The Embodiment of Bhakti Pages 1 50

7/29/2019 The Embodiment of Bhakti Pages 1 50

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The embodiment of bhakti

Author(s) Pechilis, Karen

Imprint New York : Oxford University Press, c1999

Extent xi, 265 p.

Topic BL

Subject(s) Bhakti -- History; Hindu literature -- History and criticism; Bakhti in literature;Religious poetry, Tamil -- Translations into English

Language English

ISBN 9786610472055, 0195128133

Permalink http://books.scholarsportal.info/viewdoc.html?id=1679

Pages 1 to 50


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T H E E M B O D I M E N T O F B H A K T I


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T H E E M B O D I M E N T O F B H A K T I

Karen Pechilis Prentiss

N ew Y or k Oxf or dOxford Univers i ty Press

1999


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O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y PressO x f o r d N e w Yor k

A t h e n s A u c k l a n d B a n g k o k B o g o t a B u e n o s A i r e s C a l c u t t aCape T o w n C h e n n a i D a r es S a l a am D e l h i F l o r en c e H o n g K o n g I s t a n b u l

K a r a c h i K u a l a L u m p u r M a d r id M e l b o u rn e M e x i c o C i t y M u m b a iN a i r o b i Paris S a o Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw

a n d associated c omp a nie s inB e r l i n I b a d a n

C o p y r i g h t 1999 b y K aren Pechi l is P rent issP u b l ishe d b y O xf or d U nive r s i ty P r e ss, I nc .

198 M a dison A ve nu e , N e w Yor k , N e w Yor k 10 01 6O x f o r d is a r e g is te r e d t r a de ma r k o f O xf or d Unive r s i ty P r e ss

A ll r ig hts r e se r ve d. N o p a r t of th is p u b l ic a t ion ma y b e r e p r odu c e d,stored in a r et r ie va l sys te m , or t r a nsm it te d in a ny for m or b y a ny me a ns ,

e le c t r onic , me c ha nic a l , p hotoc op ying , r e c or ding , o r othe r w ise ,w i t h o u t the p r ior p e r miss ion of O xf or d Unive r s i ty P r e ss .

Sta nz a s f r om I n d i r a V i s w a n a th a n P e t e rson 's Poems to Siva: The Hymns of th eTamil Saints 1989 b y P r inc eton Un ive r s i ty P re ss a re reprinted b y p e r m i s s i o n o fP r inc e ton Unive r s i ty P r e ss .

L ib r a r y of Cong r e ss C a ta log in g - in- P u b l ic a t ion D a taP r e nt iss , Ka r e n P e c hi l i s .

T h e e m b o d i m e n t o f b ha kl i / K a r e n P e c hi l i s P r e nt iss .p . c m .

I n c l u d e s b ib l iog r a p hic a l r e f e r e nc e s a nd inde x.ISBN 0-19-512813-3

1 . B h a k t i H i s t o ry . 2 . H i n d u l i t er a t u r e H i s t o r y a n d c r it i c is m .3 . B ha k t i in l i te ra tu r e . 4 . Re l ig iou s p oe t r y, T a m il T r a ns la t ions

in to E ng l ish .B L I 2 I 4 . 3 2 . B 5 3 P 7 5 1 9 9 9294 . 5 ' 4 dc 2 i 9 8 - 45 8 7 4

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2Pr i n t e d in the Uni te d Sta te s of A me r ic a

o n a c i d- f r e e p a p e r


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Acknowledgments

I t w as 1987, an d I w as i n s o ut h In d i a o n t h e A m er i can In s t i tu t e o f In d i an Studies'Tam i l Lan guage P r o gr am , w h i ch is based in M a d u ra i. T h e char ismat ic and learnedD r. K . P a r a m a s i v a m , a g u r u to gen er a t i o n s of A m e r i ca n s t u d e n ts of the Tam i l lan-guage, directed th e program and wo rked t irelessly to in t roduce us to a wide varietyof Tam il w rit ings and aspects of Tam il culture. E ncouraged by his outgoing ap proac h,I independent ly under took weekend tours of temples in T a m i l n a d u , w h i c h b e c am eone of m y favorite activities that year. I w e n t to places I had studied in art history orh ad heard described as imp ortant pi lgr im age s ites b y local f r iends . I accompl ishedthese t ou r s w i t h m i n i m a l p l a n n i n g ; I s i m pl y chose a dest inat ion and then showedup at the M adu rai bu s s tat ion af ter class on Fr iday, hop ing a bus wou ld be going m yw a y . I n th is manner , I crisscrossed Tamil country several t imes that year. I wil l al-w a y s b e gr a t ef u l to those Tam i l people w ho s po n t an eo u s l y o f f ered m e f r i en d l y as-sistance on those tr ips, even in remote towns.

A t some po int dur ing those t ravels , I became a w a r e of the pat tern in temples toSiva of d ispla ying a group of f igu r ines in a l ine on one s ide of the sanc tum . T o me,they looked l ike models of pat ience. I learned tha t they are the n a y a n m a r , or saints,w h o represent bhakt i to Siva. A s I co n t i n ued to ask abo ut t h em , I c a m e to realizethat they were unders tood to represent pass ion as well as pat ience, themes r ichlydeveloped in stories abo ut t h em . M y interest w as pi q ued .Prior to 1987, there were very few aut h o r i t a t iv e t r an s l a t io n s of Tam i l bh ak t i po-etry in modern E ngl ish . In the late 1980s, a nu m be r of such books were publ ished,i n c l ud i n g N o r m a n J. Cut ler 's Songs of Experienc e: Th e Poetics of Tamil Devotion(1987). I t wa s m y good for tune that Professor Cut ler w as t each i n g Tam i l at theU n iv e r s i ty o f C h i c a g o , a nd t h a t I ha d s t u d i e d w i t h h im p r i o r t o my t r ip . I am grate-fu l to h im for e n c o u r a g i n g m y i n t er es t in the n a y a n m a r u p o n m y r e t u r n b y p a t i e n t l yg u i d i n g me in the t r a n s l a t i o n of h y m n s and s tor ies of the sain ts in a series of i n d e -


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v i Acknowledgmentsp e n d e n t s tu d y classes. H is t e a c h i n g a n d s c h o l a r s h i p h a v e i l l u m i n a t e d T a m i l b h a k t ipo e t r y f or m e a nd m a n y o th e r s .

I r e tur n e d to s o uth I n d ia in 1 9 9 2 o n a F u l br ig h t d is s e r ta t io n r e se a rc h gr a n t . F o rt h a t a c a d e m ic y e a r I w a s affiliated w i t h th e K u p p u s w a m i S a s tr i R es e ar ch I n s t i t u t e ;I a m g r a t e f u l t o S . S . J a n a k i , N . R . B h a t t , a n d t h e staff a t th e K SR I f o r th e ir e r ud i tec o n v e r s a tio n a n d guid a n c e . D ur in g th a t t r ip , I w o r k e d m a in l y o n un d e r s ta n d in g th ew o r l d v ie w o f th e T a m i l sc h o o l o f Sa iv a S id d h a n ta ph i l o s o ph y . I w a s guid ed in th i se n d e a v o r by P r o fe s so r E m e r i tus V a i . I r a t t in a c a pa p a t i o f th e U n iv e r s ity o f M a d r a sand em inen t in terpre ter of the T am il Sa iva Siddh anta ' s can on o f fourteen texts . Withh is help, I t ransla ted one o f the canonica l texts , th e Tiruvarutpayan, a n d discussedin deta i l the fou nd at ion al ph i losoph ica l ideas w ith in i t. M emb ers of th is T amil schoolof ph i l o s o ph y a r e v e r y a c t iv e in M a d r a s ( C h e n n a i ) to d a y , a n d I be n e f i te d fr o m a t -t e n d i n g the ir conferences an d e n g a g i n g in d is c us s io n w i th th e m . O n e erudite scholarin th e gr o up , D r . V a id i l in ga m , s h a r e d h is h i s to r ic a l pe r s pec t iv e w i th m e in s e ve ra ld is c us s io n s .

