduism, the other four
being Dadu, Kabir, Hardas and Ravidas. It is believed
that his Abhangas were included in the Guru Granth
Sahib.
• Namadeva is said to have travelled far and wide and
engaged in discussions with Sufi saints at Delhi.
 Non-Sectarian Bhakti Movement
• In the 14th and 15th centuries, Ramananda, Kabir
and Nanak emerged as the great proponents of
the Bhakti cult. They helped the common people
to shed age-old superstitions and attain salvation
through Bhakti or pure devotion.
• Unlike the early reformers, they were not linked
with any particular religious creed and were
totally against rituals and ceremonies. They
condemned polytheism, believed in one God and
were against idolatry. They also laid stress on the
fundamental unity of all religions.
 Ramananda (c. 1400 – 1476 CE)
• Ramananda was a 15th-century poet-saint who was
born at Prayag (Allahabad) and preached his principles
at Benaras and Agra. His followers are
called Ramanandis.
• He was originally a follower of Ramanuja. Like other
monotheist bhakti saints, he opposed the caste system
and chose his disciples from all sections of society,
irrespective of caste. His disciples were:
– Kabir, a Muslim weaver.
– Sena, a barber.
– Sadhana, a butcher.
– Raidasa, a cobbler.
• He is regarded as the founder of the Ram cult
in north India as his object of Bhakti was Ram
since he worshipped Ram and Sita.
• He rejected the monopoly of the Sanskrit
language over the teachings of religious texts.
He preached in local languages to popularise
his teachings.
• Kabir
• One of the most famous disciples of Ramananda who
belonged to the 15th century. His iconic verses are
found in the Sikh holy scripture, Adi Granth.
• According to tradition, it is believed that he was born
near Benaras to a Brahmin widow who abandoned
him after his birth and was brought up in the house of
a Muslim weaver.
• He possessed an inquiring mind and while in Benaras
learnt much about Hinduism. He became familiar
with Islamic teachings and Ramananda initiated him
into the higher knowledge of Hindu and Muslim
religious and philosophical ideas.
• He strongly denounced idol worship, pilgrimages, rituals, caste
system especially the practice of untouchability and laid great
stress on the equality of man before God. The mission of Kabir
was to preach a religion of love that would unite all castes and
creeds.
• He was quite familiar with yogic practices and regarded
devotion to God as an effective means of salvation. He urged his
disciples that to attain salvation one must have a pure heart,
free from cruelty, hypocrisy, dishonesty and insincerity.
• He considered neither asceticism nor book knowledge important
for true knowledge. He also did not consider it necessary to
abandon the life of a householder for the sake of saintly life.
• Kabir’s object was to reconcile Hindus and Muslims and
establish harmony between the two sects. He
emphasised the essential oneness of all religions by
describing Hindus and Muslims “as pots of the same
clay”. To him, Rama and Allah, temple and mosque were
the same.
• Kabir is regarded as the greatest mystic saint and his
followers are called Kabirpanthis. Raidas (a tanner),
Guru Nanak (a Khatri merchant) and Dhanna (a Jat
peasant) were some of his important disciples. Most of
the compositions of Kabir are compiled in Bijak.
 Guru Nanak (c. 1469 – 1539 CE)

• The first Sikh Guru and the founder of Sikhism,

who was also a Nirguna Bhakti saint and social
reformer.
• He was born in a Khatri family in the village of
Talwandi (now called Nankana) on the banks
of the river Tawi in c. 1469 CE. He had a mystic
contemplative bent of mind and preferred the
company of saints and sadhus.
• He preached about the unity of God and strongly
denounced idol-worship, pilgrimages and other
formal observances of the various faiths. He
advocated a middle path in which a spiritual life could
be combined with the duties of the householder.
• “Abide pure amidst the impurities of the world”, was
one of his famous sayings.
• He aimed at bridging distinctions between the Hindus
and the Muslims in order to create an atmosphere of
peace, goodwill and mutual give and take.
• Nathpanthis, Siddhas, and Yogis
• They condemned the ritual and other aspects of
orthodox religion and the social order, using simple,
logical arguments.
• They encouraged the renunciation of the world.
• To them, the path to salvation lay in meditation and
to achieve this they advocated intense training of
the mind and body through practices like
yogasanas, breathing exercises and meditation.