BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN INDIA: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

(Dr.G.Narayanan,Associate professor, Department of Vedanta, SSUS R.C Thiruvananthapuram)

A social movement aims at radical change in society and the struggle to achieve it. It can

be an organized struggle or may be an undercurrent that is running unnoticed in the society.

The Bhakti movement, well-known in the history of medieval India, also suggests such an

idea. In history it has been considered as a current that has challenged the orthodoxy in the

society, particularly the Hindu orthodoxy.

What is Bhakti? When has it originated, was it a new invention of medieval India? These

questions have to be met with. The modern academicians who asked these questions had

intentions to make Bhakti an academic problem. Generally these attempts started with

European scholars who found some close similarity among Christianity and ‘Kriṣṇaism’ or

vaiṣṇavism in a broad sense. These academic endeavors produced many theories and one

among them is Bhakti movement.

This is not to negate the idea of Bhakti movement. As a social phenomenon that has

brought qualitative changes in the medieval Indian society it have importance. This paper

attempts a discussion on Bhakti movement in the general religious-philosophic background

beginning from the Vedic period. Here, at first we have to define Bhakti and to discuss how

it was received in its early phase. Next we must consider the change in its meaning and its

effects in the second phase and the reasons that lead to the development.

Bhakti This term is roughly translated into English as devotion. In Sanskrit the word is used in

various senses- upāsana, dhyāna1, desire for one etc. Patañjali in his yoga sutra has opined

that one can attain yoga through Iswarapraṇidhāna (ईश्वरप्रणि�धा�ना�द्वा�)2. According to Śāṇdilya

it is strong desire for God3 (पर� अना�रक्ति�). To Narada it is supreme love.4 To madhusūdana

saraswati Bhakti is the transformation of mind into the form of Brahman or isvara.5 To

1 . Śankarāchārya in his vivekachūdamaṇi described Bhakti as ‘स्वस्वरूप�ना�सन्धा�ना� भक्ति�रिरत्यणिभधा�यते�’.

2 . Yogasutra I-23. Vyasa in his commentary describes pranidhana as Bhakti viśeṣa3 . Śāṇḍilya bhaktisūtram I-i-2, Svapneśvara Described it as परमे�श्वपविवषयका�न्ते$कार�व%णि&विवशे�ष$। 4 . Nāradabhaktisūtra-2 ‘स� त्वस्मिस्मेना* परमेप्र�मेरूप�’।5 . द्रुतेस्य भगवद्धमे�.द्ध�र�व�वि/काते�� गते�

vaishnava sects it is surrender to god. To chaitanya it is the longing for Krishna- the

emotional virahabhakti.6

Later, this Bhakti is divided into intellectual Bhakti and emotional Bhakti. The

philosophical schools upheld the intellectual Bhakti while religious sects followed later. The

argument of a section of scholars that Indian religious sects, particularly vaishnavits,

inherited the doctrine from Christianity is baseless. The first hymn of Rig Veda, the

‘Agnisukta’, though not clearly spealt out, speaks aloud two types of Bhakti – adoring the

highest and surrendering oneself at his disposal.7

Moving ahead, in Upanishads there is a sea-change in the ideology where upasana

substituted the yaga. The asvamedha brahmana of brhadaranyaka Upanishad is the best

example8. Isavasyopanishd proposes an entirely different concept which is theistic in

content rejects the doctrine of Karma9. Perhaps it was the first step towards a theology. In

svetasvatara Upanishad we have a matured idea of isvara and Bhakti10. The Bhakti described

in svetasvatara is entirely different from the one that we met in chāndogyopaniṣad and

bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad.