O n that trip, I w a s able to o bta in a copy of the Tevdra Arulmuraittirattu, an an-th o l o gy o f S iv a - b h a k t i h y m n s by a h is to r ic a l T a m i l Sa iv a S id d h a n ta ph i l o so ph e r . I tw a s a g e m of a f i nd , a s w a s my i n t r o d u c t i o n to D r. A . A . M a n a v a la n t h r o u g h th eadvice of Professor Cutler . A t t h a t t i m e , D r. M a n av a la n w as c h a i r of the T a m il L a n -g u a g e a nd L i te ra ture D e pa r tm e n t at the U n iv ers i ty of M a d ra s. H e generously guidedm e in tr a n s l a t in g th e a n th o l o g y . A br i l l i a n t s c h o l a r o f T a m i l l i te ra tur e a n d c o m pa r a -t ive l i te ra ture , D r. M a n a va la n h a s be e n a n in s p i r in g s e n io r c o l l e a gue t o me f or thesey e a r s .

O n m y r e t u r n , I soon comple ted m y d is s e r ta t io n , w h ic h w a s a very early stage inth e process leadin g tow ard th is boo k. Professor C utler w a s a reader for the disser-ta t io n , a n d I th a n k h im f o r h i s c o n s c ie n t io us a n d c a r e f u l r e v ie w o f m y w o r k . H iscomments have guided m e over th e pas t several years as I have developed this project.P r o f e s s o r F r a n k E . R e y n o l d s w a s m y a d v is o r , a n d I th a n k h im f o r h i s m a n y in s ig h t -fu l com m ents , especia lly those on the na tur e of re l igious cha nge .M y deepest in te l lec tua l debt is to P r o f es s o r Jo n a th a n Z. S m i t h , w h o w a s a readerfo r th e dissertation a nd a m e n to r fo r e v e r y th in g else. H e s a w t h r o u g h m e a n d s awm e t h r o u g h (to borrow a ph r a s e from J . A n t h o n y L u k as ).

Since it is the c us to m in I n d ia n t r a d i t io n n e v e r to tell only o n e s to r y w h e n y o ucan tell two (or more) , th is projec t g rew even more fasc in at ing over time as I learnedm o r e of the texts b y a nd a b o u t th e n a y a n m a r . T h r o ugh m y e n c o un te r s w i th th e s ew o r k s , I s o u g h t to u n d e r s t a n d the story of the d e v e l o pm e n t of T a m il S iv a - bh a k t itradition in the medieval period. L ibr a r y s uppo r t for th is endeavor was c r uc ia l , andI express gra t i tude to the directors and staff at the U n iv e r s i ty of C h ic a go R e ge n s te inLibrary , especia l ly th e So uth A s ia C o l l e c tio n a nd t he A d a y a r L i b r ar y in M a d ra s. Afacul ty research travel grant f rom D r e w U n iv e r s i ty e n a bl e d me t o perform addi-t ional research at the School o f O r ie n ta l a n d A f r ic a n S tud ie s in L o n d o n .

My col leagues in the r e l ig io us s tud ie s d e pa r tm e n t at Drew Universi ty have cre-ated a s u p p o r t i v e e n v i ro n m e n t t h a t e n c o u r a g e d m e i n m y r e s e a r c h .

I w a s f o r tun a te to h a v e th e o pp o r tu n i ty to pr e s e n t po r t io n s o f th i s pr o je c t a t th eC o n f e r e n c e o n R e l i g i o n in S o u t h I n d i a a n d a t C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s it y 's S e m i n a r o nA s i a n T h o u g h t a n d R e l i g i o n .


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Acknowledgments viiI would like to thank the two anonymous scholarly reviewers fo r Oxford Uni-

versi ty Press, a n d Cynthia Read a n d Cynthia Garver at the Press. I also thank Mar-garet H . Case for her editorial suggestions a s I prepared th e f ina l version of them a n u s c r i p t ; a facu l ty research grant from Drew University supported this prepara-t ion work.

Very special thanks are due to friends whose comments o n m y work consistentlyhelped me t o s e e things in new ways: Paul Younger, Joanne a n d Dick Waghorne,Richard Davis, Lalgudi Swaminathan a nd h i s family, Ganesh Satchitananda a nd h i sfr iend Ganapati, D r . P . V . Rao, Selva Raj, Rodney an d Chrystal Easdon an d theirsons, a n d Kathryn Sargent Ciffol i l lo .

This book is dedicated to those who have helped me the most, my family.


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Contents

Note on T ransl i te ra t ion xiI n t r o d uc t io n 3

Part I: Images of Bhakti 13O N E B h a k t i as D e v o t io n 17

T W O B h a k t i as a M o v em e n t 25Part II: Bodies of Poetry 43

T H R E E P i l gr im a ge and Praise 47F O U R D e f i n i n g a C o m m u n i t y 61Part III: Contours in Song, Sculpture, and Story 77

F I V E R e gio n a l V o ic e s th r o ugh So n g 81S I X I m a g e s o f T a m i l B h a k t a s 9 2Part IV: A Corpus of Hymns 1 15

S E V E N D e f i n i n g th e Center of the Temple 119E I G H T T he T a m i l S a i v a S i d d h a n t a 134

C o n c l u d i n g R e m a r k s 1 5 3


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x ContentsA p p e n d i x A : U m a p a t i C i v a c a r y a r 's Tevara Arulmurait t irat tu 1 5 7

A p p e n d i x B : U m a p a t i C i v a c a r y a r ' s Tiruvarutpayan 1 8 9N o t e s 211

B i b l i o g r a p h y 2 4 9I n d e x 259


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Note on Transliteration

Ta m i l terms are t ran sl i terated as per the Tamil Lexicon. In order that the text notbe overcrowd ed w ith ita lics , I have chosen not to i ta l ic ize Tamil and S anskri twords u n l e ss I a m d isc u ss ing the m a s te rm s.M uch of T am il re l igious termino logy is derived from San skri t ; I have used bothth e Sanskri t terms and Tamil t ransl i terat ions o f t h e m .

There is considerable variat ion in the treatment of proper names. In general , Ih av e used t rans l i terated term s w ith diacri t ics . W hen rec ogn it ion is an issue, I havedropped th e diacri tical mark s an d used th e form m ost often used in scholar ly wo rks.In a few cases, I have used sources that do not provide the diacri t ics , and I havebeen u nab le to locate a corroborat ing source to put in the diacri t ics w ith accuracy;therefore , I have fol low ed the source's spel l ing.

xi


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THE EMBODIMENT OF BHAKTI


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On the face of i t , to students of Indian culture, bhakti needs no introduction.Celebrated as an Ind ian version of Protestant C hristianity by nineteenth-centurym issionaries a nd scholars, im m ortal ized in the Bhagavad Gita, promoted as "India'sBible" by or iental is ts and now reclaimed as such by H indu im m igrants in W esterncountr ies , and praised by poet-saints in al l the major languages of India, bhakt ibecame f i rmly es tabl ished in the canon of scholarship on Indian rel igions .

