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Bhakti

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Bhakti

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rajbhagat
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BHAKTI MOVEMENT

ORIGIN

 Bhakti movement originated in the Southern parts of India, especially


Tamil Nadu
 between 6th and 10th century AD
 preached devotion to God as a means of salvation
 disregarded the austerities preached by Buddhism and Jainism

In South India, two main groups of Bhakti saints:

 Nayanars (Shiva devotees)


 Alvars (Vishnu Devotees)

ALVARS

1. were Vaishnava poet-saints


2. were propagators of Vaishnavism
3. regarded Vishnu or Krishna as the supreme being.
4. sang praises of Vishnu or his avatar Krishna as they travelled from one
place to another.
5. opposed the philosophy of Jainism and Buddhism.
6. There were 12 Alvars. The 12 Alvars composed a text “Nalariya Divya
Prabandham” Andal was the only female Alvar saint and is referred to
as ‘Meera of the South’.

NAYANARS

 originally a group of 63 Tamil saints devoted to Lord Shiva,


 Among nayanars were Brahmins and nobles but they also included the
oil-mongers and the Vellalas.
 adopted extreme ascetism to attain the larger goal.
 three Nayanars Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar compiled a collection
of poems called Tevaram in 10th century AD
 opposed to Bramanical domination
 also opposed to Jainism and Buddhism.

Together, they laid the foundation of Bhakti movement in India.

VIRSHAIVA MOVEMENT/ LINGAYATS (12th Century AD

 Virshaivas are a Shaivite sect in Hinduism


 The sect was founded by Basavanna.
 emerged in the 12th Century AD in Karnataka during the reign of
Kalachuri dynasty.
 opposed elaborate rituals prescribed by Hindu priests.
 followers were called Virshaiva (heroes of Shiva) or the Lingayats
(wearers of Shivalinga).

Virshaiva movement included:

1. • Worshipping Shiva in his manifestations as linga.


2. • Wearing linga on left shoulder, thus known as lingayats.
3. • Burying their dead instead of cremating them
4. • Questioning the theory of re-birth.
5. • Challenging the caste system.
6. • Encouraging post-puberty marriage and re-marriage of widows

Features of the Bhakti Movement

1. Rejection of rituals and ceremonies


2. Intense love and devotion as the means of salvation.
3. focused on establishing a personal connection with God
4. They stressed on the idea of a personal God
5. They despised priests who they thought were middlemen and
6. Need of a true Guru (teacher)to realise God
7. Unity of God (Universalism) and repeating the one true name again and
again
8. Using local and regional languages to spread their messages
9. No caste discrimination and keeping an open mind on religious and
10. gender issues. They allowed both men and women to seek salvation
11. They propagated equality and spirit of brotherhood like the Sufis

two Schools of Bhakti: Saguna School/Nirguna School

Nirguna School

 imagined God as formless with no attributes or quality.


 more focused on acquiring knowledge.
 rejected the scriptures
 condemned every form of idol worship.
 prominent figures were Kabir, Guru Nanak and Dadu Dayal.

Saguna School

 God had a definite form, quality and positive attributes


 god manifests himself in incarnations such as Rama and Krishna.
 His spirit is to be found in the idols and images worshipped at home and
in temples.
 emphasises on love and devotion.
 accept the spiritual authority of the Vedas and the need of a human Guru
as mediator between God and his devotee.
 Ramanuja, Ramananda and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu belonged to this
 school of thought

Prominent Bhakti Saints


Adi Shankara --8th century AD-

 Chief proponent of the advaita (nondualism) school of Vedanta


philosophy.
 The school believes in identity of Atman(individual soul) and Brahman
 (ultimate reality).

Ramanuja-1017-1137 AD

 proponent of the Vish-ishtadvaita subschool of Vedanta philosophy.


 Vishishtadvaita signifies non-dualism of a qualified whole but is
characterised by
 multiplicity
 In other words, it believes in “all diversity subsuming to an underlying
 unity” (qualified monoism

Madhvacharya(Kannada Saint)

 chief proponent of Dvaita (dualism) School of Vedanta philosophy.


 He named his philosophy as “Tatvavada”
 As per him, there lies a fundamental difference between Atman
 (individual soul) and the Brahman

Nimbarka-13th century-Maharshtra

 proponent of Dvait-advait philosophy,i.e., duality and nonduality at the


same time (dualistic non-dualism).
 founded a community called Nimbarka Sampradaya.
 basic practice of this community consists of the worship of Sri Radha
Madhav,

Vallabhacharya-North India

 founder of Krishna-centered Pushti Marg sect of Vaishnavism


 North India (mainly Braj region).
 propounded the philosophy of Shuddha advaita (Pure Nondualism
 . As per him, moksha (salvation) could be attained through Sneha (deep
rooted love for God)

Kabir-15th century AD Uttar Pradesh

 was the disciple of Ramananda.


 believed in Vaishnavism
 criticised the orthodox ideas and discriminatory caste system.
 Advaita philosophy -signifying presence of God inside every person and
everything.
 had a strong bent to monist
 belonged to nirguna school
 followers are known as Kabir panthis.
 His ideas have been compiled in a text called Bijak.

Guru Nanak-Punjab

 said to have been inspired by Kabir


 belonged to Nirguna school.
 He was the first among the 10 sikh gurus
 said to the founder of Sikhism.

Narsinh Meta-Gujarat

 He was a saint-poet
 belonged to vaishnava sect.
 has a great contribution to Gujarati literature
 his famous bhajan “”Vaishnava jana to” was Mahatma Gandhi’s one of
the favourites
 also referred as Adikavi.
 famous for his great literary works called “Pada Verse” “Aakhyan and
“Prabhatiya”. wrote many bhajans and aartis for lord Krishn

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

1. West Bengal
2. was a Bengali Hindu saint
3. chief proponent of the Achintya Bheda Abheda and Gaudiya
Vaishnavism tradition.
4. prominent Saguna saint,
5. also expounded the vaishnava school of bhakti yoga
6. ardent devotee of Lord Krishna.
7. popularised Kirtans (religious songs

Sankardev-Assam

 was a vaishnava saint-scholar


 propagated the philosophy of “Ekasarana Dharma” (or one god) in the
form of Lord Krishna.
 “Sattras” are institutional centres or monasteries associated with
Ekasarana Dharma

1. Surdas-North India
2. Meerabai-Rajasthan-treated krishna as her husband
3. Dnyaneshwar-namdev-tukaram-eknath-Samarth ramdas---Maharshtra

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