The next stage, the period of epics and purāṇas, we have well formed theology and

definitions of Bhakti. During the period of epics power equations were changed and the

Brahmin orthodoxy has forced to admit change11. The Vedic deities lost their supremacy to

trimurtis, especially to siva and Vishnu. The period also produced vast literature affiliated to

both these deities. Bhakti almost replaced ritual at first and ‘knowledge’ later as the highest

means for moksha. The upaniṣadic idea of unity with Brahman, which was considered as

mokṣa, has been changed to surrender to god and achieving similarity with him, while

सव0शे� मेनास1व%णि&भ.क्ति�रिरत्यणिभधा�यते�।। Śrīmadbhaktirasāyanam-26 . “Caitanya reacts differently. The affective identification with the gopīs that penetrates

his total awareness, far from managing to bridge the gulf between Kṛṣṇa and man, confronts him with the gopīs own situation. Like himself they suffer ‘in the fire of loneliness” - ‘Viraha-Bhakti’- The early history of Kṛṣṇa devotion in south India, Friedhelm Hardy, OUP, Delhi.1983; p-7-8

7 . Rg.Veda I.i.1-28 . Bṛhadaraṇyaka upaniṣat I.i.1 bṛhadāraṇyaka vārtikasāra describe it as

उप�सनास्य स्व�तेन्त्र्य�त्कामे�.नाधिधाका% ते1विप च।मेनास� काल्पधियत्व�श्व� विवर�ड्रू8प�� क्तिचन्तेय�ते*।। I-5-18.

9 . Īśa-1,2, 3, 9.10 . Śvetāśvatara upaniṣad-III-20; VI-2311 . Indian Philosophy, Dr.S.Radhakrishnan,vol.I, OUP, Delhi. 2008. P.403.

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keeping the difference. This later doctrine became accepted as the highest mokṣa in

purāṇas.

On the part of authoritative texts Bhagavad-Gita though advocated and admitted varṇa

system permitted śūdras to practice Bhakti for mokṣa. Both the epics describe this with

examples. Bhagavad-Gita persuades Brahmins saying that even women and śūdras can

attain the noble stage of mokṣa12.

The purāṇic religion was centered on theism and Bhakti. There ware many sects also.

Though they admitted Bhakti they have differences on the nature and practice of the

doctrine.13 At a stage we can see that philosophers taking part in the debate. Especially

Vedanta and its various subsystems were influenced by the purāṇic doctrines of Bhakti. In

fact, the Vedic-upaniṣadic doctrine of upāsana and the purāṇic idea of Bhakti received

rational philosophical support and explanation in Vedanta.

The Advaita Vedānta of Śankarācārya elaborated the upaniṣadic doctrine of Brahman. He

controverted with other philosophical and religious systems. His arguments against supreme

personal God-head were enough to destabilize any strong theist system14. In Advaitavedānta

God and Bhakti are rather unimportant15.

Sankara’s criticisms lead to the development of vaishnavite and saivaite philosophical

schools. From the Tamil Vaiṣṇava tradition of āḷvārs the Śrīvaiṣṇava school of Vedanta has

been developed. Madhva introduced Dvaita system of Vedānta by developing the idea of

personal Brahman further to absolute dualism. Both these spiritual teachers tried hard to

refute the arguments of Śankarācārya and his absolute monism. Nimbarka and Vallabha

developed their own devotional philosophy depending on Ramanuja and Madhva.

All these philosophers treated Bhakti as the means of moksha. They defined and

interpreted the concept in their own way. The most important aspect of these systems is

their influence on social and religious reformers and common people. The reformers used

the ideology of these spiritual personalities16 to counter the orthodoxy and they talked in

12 . Bhagavad-Gita IX 32-33 13 . Indian Philosophy, Jadunath Sinha, New central Book Agency, Culcutta, 1987.P.153-15414 . Brahmasutra II.ii.37-4515 . Indian Philosophy Vol.II, Dr.S.Radhakrishnan, OUP,Delhi, p.606-60816 . There are exceptions. A group of Sants who followed ‘nirgunabhakti’ never cared for

any system

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the language of common people. With this development the second phase of Bhakti

movement- an event that brought sweeping changes in the Indian society- has started.