There h ad been a consensus on what bhakt i means, which contr ibuted to its in-clusion in the can o n of scholarship. R eveal ing or iental is t scholars' approval of th isrel igious path , by the turn of th is century bhakti had come to be defined as "devo-tion to a personal deity" in Engl ish- language scholarship, a definition still inf luen-tial today .1 F or oriental ist scholars such a s H . H . Wilson, M . M o n i er -W i ll iam s , andG . A . Grierson, bhakt i wa s a monotheistic reform movement, th e first real instanceof m onotheism in India. B y th is assert ion, they chal lenged the views of F . M axM uller, regarded as a f o un d er of the discipline cal led Religionswissenschaft, or thehis tory of rel igions; he and his followers deemed th e Sanskri t Vedas as India 's t rueand or iginal religion. In M ax M ul ler 's v iew, the scholars o f bhakt i were s tud yingth e compromise o f h i s t o r y ; in their o w n view, they were ident i fy ing th e jewel in thecr o w n o f India's l iving rel igious tradit ions.They rivaled M ax Muller's ident i f icat ion of the Vedas as India's true rel igion b yl i n k i n g th e rel igion of the Bhagavad Gita to Chris t iani ty , through both phenom-enological themes an d historical events. Several themes encouraged th e ident i f ica-tion of bha kti with Christianity: B hakti was a monotheistic tradit ion, centered arou ndthe god V i s n u ; th e n at ur e of Vi s n u was as a "God o f love"; bhakti was a reformm ovem ent th rou gh its em phasis on feel ing and i ts cr i ticism of cas te; and the medi-eval "reformers," especial ly th e s i x t e e n th - c e n t u r y b h a k t a ( p r a c t it io n e r o f b h a k t i )C a i t a n y a , w h o m t h ey l i k en ed t o Lut h er , p l ay ed t h e s am e r o le as P r o t es t an t r e f o r m -ers in E u r o p e .

3

I n t r o d u c t i o n


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4 Introduction

T he h is tor ical s tu dy of the or ig ins of bhakt i was intend ed to supp or t these the-mat ic paral le ls b y g r o u n d i n g t h em in a s i t u a t i on o f contact wi th Chr is t iani ty, b u tu l t im a te l y this vector in the s tudy of bh akt i proved to be a dism al failure. Follow-ing the epis teme of the search for or igins that guided much of scholarship on re l i -gion f rom the s ixteenth to the nin eteen th century, scholars searched for the or iginsof b ha kt i . 2 A lbrecht W eber, a preeminent German scholar of Sanskr i t , hypo thes izedt h a t bhakt i or iginated f rom contact between Chr is t ians and Hindus in the remotehistorical past . H is proof text was the Svetadvlpa legend in the twelfth b ook of theMahabharata , w h i c h h e unders tood to refer to the p i lg r i ma g e o f a g r ou p of K r s n aw or s h i p e r s to the "white is land" where Christ ians practiced their religion. Weberwas re la t ively caut ious in his approach he dis t ingu ished "borrowing," h is term ofchoice, from "direct i nf lu e nc e , " t hou g h in par t to dis tance h is thes is f rom th e con-temporary "pass ionate a n d l icentious descript ions o f K r i shna ' s love s a m ong th eshepherdesses ." H e even sugges ted th e possibili ty of m u t u a l i nf lu e nc e b et w ee n th et radi t ions .3 N o n e of his c a u t i ou s ne s s w as shared by his colleague, M . F . Lorinser ,w h o s ou g ht to prove Weber 's hypothes is b y direct compar ison o f passages in theBhagavad Gita w i t h passages from t h e N e w T e s t a me nt .4 O rientali s t scholars re-sponded to Weber 's assert ion that Christ ian ideas h ad i nf lu e nc e d th e ident i ty an dw or s hi p of K r s na b y t e ndi ng to agree with him in par t , perhaps wi th a sens i t ivi tytha t reflected his eminence in the f ield of Indology. In contrast , they tended to dis-agree radically w ith Lorinser , w h o h ad tried to prove th e m o r e forceful case of directinf luence. 5O n e o f t he i r m os t i m p o r t a nt c r i t ic s w as R. G . B h a n d a r k a r , a professor o f S a n -skrit at E lp hi ns t one C ol le g e a n d former governor o f B o m b a y . H i s a im w as to t racei n d i g e n o u s d e v e l o p m e n t s o f Vaisnava re l ig ios i ty, fo r w h i c h h e drew on his c on-s i de r a b le e xp e r i e nc e w i t h ma nu s c r i p t s a n d e p i g r a p hi c a l ma t e r i a l s a n d u l t i m a t e l ye me r g e d w i t h a e u h e m e r i s ti c a r g u m e n t . T h r o u g h a n a n a l y s i s o f Pa t a nj a l i ' s Mahd-bhasya, h e claimed t ha t K r s na w as original ly a ksat r iya (warrior caste) nam ed Va su-deva w h o h ad been elevated to divine s ta tus .6 E x p a n d i n g on the t he me o f a n o n -B r a h m a n f o u n d e r o f b h a k t i t h u s b r i n g i n g i t i n t o c o m p a r i so n w i th B u d d h i s m i na s u b s e qu e nt w or k , B ha nda r ka r e ndow e d b ha kt i w i t h th e revival of devot ion thath ad once, but no longer , inspi red Brahmanic sacr i f ice: "Cold an d dead formali t iest ook th e place of w a r m and l iving devot ion and the very verses an d h y m n s w h i c hc ont a i ne d th e fervent prayers of the old Rsis , were repeated mechanical ly in thecourse of the f or ma l w or s h i p , w i t hou t e ven an a t t e m p t to a p p r e he nd th e sense."7T hi s ima g e of the h i s t or y of b ha kt i w o u ld i n f l u e n c e s u b s e qu e nt s c hola r s h i p u p t oth e present day.

8The his tor ical s tudy of bhakt i thus f lopped at f i r s t and then became formulaic .

This lack of success w as d u e , in par t , to the t e nde nc y to mire historical s tudies inthe search for origins, but i t was also due to the orientalis ts ' fa i lure to view differ-ent texts 'discu ss ion s of bhak t i as dis t inct ive representat ions of bhak t i . I t is t rue thatthey focused o n texts that explic i t ly promote bhakt i , chief among them th e Gita,a l th o ugh i nc lu di ng o t he r S a ns kr i t t e x t s s u c h a s t he Sandilya Bhakti Sutra, but int h e i r q u e s t to f ind " de vot i on to a personal dei ty," they tended to c ol la p s e th e r he -tor ica l v o i c e of the texts in f a vor o f a u n i v o c a l d e f i n i t i o n of b h a k t i . R a t h e r t h a ns e r v in g to c h a l l e n g e t h i s d e f i n i t i o n o f b h a k t i , r e l ig i o u s p h e n o m e n a t h a t did not fit


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Introduction 5in to the p a r a di g m w e r e c a s t in the role o f f o i l . T h i s w a s th e case , fo r e x a m p l e , w i t hs ou th I n d i a n f o rm u l a t io n s o f b h a k t i , e s p e c i a l ly t hos e t h a t f oc u s e d o n S i va . T o t h eor iental i s t eye, Siva was , in c o n t r a s t to V i s n u , the god of f e a r ; th e "fact" tha t Sivaw as m o r e p r o m i n e n t in s ou t h I ndi a did not bode w e l l for the r e g i on , and i t t e nde dto be ignored at best in or i e nt a l i s t s c ho la r s h i p .

