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Bhakti

Bhakti (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.; Pali: bhatti) means love, devotion, trust, or worship. It is a word used in many Indian religions to describe a strong emotional connection or devotion to something sacred. In these religions, Bhakti can mean loving devotion to a personal god, such as Krishna, Shiva, or Devi. It can also refer to devotion to a formless spiritual reality, like Nirguna Brahman in Hinduism or the concept of God in Sikhism. In some cases, Bhakti is shown toward enlightened beings, such as a Buddha, a bodhisattva, or a guru. Bhakti is usually full of emotion and feeling, and it often reflects a close and personal relationship between the devotee (the person showing devotion) and the divine or sacred figure they love and worship.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

One of the earliest appearances of the term is found in the early Buddhist Theragatha (Verses of the Elders). In ancient texts such as the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, the term simply means participation, devotion and love for any endeavor, while in the Bhagavad Gita, it connotes one of the possible paths of spirituality and towards moksha, as in bhakti marga.[8]

The idea of Bhakti, or loving devotion to God, has deeply influenced Indian culture and religion. Many popular religious texts and saint-poets were inspired by Bhakti. One famous example is the Bhagavata Purana, a text focused on Lord Krishna, which is closely connected to the Bhakti movement in Hinduism.

Bhakti is not limited to Hinduism. It also appears in other religions practiced in India, such as Sikhism, where a form called Nirguni Bhakti is common. This type of devotion is directed toward a God without any form or physical qualities. Bhakti has even influenced how Christianity and Hinduism have interacted in modern times.

Outside of India, emotional devotion similar to Bhakti is seen in some Buddhist traditions in Southeast Asia and East Asia, showing how powerful and widespread this spiritual idea has become.[5][6][9]

The term also refers to a movement, pioneered by the Tamil Alvars and Nayanars, that developed around the gods Vishnu (Vaishnavism), Shiva (Shaivism) and Devi (Shaktism) in the second half of the 1st millennium CE.[4][10][11][12]

Devotional elements similar to bhakti have been part of various world religions throughout human history.[13] Devotional practices are found in Christianity,[13] Islam,[14][15] Buddhism and Judaism.[13]

  1. ↑ Hans G. Kippenberg; Yme B. Kuiper; Andy F. Sanders (1990). Concepts of Person in Religion and Thought. Walter de Gruyter. p. 295. ISBN 978-3-11-087437-2., Quote: "The foundations of emotional devotionalism (bhakti) were laid in south India in the second half of the first millennium of our era (...)".
  2. ↑ Indira Viswanathan Peterson (2014). Poems to Siva: The Hymns of the Tamil Saints. Princeton University Press. pp. 4, footnote 4. ISBN 978-1-4008-6006-7.
  3. ↑ DeNapoli, Antoinette (2018). "Earning God through the "One-Hundred Rupee Note": Nirguṇa Bhakti and Religious Experience among Hindu Renouncers in North India". Religions. 9 (12): 408. doi:10.3390/rel9120408.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Karen Pechelis (2011), "Bhakti Traditions", in The Continuum Companion to Hindu Studies (Editors: Jessica Frazier, Gavin Flood), Bloomsbury, ISBN 978-0826499660, pp. 107–121
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Donald Swearer (2003), Buddhism in the Modern World: Adaptations of an Ancient Tradition (Editors: Heine and Prebish), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195146981, pages 9-25.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Karel Werner (1995), Love Divine: Studies in Bhakti and Devotional Mysticism, Routledge, ISBN 978-0700702350, pages 45-46
  7. ↑ Hardip Syan (2014), in The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies (Editors: Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199699308, page 178
  8. ↑ John Lochtefeld (2014), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Rosen Publishing (New York), ISBN 978-0823922871, pp. 98–100. Also see articles on bhaktimārga and jnanamārga.
  9. ↑ Karunaratna, Indumathie (2000). "Devotion". Encyclopaedia of Buddhism IV. Government of Ceylon. 
  10. ↑ Rinehart, Robin (2004). Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-57607-905-8.
  11. ↑ Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 131. ISBN 978-0-521-43878-0.
  12. ↑ Embree, Ainslie Thomas; Stephen N. Hay; William Theodore De Bary (1988). Sources of Indian Tradition. Columbia University Press. p. 342. ISBN 978-0-231-06651-8.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Michael Pasquier (2011), The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization, Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 978-1405157629, See article on Devotionalism and Devotional Literature, doi:10.1002/9780470670606.wbecc0417
  14. ↑ GJ Larson, India's Agony Over Religion: Confronting Diversity in Teacher Education, SUNY Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-2411-7, page 116
  15. ↑ Roxanne Leslie Euben and Muhammad Qasim Zaman (2009), Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought, Princeton University Press,

    Bhakti Media

    • Nammalvar, considered the most prominent of the twelve Alvars (Tamil poet saints c. 5th to 9th century CE) whose hymns are compiled in the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham

    • Meera (Mirabai) (circa 1498-1546) was one of the most significant poet-saints in the Vaishnava bhakti movement.

    • The Bodhi Tree under which Gautama Buddha attained Enlightenment has been a major site of Buddhist bhakti since the earliest period of Buddhism.

    • A relief on the Northern Gateway of Sanchi Stupa number 1 showing devotees and musicians venerating the stupa, which contained Buddha relics.

    • Bhakti (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) at a Buddhist temple, Tibet.

    ISBN 978-0691135885, pages 21-23

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