The Bhakti movement- first phaseThe concept of social movement has been already defined. A perusal of the doctrine of

Bhakti in the Indian context shows that it was used against ritualism or ritualistic religion of

Vedas. Also the strong opposition from the orthodoxy suggests its non Vedic origin. The

uprising of north eastern clans, Śākyas, Lichavis and Sātvatas, against the ritualistic Vedic

religion is well known. The name of Sakya and lichavi were connected with Buddha and

Mahāvīra and their contributions are well studied. The third group, Sātvatas was connected

with Bhāgavatism17. This Bhāgavatism later developed into vaiṣṇavism18. Among the three

groups vehemently criticized the orthodoxy but Sātvatas were not that much critical. They

were more conservative than the other two. Hence they could co-exist with conservatives.

They fought against ritualism, criticized the animal sacrifice but accepted the authority of

Vedas and allied literature. This co-existence forced both to adjust to compromises.

Bhāgavatas admitted Vedic corpus and rituals to an extant at a later time. In return the

orthodox people accepted the Bhāgavata doctrine Bhakti.

In the beginning Satvatas followed Bhagavatism- a cult developed on the vedic deity

Bhagavan. Later they identified Vishnu with bhagavan. Further the Narayana, Rama and the

Krishna were integrated with Vishnu and formed the Vaishnavism. This process of

identification was achieved through long process of exegesis on Vedas and puranas. The

foundation of this new religion was given in the agamas like Pancharatra Agama, Vaighanasa

Agama etc. The agamas discussed a philosophy- the metaphysics and cosmology- along with

the details of worship, rituals, construction of temples etc. later puranas developed this

ideas and the doctrine of Bhakti.

As mentioned earlier the attempt of sātvatas was a movement against ritualistic religion

of priests. It presented Bhakti against yajña. It also controverted against the upaniṣadic

doctrine of jñāna19. This hints that this movement was directed against the social order and

17 . Evolution of religio-philosophic culture in india, R.C.Majumdar; cultural heritage of india, vol.IV.Ed.Haridas Bhattacharya,Ramakrishna institute of culture. Culcutta. 2001. P.38

18 . Ibid . 11419 . Bhagavad-Gita grants only secondary importance to knowledge as a means of Mokṣa.

XI-53,54; XII-12.

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the rights related to them. Particularly the rights attached to different varnas. Only

trivarnikas had right over yajña and knowledge. But ‘Bhakti’ is open to all irrespective of

caste and gender.

This new doctrine of worship and religious practice developed unchallenged till the day

of Sankaracharya. Sankara, the ‘aupanishada’ has challenged the very concept of an

almighty personal god. He also questioned the legitimacy and authority of agamas – the

scripture of Satvatas and Saiva-Pasupatas. His strong arguments forced the religious

followers to establish the authority and validity of agamas on par with the Vedas and to

establish the philosophy of Bhakti on a logically sound platform. This makes the

agamapramanya of yamunacharya noteworthy20. Ramanuja’s vedarthasamgraha also

attempts to establish that upaniṣads and Veda teach the philosophy of ‘Nārāyaṇa- the

saguṇabrahman- and Bhakti’.

Among the three reformist movements of ancient India Bhāgavatism-vaishnavism

followed a pro-Vedic approach21. They adjusted to affordable extent to the conservative

outlook of the orthodoxy and tried to transform and clean it from inside. The innumerable

narratives appearing in Mahābhārata, Rāmāyaṇa, Adhyātmarāmayaṇa, and purāṇas display

supremacy of Bhakti against yajña. The impermanence of the results of yāga formed subject

matter of many stories. These stories presented Bhakti as the highest means to attain

moksha. They taught that the grace of God lead one to moksha and the grace of God can be

attained through Bhakti22. God pleased on his devotee removes the sin clogged on the

devotee as a cow remove the dirt on its calf. It is impossible to attain moksha without the

grace of God.