M y s tudy seeks to recla im th e hi s t or i c a l s tu d y o f b h a k t i t h r o u g h a c ons i de r a t i ono f th e dis t inct ive represen tat ions o f b h a k t i t h a t d i fferen t p r o p o n e n t s w i t h i n one re-g i o n a l t radi t ion, Tamil Siva-bhakt i , made d u r i n g the medieval per iod. Tamil Siva-bhakt i t radi t ion w a s a c t ive ly de ve lop e d du r i ng th i s p e r i od: M y a n a l y s i s of the t ra-dit ion b e g i ns w i t h t he s e ve nt h c e n t u r y , w he n b ha kt i hy m ns t o S iva w e r e c om p os e d,a n d c onc lu de s w i t h th e f o u r t e e n t h c e n t u r y , w h e n th e h y m n s a n d ot he r S i va -b ha kt itexts were es tabl ished as a w r i t ten can on .I n f o c u s i n g o n a regional t radi t ion o f b h a k t i , I j o i n m a n y c o n t em p o r a r y s c h o la rsin th e s t u dy o f b h a k t i in r e g io n a l - l a n g u a g e p o e t ry . M a n y e x c e l le n t t r a n s l a t io n s ofb ha kt i p oe ms i n a va ri e ty of re g i ona l la ng u a g e s , inc lu d i ng K a nna da , H i ndi , B e ng a l i ,M arathi , and Tam il, have recent ly been pu blishe d, br ing ing these t radi t ions to a w idera u di e nc e . These t r a ns la ti ons ha ve e s ta b l i she d c on ve n t i ons f or r e nde r i ng the p oe m si nt o E ng l i s h , a nd t he y ha ve loc a t e d t he p oe ms i n t he l i t e r a r y h i s t or y of r e g i ona lcul tures .

These t r a ns la t i ons ma ke p os s i b le a b r oa d c omp a r a t i ve s t u dy of b ha kt i , w hi c hw o u l d b e less accessible if the poems were left i n t he m a ny r e g iona l la n g u a g e s oft hei r c om p os i ti on . I n p a r t i c u la r , t he t ra ns la te d p oe ms a l low u s to g a i n a c om p a r a -t ive unders tanding of the perspect ives of the bhakt i authors . I t i s c lear f rom mostt r a n s l a t io n s that t radi t ion des ignated the po em s as express ions of bh ak t i ; less clearin s ome cases is w h e t h e r the a u t hor s of the poems themselves cons idered thei r workto represent bhakti . The Gita is the first text we k n o w of tha t uses the term bhakti asa technica l term to des ignate a re l ig iou s path. In it s ear liest usage, the term enco m -p a s s e d me a ni ng s of a f f e c t i on a nd a t t a c hme nt , b u t t he Gita t r a ns f or me d t he w or dinto a technical re l ig ious term, speci fying a re l ig ious path that encouraged act ivepar t ic ipat ion in w o r s h i p w i t h o u t th e sense o f ma t e r i a l a n d f a m i l i a l a t t a c hme nt t ha thad characterized earlier uses of the w o r d . T h r o u g h c o m p a r is o n w i t h t r a d i t io n a lre l ig ious paths , th e Gita d i s ti n g u i s h e d b h a k t i a n d e n d o w e d it w i t h a u to n o m y as i tsow n re l ig ious path; in the Gita, bhakt i denotes a m e t h o d of re l ig ious exper iencet ha t leads to l iberat ion. As ma ny s c hola r s ha ve not e d , the Gita can be u nde r s t ooda s a r e s p ons e to widespread In dia n re l ig ious perspect ives that view th e b ody ne g a -t ively. F o r the Gi ta , t he f ie ld of hu m a n w or s h i p i s c oe xt e ns ive w i t h t he field of or-dinary hu m an ac tivi ty, i f one's m ind is focused upo n God. Un like c lass ical law books ,which sought to legis la te correct hu m a n a c ti on , a nd u nl ike for m a l i z e d p r a ye r s a ndr i tua l ma nu a ls , w hi c h loc a t e d w or s h i p in a speci f ic t im e and p la c e , b ha kt i is repre-sented in the Gita as a re l ig ious perspect ive that can i n f o r m all act ions , at any t i mea nd i n a ny place. This t e c hni c a l me a ni ng of bhakti became a u t h or i t a t i ve , a nd t heGita was considered one of the three f ou n da t i on a l t e x ts (p r a s t ha na t r a ya ) for H i n d ur e li g io u s c o m m e n t a ry by th e g r e a t p h i los op he r s S a nka r a a n d R a m a n u j a , a s w e l l a sin l a te r S a ns kr i t p h i los op hi c a l t r a d i t i on . 9

I t is t h i s t e c hni c a l me a ni ng o f bhakti as a r e l i g i o u s p a th t h a t i n f o r m s th e repre-s e n ta t io n o f b h a k t i in r e g i o n a l - l a n g u a g e t ex t s. I n a rare case , such as the represen-


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6 Introductionta t ion o f b h a k t i in a th i r te e n th - c e n tur y text from M ah ar as h t ra , th er e is an at t em pt tol ink b h a k t i in a r egio n al l an g uag e s peci f i ca l ly to the b h a k t i of the Sanskri t Gita.1 0O ther a uthors , such as the T amil poets , use a trans l i terat ion of the S anskr i t bha kt i( T a m , patti) in their poetry. Sometimes it is not clear from th e t r an s l a t i o n w h et h erbhakt i poets actual ly use the term bhakti in their poetry; t h i s w o ul d be i m po r t an tco m par a t i v e i n f o r m at i o n for t ranslators to provide.Beyond the presence of the term bhakti in the poetry of regional - language au-t h o r s , co m m o n t h em es can be i d en t if i ed t h r o ug h co m p ar is o n . O n e o f th e m o s t i m -portant com m onal i t ies is tha t authors exp l ici t ly refer to themselves in their poetry ,e i t h er t h r o ugh th e f i rs t -person voice o r t h r o u g h th e m e n t i o n o f their names ( theauthors refer to themselves in the third person). T h e agency of the poet is t h us h i gh -l ighted. The importance of human agency in the poetry has impl icat ions for ouru nde r s t a ndi ng and definit ion of bha kti . In gen eral , as the stud y of bh akti has reachedou t to regional tradit ions, there has been much less scholarly reflection on the defi-ni t ion o f bh akt i , especial ly as compared to the oriental ists ' view.1 1 T h e i m po r t an ceof a def in i t ion l ies in i ts nature as a st ipulated domain for scholarly discourse; i tfaci li tates bringing diverse mater ials in to a shared discussion. From a comparisonof voices within bha kt i , i t becomes clear that act ive hum an ag ency is a premise ofthis rel igious perspective. A s Jo h n Car m an h as pointed out , th e term bhakti is usedspecif ically to describe th e h u m an r espo n s e to God a nd never to characterize God'sresponse to h u m a n b e i ng s .1 2 I n ac t i v e ly en co ur agi n g par t i c i pa t io n ( w h i ch is a rootm e a n i n g of bhakti), th e poets represent bhakt i as a theology of em bo d i m en t . Th ei rthesis is that engagement with (or participation in) God should inform all of one'sactivities in worldly life. The poets encourage a diversity of activit ies, not l imitingbhakt i to established modes of worshipindeed, some poets harshly cri t icize suchmodes but , instead, making it the foundat ion of h u m a n life and activity in the world.A s a theology of embodiment , bhakt i is embedded in the details of h u m a n life.

A l th o u g h t h e Gita and the poem s in regiona l langu age s sha re this thesis, there isa m ajor dif ference in their perspect ives . Th e Gita i s a teach ing text in the que st ion-and-answer format , in which the protagonis t ( A r j u n a ) learnsat t imes, p a i n f u l l ys l o w l y abo ut bh ak t i . I n contras t , th e regiona l - langua ge bha kt i poems presupposethat th e a u t h o r h a s bh ak t i ; th e p o e m s are generated from th e experience o f bhakt i .T h e bhakti authors detail their response to God and their response to their contextsin their poems. There is an i m po r tan t d y n am i c at w o r k in the poems, as the authorsjoin together t ranscendent a nd local themes. T h e po em s a re personal , yet the au-thors encourage others to participate in their worldview; similarly, God is transcen-dent , yet he is local ly concerned.Th i s d y n am i c ten d s to be obscured b y contemporary authors ' incl inat ion to clas-sify regional - lang uag e bh akt i poets in to two categories: nirguna, in wh ich the poetimagines a formless G od with ou t at tr ibutes, and saguna, in which th e poet imag-ines G od with attr ibutes. This distinction resonates w ith th e oriental ist premise thatunders tanding the imagined form of God (a "personal deity"; s agun a i n m o d er nscholarship) is a key to u n d e r s t a n d i n g b h a k t i. T h e class i f icat ion also resonates w ithth e o r i en t a l i s t s ' co n cern w i t h pr o t es t an d r e f o r m ; n i r g u n a b h a k t i is viewed as a cr i t i -cism of i n h er i t ed t r a d i t i o n , w h e r e a s s a g u n a b h a k t i is viewed as an a c c o m m o d a t i o nto it; in t h i s d i s c o u r s e , b h a k t i is c h a r a c t e r i z e d as a m o v e m e n t .1 3


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Introduction 7H ow e ve r , t he genesis of the nirguna a n d saguna classificatory schema c a n b e

traced to a very different historical context t h a n that of the poems' composition.According to John Stratton Hawley, th e schema w a s developed a n d used b y latemedieval anthologizers o f bhakti hymns in Hindi.14 T h e time period between a u -thors a nd redactors cannot b e collapsed in a historical study, fo r these groups ofpeople exist in different historical contexts and possess distinctive concerns. I n manyo f the translations of the bhakti poems, scholars introduce the poets by way of theirhagiographies. Their approach is jus t i f iable in that contemporary people understandthe poems through these biographies, but it is also ahistorical.

Significantly, it is a shared theme in regional-language bhakti traditions that th eattention of later anthologizers and interpreters focused on representing bhakti poetsas saints. Later interpreters thus worked creatively within bhakti's thesis on embodi-ment. This theme is so pervasive that it is not an overstatement to suggest that saintsbecame th e primary embodiment o f bhakti. T h e result w as extensive biographicalliteratures written in regional languages. This aspect of bhakti tradition distinguishesit from other religious perspectives in India, including th e Gita. T h e Gita providedone example of a bhakta; h is plight w as expressed in a manner that h ad implicationsfor others b y Krsna's admonition that he "do his dharma." This explicit link betweencaste and the practice of bhakti is not a focus of most regional-language bhaktipoems,al though there is inf requent illustration of a bhakta w ho i s worshiping appropriate toher or his status.15 I n contrast, th e biographies detailed th e specific embodiment ofeach bhakta, including caste, family, hometown, and actions. Generally speaking, itwas an issue of concern to biographers w ho wrote in regional languages to representth e diversity of those on the path of bhakti; through their texts, they asserted that inspite of their differences all bhaktas are on the same religious path.

The poems and the biographies are distinctive yet related representations ofbhakti. What unites them is their attempt to represent bhakti to Siva in their works,often involving a conscious intertextual approach. What separates them is time a n dcultural milieu. I n medieval Tamilnadu, south India, f rom th e seventh to the four-teenth centuries A.D. , there were far-reaching transformations in diverse fields o fc u l t u r e , including poetry, art, kingship, ritual space, a n d philosophy. A thread ofc ont i nu i t y through this great time period is Siva-bhakti, a path o f participation inth e worship of Lord Siva. Actively developed in this period, i t was an importantc o n t r ibut in g factor to the wider cultural developments, particularly in the arts a n dthe construction of a distinctly Tamil mode of religiosity. These historical transfor-mations in Tamil culture highlight th e participation o f diverse agents in buildingt r a d i t io n . Tradition itself comprises many dif ferent agents acting in many dif ferentspheres; hymnists o n pilgrimage, kings a n d priests in temples, a n d philosophers ineducational centers had all played a role in developing Siva-bhakti, but their agen-das had been different, resulting in distinctive interpretationsand thus represen-tationsof bhakti. How then to acknowledge bhakti as a technical religious termw i t h a consistent an d coherent meaning, y et incorporate th e fact of a variety of in-terpret ive traditions that played o n both th e a u t h o r i t y and the f l u i d i t y of the term asit could relate to specific contexts?

T h e interpreters o f bhakti I discuss in this book have in common th e praxis o fr e p r e s e n t a t i o n . Representation is a praxis, i n s o f a r as it is a method b y which agents


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8 Introductionpa r t ic ipa te in a p u b l i c d i s c o u r se a n d invest th e i r s ubje c t iv i t ie s in the p u b l i c a rg u -m e n t s th e y m a k e . T h e c u l t u r a l h i s t o r i a n R a j e s w a r i S u n d e r R a j a n v i e w s th e idea o fr e pr e s e n ta t io n a s j u s t s u c h a n i n t e r s e c t i o n b e t w e e n p r i v a te a n d publ ic , r e a l i ty a n dc u l t u r e , and the rea l and the imagined: "The concept of ' representa t ion ' , i t seems,is u s e f u l pr e c is e l y be c a us e and to the e x t e n t t h a t i t can serve a m e d i a t i n g f u n c t i o nb e t w e e n t h e t w o p o s i t i o n s , n e i t h e r f o u n d a t i o n a l i s t ( p r i v i le g i n g ' r e a l i t y ' ) n o r s upe r -s t r u c t u r a l ( p r i v il e g i n g ' c u l t u r e ' ) , n o t d e n y i n g th e c a te go r y of the rea l , o r essent ia l i -z ing i t as s o m e p r e - g i v e n m e t a p h y s i c a l g r o u n d fo r representa t ion." 1 6 T h is v ie w -po in t h a s guid e d m y a t te m pt to f in d a w a y o f d is c us s in g th e T a m i l a ge n ts a n d , tosome e x te n t , th e o r ie n ta l i s t s , w h o te n d to pr iv i l e ge "reality" in the ir perspect iveso n b h a k t i a s u l t i m a t e t r u t h , in c o m pa r is o n w i th m o d e r n s c h o l a r s , w h o te n d to pr iv i -lege "cul ture" in t h e i r d e s c r i p t i o n s an d a n a l y s i s . T h e issue is u n d e r s t a n d i n g h o wth e p r o p o n e n t s a n d interpre ters o f T a m i l S iv a - b h a k t i r e pr es e n te d th e i r v i s io n s o fth e re a l in th e i r o w n h is to r ic a l c o n te x ts . R e pr e s e n ta t io n a c k n o w l e d ge s th e h u m a neffort of in terp re ta t io n; i t is the crea t ive space in w hi ch cu l tu ra l agents ac t . A repre-senta t ion can be a n a l y z e d to "seek to arrive at an un d e r s ta n d in g of the issues at stake"in a n y g i v e n c u l t u r a l c o n s t r u c t i o n . 1 7 T h e m a in i s s ue a t sta k e in th e d e v e l o pm e n t o fT a m i l S iv a - bh a k t i was to d e f i n e b h a k t i a s a re l igious p a th th a t re la ted to the c o n d i -t io n s o f e m bo d im e n t a s th e y w e r e un d e r s to o d by d i f f e r e n t a ge n ts in d i f f e r e n t h i s -torical periods. T h e m e a n i n g o f bh a k t i as p a r t i c i p a t i o n was not an i s s u e at stake, forit w a s p r e s uppo s e d by a l l a u th o r s ; a t sta k e w a s th e w a y to un d e r s ta n d i t s s ign i f i -cance for the ir e ra .

T a m i l S iv a - bh a k t i w a s e s ta b l i s h e d a s pa r t o f T a m i l c u l tur e th r o u gh m a n y c e n tu-r ies , f rom th e t im e of the b h a k t i h y m n s ' c o m p o s i t i o n in the early medieval period(seventh t h r o u g h n i n t h c e n tur ie s ) th r o ug h th e i r a c t iv e in te r pr e ta t io n in la ter medi-eval t im es ( to the fou rtee nth cen tu ry) , and i t is accepted today a s a m ajor co ntr ib u-tion to a distinctive T amil cultu ral heritage. T am ils today appreciate th e b h a k ti h y m n sas a classical e lement of T amil h is tory , a long w ith th e C a n k a m po e m s , th e Tirukkural,V a is n a v a bh a k t i po e t r y , th e Ramayana o f K a m p a n , a nd t he poetry o f M a n ik k a -v a c a k a r, a m o n g a w e a l th o f w r i t in gs in T a m i l .