श्रे�य1 वि/ ध्य�नामेभ्य�स�ज्ज्ञा�ना�द्ध्या�ना� विवक्तिशेष्यते�।ध्य�ना�त्कामे.फलत्यगस्त्य�ग�च्छा�न्तिन्तेरनान्तेरमे*।।

20 . Yāmunācārya in this book collects the arguments putted forth against the people called Bhagavatas, satvatas etc. ‘एव� जा�त्य� कामे.�� च त्रय�मे�ग�.दपभ्रष्टभ�गवतेपरिरजानापरिरग्र/ एव प�ञ्चर�त्रप्र�मे�ण्यप्रवितेक्षे�प��य पय�.प्ते1 /�ते�$। He answers this and allied questions. Here he purticulary refers to Śankara’s criticism and rejection of pancharatra agama as invalid. Yamuna strived hard to prove that Satvatas are ‘utkṛṣṭha brāhmins. Vide Agama Pramanyam, Yamunacharya, Ed.Ramamisra Sastri, Tara press, Varanasi -1937.

21 . Dr.V.Varadachari, Pāñcarātrāgama, Tirumala Tirupati devasthanams, Tirupati, 2001. P.28

22 . The Nahushopakhyana of Mahabharata, Ajamilamoksha of bhagavata, prahladopakhyana, the markandeyopakhyana etc. illustrate this idea.

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The first phase of Bhakti movement lasted till the advent of Śankarācārya and the

development of Bhakti schools of Vedanta23. This period that from Śankara to Madhva,

made qualitative changes in the doctrine of Bhakti. The emotional content of Bhakti

depicted in purāṇas was transformed to intellectual Bhakti. This trend started in Śankara

and almost completed with Rāmānuja. Rāmānuja’s interpretation of Bhakti and prapatti are

best examples of this. Here Bhakti is intellectual Bhakti- the Bhakti yoga of Bhagavad-Gita

while prapatti is a clarification upon karma-samnyasa24.

As both streams- the orthodox Brahmanism and the Bhāgavata movement, arrived on

some compromise on Bhakti, vaiṣṇavits tried to undo the differences. Rāmānuja treated

pūrvamīmāmsa and uttaramimamsa as a single system. The quotation by Madhva from

unknown sources also an attempt toward direction. More over he introduced the use of the

replica of ‘animal’ made of flour in yāga instead of the slaughter of real animal in the yāga.

The animal sacrifice was the object of criticism by almost all philosophical systems and

reformist movements. By replacing the animal sacrifice with the sacrifice of flour replica and

interpreting it as the real intention of the Veda Mādhva could satisfy both sides. These

philosophical Bhakti schools upheld a more conservative stand than Śankarācārya while

commenting on Apaśūdrādhikaraṇa.

Medieval Bhakti Movement- the second PhaseThis stage is a direct continuation of the ‘philosophical Bhaktism’. As stated earlier the

philosophers concentrated on rationalization of God, Bhakti and to reply to the criticism of

rivals especially advaitavedanta. In this process the emotional content of Bhakti has been

lost considerably. The viśiṣṭādvaita philosophy lacks the emotional flavor felt in the poems

of Āḷvārs; the spirit and sweetness of the prayers of Āndāl. Further the Sanskrit language

and the scholarly philosophical literature also kept the common man away from the

philosophical ‘Bhaktism’. Still it influenced the movement. The saints who followed the

teachings of these Bhakti philosophers tried to retain the lost spirit –the emotional factor of

Bhakti and teachings of these philosophers. They preached in the regional languages. This

23 . Śankara wrote many popular stotras apart from his philosophical works. This led some scholars to argue that the medieval Bhakti movement starts with Śankara. The Bhajagovindam ascribed to Śankara presents an idea similar to that of vaiṣṇavits. But his philosophical view is different. In his brahmasutrabhashya he speaks about ‘mūrtipuja’ as a type of upāsana. Yet, to him Jñāna is the highest means of mokṣa.