Since th e early years of th is century, apprecia t ion o f Tamil her i tage h as beenpromoted b y t he T a m i l n a t i o n a l i s m m o v e m e n t . T h i s m o v e m e n t h a d m a n y s t r a n d s ;fo r e x a m p l e , th e T a m il l i te r a r y a n d c u l t u r a l h e r i t a g e w a s a f o c u s of the T a m i lR e n a i s s a n c e , w h e r e a s caste and r e l ig io us pr a c t ic e w e r e the f o c u s of the N o n -B r a h m a n m o v e m e n t . The T a m i l R e n a i s s a n c e s o u g h t to restore classic Tamil texts.T h e C a n k a m poems h a d fa l len in to disuse a n d w e r e k n o w n o n l y b y n a m e w h e nU . V e . C a m in a ta iy a r m a d e a determined search for old m a n us c r ip ts in the late 1800s,w h i c h r e s ul te d in a publ i s h e d v o l um e o f e igh t m a jo r a n th o l o gie s in 1 9 05. T a m i lre l igious texts , such as the c a n o n o f Siv a - bh a k t i te x ts (Tirumurai) and the c a n o n o fSaiva Sid dh anta phi losop hica l texts (Meykanta Cattirarikal), became a f o c u s of theN o n -B r ah m a n m o v e m e n t in its a t te m pt to prove th a t there w a s a his tor ica l , d is t inc-t ive T amil re ligion tha t eschewed br ah m an leadership. T h e T a m il S iv a -bh a k t i h y m n sI d i s c u s s in th i s bo o k w e r e pr o m o te d by the T a m i l I c ai ( M u s i c) M o v e m e n t of the1930s and 1 9 4 0s .1 8

In the f ie ld of T a m i l c u l t u r a l s t u d i e s , i n c l u d i n g th o s e th a t d e a l w i th re l ig io n , it isc e r ta in l y po s s ib l e to c o m e a c r o s s m o d e r n w o r k s o f s c h o l a r s h ip th a t m o r e o r l e ss


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Introduction 9explicitly part icipate in the polar ized discuss ion of T amil versus San skr i t , in an effortto d i s t i n g u i s h a p r e e xi s ti ng T a mi l h e r i ta g e f ro m A r y a n i n f lu e n c e . T h e se w o r k s in -vert the I n d o l o g i c a l l a n g u a g e of a g e ne r a t i on ago to u n d e r s t a n d the process of c u l -tu r a l interact ion as the T a m i l i z a t i o n o f S a n s kr i t r a t he r t ha n th e S a ns kr i t i z a t i on o fT a mi l .1 9 T h e qu e s t i on of the or i g i n an d or i g i na l na t u r e o f T a mi l c u l t u r a l f or mu la -t ions may be an impor tant locus of s tudy, but i t i s not the approach I take here . Inthis s tudy, I identify and a na lyz e the values that se lected agents inves ted in bh akt iover t ime.

T r a di t i on u nde r s t a nds T a mi l S i va -b ha kt i to h a v e b eg u n w i th h y m n s composedb y th e th r ee f a m o u s h y m n i s t s, C a m p a n t ar ( T i r u n a n a c a m p a n t a r ), A p p a r ( T i r u n a v u k -ka r a c a r ) , and C u nt a r a r (N a m p i A r u r a r ) , r e fe r re d to as "the three" ( m u v a r ) . T h e re isn o a p p a r e nt r e a son to d o u b t th e his tor ic i ty o f these poets a n d t ha t t he y l i ve d du r i ngth e seventh to ni n t h c e nt u r i es A . D . , a l t h o u g h a m i n o r i t y o f scholars would date themeither earlier or la ter. T heir h ym ns par t ic ipate in a shared discourse of praise to Siva,w ith s i mi la r la ng u a g e and p oe t ic t e c hni qu e s , yet there are also di f ferences amongthe three in term s of con tent and tone, w hic h are a lluded to in var ious pop ular char-a c t e ri z a ti ons , i nc lu d i ng " C a m p a nt a r a nd A p p a r s a ng of t he L or d , w h i le C u nt a r a rsang of himself ," and " C a m p a n t a r is the chi ld of the L o r d, A p p a r His s e r va nt , andC u n t a r a r His fr iend."

T h r o u g h the h y m n s ' p r o m i n e n t th e m e s of p i lg r i ma g e and praise, I a na lyz e theselections the h y m n i s ts m a d e f rom both Sanskr i t and Tamil sources , whi le I em-phas ize thei r perspective tha t bh ak t i wa s greater tha n the sum o f these parts . In par-t icular, I focu s on thei r local izat ion of bhak t i in the Tam il lan ds and in Tam il cul ture ,t h r o u g h w hi c h t he y e qu a t e d b e i ng a g o o d b h a k t a w i t h b e i n g a g ood T a mi l . Thehy m ni s t s ' em p ha s i s o n p la c e w a s a ke y f e a tu r e b y w h i c h t he y d i s ti ng u i s he d b ha kt if rom ot he r H i ndu p r a c t i c e s . The a u t ob i og r a p hi c a l na t u r e of their poetry both ex-pressed their experience of Siva and encouraged thei r audience to eschew a c o m -placent wor ldview in favor of a cr i t ical look a t themselves and others and a re jec-t ion of a ll that im peded the open ing of thei r hear ts for love of God and the op eningof t he i r mi nds to contemplate God. Through thei r p i lgr images , they es tabl ished ac o m m u n i t y of bhak tas distinct from other com m uni ties w i thin H induism. In responset o non -H i ndu s , t hei r r he t or ic e m p ha s iz e d a moral dis t inct ion between themselvesan d these g r ou p s , e s p e c i a l ly B u ddhi s t s and J a i ns , who are explici t ly at tacked in theT a m i l b h a k t i h y m n s . I di s c u s s the case of J a i n i s m in p a r t i c u la r to c ha l le ng e thescholar ly view tha t Tam il Siva-b hak t i represented a "revival" of H i n d u i s m .

I n def ining bhakt i as a re l ig ious path, the muvar represented bhakt i as a theol-o g y of e mb odi me nt . T he y e mb odi e d b ha kt i in thei r o w n experiences, their visionsof Siva, thei r p i lgr images to T a m i l t o w n s , and the c o m m u n i t y o f bhaktas . Repre-sentat ions of Tam il Siva -bh akt i were , f rom the beg inn ing , concerned w i th i ssues ofe m b odi m e nt , not only i n the i m a g i n i ng of G od b u t a ls o i n t he e mb o di me n t of hu -m a n i t y a nd t he q u e s t i o n s it raised. Issues o f e mb odi me nt c ons t i t u t e d a rhetor ic thatinformed the composi t ion and development of Tamil Siva-bhakt i in the works ofT a m i l a u t h or s . L a t e r i n t e r p r e t e r s u nd e r s t ood th e h y m n s of the e a r ly b h a k t i p oe t s tob e a u t h e n t i c an d o r i g i n a l T a m i l e x p r e s s io n s o f b h a k t i an d t hu s s ou r c e s o f i ns p i r a -t ion fo r v a r io u s u n d e r s t a n d i n g s of the p a t h of p a r t i c i p a t i on in the w o r s h i p of G o d .Yet, e a c h g r o u p a l s o b r o u g h t i t s o w n p e r s p e c t i ve to b h a k t i ; t h e i r p e r s p e c t i ve s


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1 0 Introductionun d e r s to o d bh a k t i to be a n a u to n o m o u s r e l ig io us pa th y e t r e la te d i t to d e v e l o pm e n tsin th e i r tim e , in c l u d in g im p e r ia l te m pl e w o r s h ip a n d ph i l o s o ph ic a l w r i t in g in T a m il .

I n the tenth throu gh twelf th centu r ies , the developm ent of imperia l s tone temples,both sym bols and ac tua l iza t ions of the potent m ateria l and spir i tua l pow ers of k ing s,r ea c h ed a s u m m i t w i t h t h e C h o l a d y n a s t y . H o w t h e h y m n s , w h i c h w e re u n a b a s h -e d ly r e g io n a l in c o m pa r is o n w i th th e in c r e a s in g l y s y s te m a t iz e d m o d e s o f pr ie s t l yw o r s h i p in these temples , came to be an e s t a b l i s h e d p a r t o f w o r s h i p i n f o r m s m ya n a l y s is in th is sec t ion. I t was in t h i s c o n t e x t o f im pe r ia l te m pl e s th a t a p r i n c i p a lstream of Tam il Siva-bhakti ' s development became stories of the bhaktas themselves ,which were depic ted in p a i n t i n g s a n d s c ul p tur e s a n d w r i t te n in verse. These storiesexplored de ta i ls of caste , fam i ly , e m pl o y m e n t , a c t io n s o f w o r s h ip , a n d s a l v a t io n .Detailed k n o w l e d ge o f these pr a c t i t io n e r s o f S iv a - bh a k t i th us be c a m e k n o w l e d geo f b h a k t i ; b h a k t i became e m bo d ie d a s s a in ts ( n a y a n m a r ) . T e l l in g s to rie s of then a y a n m a r c u l m i n a t e d i n t h e t w e l f t h - c e n t u r y Periya Puranam (Great Tradi t ionalSto r y ) , a m ul t iv o l um e d te x t a t t r ibute d to Cekkilar. I n c o n t r a d is t in c t io n to earlierbiographies , Cekkilar f i rm ly c o n t e x t u a l i z es t h e n a y a n m a r in i m p e r ia l temple c ul -ture by reasser ting the access to Siva , cer ta in ty of sa lva t ion , and divers i ty of bhak taso n th e same r e l ig io us pa th t h a t c h a r a c te r iz e T a m i l S iv a - bh a k t i b u t th a t h a d b e c o m en e go t ia te d in th e im pe r ia l te m pl e c u l tur e .

I n the fourteenth century, T amil Sa iva Siddh anta phi losophers fou nd in the bhak tih y m n s a specula t ive an gle tha t i l lus tra te d the ir pr in c iple s . Toward th is end, a T am ilSa iv a S id d h a n ta ph i l o s o ph e r , U m a pa t i C iv a c a r y a r , s y s te m a t iz e d S iv a - bh a k t i . O n eof th e te x ts a t t r ibute d to h im d e s c r ibe s th e m a k in g o f th e T a m i l S iv a - bh a k t i c a n o n ,th e Tirumurai as we know i t today, by persons who l ived before h im. The text isun d e r s to o d by c o n te m po r a r y s c h o l a r s to a c c ur a te l y po r t r a y e v e n ts th a t to o k placeprior to U m a pa t i ' s t im e , ye t I demonstra te tha t th e te x t a c tua l l y po in ts to h is o w nidenti ty as the composer of the canon , based o n h is in terest in c rea t ing a T amil her i-tage for his own p h i l o s o p h i c a l w r i t i n g s in T a m i l . H is in terest in T a m il S iv a - bh a k t ipervades th e T a m i l w o r k s a t t r ibuta bl e to h i m , i n c l u d i n g the f i rs t k n o w n a n th o l o g yo f th e T a m i l S i v a - b h a k t i h y m n s , a se lec t ion tha t h e suggests embodies Saiva Sid-d h a n t a ph i l o s o ph y . T h e th e m e s o f representa t ion, ident i ty , a n d heri tage a re t h u sb r o u g h t to the fore as the t r a d i t io n o f T a m il S iv a - bh a k ti becomes establ ished in thela te medieval per iod.

A l th o ug h s o m e m igh t v ie w th e se h is to r ic a l d e v e l o pm e n ts a s accretions on t heo r i g i n a l f o r m u l a t i o n s o f b h a k t i by th e three poets, they are, in f a c t , a ll o r ig in a lu n d e r s t a n d i n g s o f bh akti. Later interpreters of Tamil Siva-bhakti drew upon bhakti ' sth e s is o n e m bo d im e n t w h i l e th e y c o n te x tua l iz e d th e m uv a r ' s h y m n s a n d s to r ie s o fth e n a y a n m a r in the ir d is t inc t ive wo rldviews. T h e T a m il a g e n ts f r o m th e periods o fth e c o m po s i t io n of the h y m n s , th o s e w h o b r o u g h t th e h y m n s in to im pe r ia l te m pl ec u l t u r e , a n d those w h o c o m po s e d ph i l o s o ph ic a l in te r pr e ta t io n s of the h y m n s wereal l ac t ive ly engaged in the worship of Siva . They were composers o n pilgrimage,s i n g i n g th e praises o f Siva; fo l low ers of the s a i n t l y h y m n i s ts , w h o hoped fo r libera-t ion b y a c t i v el y e n g a g i n g in w o r s h i p ; a n d r e l i g i o u s l ea d e r s e x p e r i e n c i n g m y s t i c a laccess to Siv a . A l l o f th e s e im a ge s of the a g e n t s i n v o l v e d c o n v e y a s e n s e of b h a k t ia s p a r t i c i p a t i o n . For al l of the T a m i l S i v a - b h a k t i a g e n t s , b h a k t i is a t h e o l o g y o fe m b o d i m e n t t h a t e n c o u r a g e s act iv e p a r t i c i p a t i o n in the w o r s h i p o f Siv a a n d t h a t


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Introduction 11va lu e s hu ma n e xp e r i e nc e . B h a k t i b e c a me e mb odi e d , t he n , i n t he w or ds , a c t i ons ,a n d images of agents who gave i t dis t inct ive representat ion, b ased on thei r engag e-ment wi th thei r own his tor ical contexts and rhetor ic .

There are many images of bhakt i because representat ions of bhakt i are createdt h r o u g h th e interpretive a n d pract ical act ivi t ies o f m a n y different a g e nt s in dispar-a t e a g e s. T h e c u l t u r a l a g e n t s I d i s c u s s i n th i s b o o k , i n c l u d i n g s c h o l a r s, b h a k t ipoets, me di e va l k i ng s and priests, and a la te medieval phi losopher , are all r e s p on-s ible for creat ing dis t inct ive images of b ha kt i . A l t hou g h a u t hor s a re i ndi v i du a ls ,the discourses in which they par t ic ipate are collect ive . They each seek to g r ou ndthei r representat ions in the issues that shape their l ives, so that the me a ni ng s t he ygive bhak t i respond to their ow n s ituat ion, even w hi le the i r form ulat ion s con tr ibuteto the b o d y of mater ia l and symbolic real i t ies accepted as a shared ideal . Throughthis dia lectic , b ha kt i became a cultural reference poin t in T amil her i tage. The meet-ing point between the i ndi v i du a l and the collect ive, the real and the i ma g i ne d , them ater ia l and the sym bolic , i s precisely that agents inves t thei r own su bject ivi ty inthe cons t ruct ion of cul ture . In so doing, they created dis t inct ive , yet purposeful lyove r la p p i ng , i ma g e s of b ha kt i .