24 . Friedhelm Hardy. P.46

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caused a surge of literature in regional languages. These new literature were either

translation of famous religious texts or original creations or adaptions. The new idea of

Bhakti was disseminated through all popular means so that it could receive maximum

audience. Art, music, performing arts like drama, dance, ritual performances etc. carried the

message of Bhakti.

The sant movement in medieval India is considered as Bhakti movement by historians.

The sants were wandering poet saints. There were two groups: the vaiṣṇava poet saints

from Maharashtra, flourished from fourteenth to eighteenth century, and the saints from

Hindi speaking area who were active from fifteenth century onward. These north Indian

saints rejected the ‘saguṇa’ aspects and could not be treated along with the Hindu

classifications of Bhakti.25 They were known as practitioners of ‘nirgunabhakti’. The

Nirguṇabhakti followed by these saints and the nirguṇabhakti advocated by bhāgavata are

different. The nirguṇa devotion according to bhaavata is superior to saguṇabhakti. It is

unmotivated, immediate and spontaneous26. Karine Schomer too considers this

‘nirguṇabhakti’ as a relatively new phenomenon.27

The sant tradition of medieval North India commences with Rāmānanda. He was a

vaiṣṇava saint lived in Varanasi. According to vaiṣṇava tradition he comes in the direct line

of Rāmānuja. Due to differences he broke away from the parent group and founded

Rāmānandi sect which was more liberal. He considered Ram as brahma. Later his sect

divided into two groups: those who worshiped Ram as saguna and a group of sants who

rejected all orthodox religious practices. Tulsidas, the author of Rāmacaritamānas belongs

to the former group and Kabir who championed the doctrine of ‘new nirguṇabhakti’ was a

member of later group28. The rapid change in the social and economic front in medieval

India also contributed to the wide acceptance of Bhakti. One reason was the ideology of

equality advocated by the sant movement29.

25 . The Saints: Studies in a devotional Tradition of India. Ed. Karine Schomer and W.H.McLeod,Motilal Banarsidas, Delhi,1987.P.3

26 . Jdunath Sinha, P.195; 27 . Karine Schomer P.328 . Karine Schomer p.4-5 29 . Charlotte Vaudeville writes “……. Sants? Socially they belonged to the lower strata of

hindu and Muslim society: nearly all were shudras, some of them even atishudras,i.e. Untouchables. They were poor, mostly uneducated or even illiterate; quite a few were women. They had no access or right to brahmanical knowledge, were not acquainted

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The beneficiaries of Bhakti movement were not Bhakti schools alone. The philosophical

systems also enjoyed the benefits of this movement. The saints affiliating themselves to a

particular philosophical school wrote books on the system in regional languages. These were

considered equal to their Sanskrit counterparts30. Advaitavedānta too contributed to this

Bhakti movement. Madhusūdana Sarasvati wrote Gūḍhārthadīpika, a commentary on

Bhagavad-Gita promoting Bhakti, and Bhaktirasāyana an independent work on the advaitic

version of ‘nirguṇabhakti’. Nārāyaṇatīrtha wrote a commentary on the Śāṇdilya Bhakti sūtra.

Contemporary Bhakti cultsThe ‘God-man’ cult also started with the Bhakti movement31. It is still continuing. In fact

this movement kept the systems alive. The vaiṣṇava, Śaiva and Śākta cults have good

number of followers. Devotional literature and devotional media - music albums; video

albums and- even devotional channels- have a good market share today.

with Sanskrit and could only express themselves in the local languages of the people, the archaic Indo-Aryan Vernaculars of Hindustan and central India” ‘Sant Mat: Santism as the Universal path to Sanctity’ in The Saints: Studies in a devotional Tradition of India. Ed. Karine Schomer and W.H.McLeod, p.21

30 . The Siddhanta Leśasamgraha of Appayya Dīkṣita supposes such a purvapaksha. Very excellent texts were produced in regional languages during the period of philosophy. The vṛttiprabhakar and vcharsagar of santh Nischal das in north India and the Chintaratnam of ezhuttachan in Malayalam are just few of them

31 . Especially with the Vallabha sect.

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