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P A R T IImages of Bhakti

cholar s w r i t ing o n b h a k t i in the late nineteenth an d ear ly tw ent ie th centu r ies w er eagreed tha t b hakt i in I ndia w as p r e e m i n e n t l y a m o n o t h e i s ti c r e fo r m m o v e m e n t . F o rthese scholars, th e inext ricab le connect ion b e tw een m onoth e ism an d reform h ad b oth

theological and social s ig ni f icance in te r ms of the develop ment of I ndian cu l tu r e . E qu al lyimp or tant w er e the w ays in w hich these scholar s cou ld identify w ith the ideals of mono-theism an d r ef or m. T h e or ienta l i s t ima g es of b hakt i w er e f or mu la ted in a context of discov-ery: a t i m e o f organized cul tural contact , in w h i c h m a n y a g en c ie s , i n c l u d i n g a d m i n i s t r a t iv e ,scholar ly, an d m i s s i o n a r y s o m e t i m e s e m b o d i e d in a s ing le p er son sou g ht know ledg e o fI ndia . T h r o u g h th e I ndo- E u r op ean lang u ag e connect ion , ear ly or ienta l i s ts b e lieved tha t theyw er e , in a sense, seeing their o w n ances t r y in the antique texts an d "antiquated" c u s t o m s o fIndian peoples. In this respect , cer tain scholars could identify w ith the m onothe ism o f b hakt i .Seen as a r ef or m movement , b hakt i p r esented a paral lel to the oriental is t agenda of inter-vention in the service of emp ir e .

B hak ti also represented a n examp le , o r even a case s t u d y , o f w h at or ienta l is t au thor s con-sidered to be u niver sa l processes in the develop ment o f rel igion. In the or ienta l is t ep is tem e,monotheism represented th e c u l m i n a t i o n o f r e li g io u s d e v e l o p m e n t ; in te r ms o f world rel i-g ion , mo nothe ism w as thu s the u l t ima te re f or m. I n te r ms of the h is tor y of Ch r is tian i ty , how -ever , i t was the penult imate reform, later to be ref ined th r ou g h sec tar ian r e f or m that i s ,P r o t e s t a n t i s m . T h e oriental is t scholars o f b hakt i w or ked w i th in th is f r am e o f histor ici ty,t h o u g h their location of b h a k t i in history tended to differ. H . H . W i ls o n v i e w e d b h a k t i as amodern, sectar ian innovation, an imag e tha t im p l ic i t ly r esonated w i th th e Protestant idea o fr e f o r m. A . Weber a nd M . F . Lorinser represented th e m o n o t h e i s m of b h a k t i as an ancientidea in I ndia , based u p o n th e proof text of the Bhagavad Gita; how ever , they mainta inedt h a t m o n o t h e i s m c o u ld n o t h a v e b e e n I n d i a n in o r i g i n b u t w a s , i n s t e a d , b o r r o w e d f romChris t iani ty . R. G. B h a n d a r k a r , t a k i n g up t h e i s s u e t h a t m o n o t h e i s m a s a c u l m i n a t i n g r e li -gious idea need n o t h a v e b e e n m o d e r n in I n d i a a n y m o r e t h a n i t was in C h r i s t i a n h i s t o r y ,s o u g h t to p r o v e t h a t m o n o t h e i s m w a s a n i n d i g e n o u s H i n d u d e v e l o p m e n t t h a t p r e c e d ed


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14 Images of BhaktiChris t iani ty . F or B h a n d a r k a r , b h a k t i was a ks a t r i ya reform of b r a h m a n r e l ig i o n ; th is i m a gebe c a m e i n f l u e n t i a l in b h a k t i s c h o l a r s h i p . M . M o n i er - W i l li a m s , w h o w a s p r o b a b l y th e m o s tw i d e ly rea d a m o n g t h e se o r i e n t a l i s t s c h o la rs , m a d e e x pl i c i t th e c o n n e c t i o n be tw e e n Pro t es -tant reform and b h a k t i pref igured b y H . H . W i l s o n and c o n t e x t ua l i z e d it in a discussion ofo r t h o d o x y a n d h e t e ro d o x y .

T h e s e diverse b u t c o m p l e m e n t a r y p e r s p e c t i v e s w e r e w h a t Georg e A . G ri e rs o n had t od ra w u po n fo r h i s c o m p re h e n s i v e a n d a u t h o r i t a t i v e a r t i c le o n B h a k t i - M a rga fo r t h e 1910Encyclopoedia of Religion and Ethics. A s w i t h a n y e n c y c lo p e d i a a r t i c le , i t w a s s uppo s e dt o re pre s en t t h e c u r re n t s t a t e o f k n o w le d ge a b o ut a g i v e n t o pi c . W h a t i s re m a rk a b le i s th eimp ression i t gives of vir tual u n b r o k e n c o n t i n ui t y w i t h the ideas of scholars who had writ tena ge n e ra t i o n be fo re .

Grierson defined the term bhakti a s h a v i n g t h e pr i m a ry m e a n i n g o f "adoration," w h i l eth e related term Bhagavata ( w h i c h th e au thor a lw ays capi ta l izes) means " the A dorable O ne"(i n th e sense of "One who is adored") .1 I n d i s c us s i n g h o w I n d i a n m o n o t h e i sm o r i g in a t e da n d b e c a m e c e n t ere d a ro un d t h i s f i gure t h e e m bo d i m e n t o f b hakt i Gri erson grud gi n glyidentified a first stage in n a t ur e worsh ip, represent ing his nod to a discourse that was m ar-ginal in academic sch olarsh ip on bha kt i but dom inan t in schola rship on the Vedas . Griersonsuggested that early bhakt i m a y o r m a y n o t have been re la ted to w o r s h i p of the s u n . T h eidea w as that the sun is un i t a ry ; so m e of the earl ier o riental is ts had , in fact, l i k e n e d Vi s n u ' savataras (forms in wh ich God descends to earth) to rays of the sun.

T h o u g h m a n y h ad at tempted to find th e o r i g i n s of m o n o t h e i s m in the Vedas, scholarlyconsensus deemed this ul t imately not po s si b le . K n o w i n g that B h a n d a r k a r h ad argued for aksatr iya d e v e lo pm e n t of bhakt i monotheism, Grierson ident i f ied a second stage in the de-v e lo pm e n t o f bh a k t i a c c o rd in gly . H e i m a g i n ed c o m p e t in g c o m m u n i t ie s in which divergentideas of God were localized: Specifically, th e brahmans were advocates of pa n t h e i s m , andth e ksatriyas were advocates of monotheism. Grierson even attempted to plot them geographi-cally: T h e center of the m ap w as located to the n o r t h of m o d e rn - d ay D e lh i , re pre s e n t in g th eM i d la n d , i n h a bi t e d b y b r a h m a n s w h o k n e w th e Vedas. T h e periphery of this center was anO u t l a n d inhabi ted b y ksatriyas: "and here, during th e thousand years that precede o u r era,w h i le th e B r a h m a n s of the M i d la n d w e re d e v e lo pi n g t h e i r pa n t h e i s t i c 'B ra h m a n i s m , ' th eleading spiri ts of the K s a tr iy a s t h o u g h t ou t thei r monotheism."2

I n this situation, th e "Bhagavata religion" w as fo un d e d by the ksatr iya "K risna V asudeva"(the latter term a patronym), which Grierson unders tood to be K r s n a as a real person, inhab -it ing th e O utland. This re l igion we nt throug h various s tages of contact wi th other systemsthat from Grierson's description can be interpreted as an alternation of threats to m o n o t h e -ism and fodder for the d e v e lo pm e n t of monotheism. Fi rs t , th e O u t l a n d negotiated the newphi losophies of S a n k h y a and Yoga; then these were appropriated by the M i dl an d b r a h m a n sand t ransformed into Brahmanism. Then th e O u t l a n d h ad contact wi th th e polytheism ofth e "lower orders"these are presumably th e "aborigines" noted in several of the orientalistdiscourses on H i n d u i s m a s a result of which they created a pa n t h e o n of gods, th e personaldeities of bhakti . Finally, th e O utland inhabi tants had to cope w i t h a major challenge to "theirmonotheism" from th e M i d la n d , th e Vedanta of Sankara (which, according to the orientalists,was pantheis t ic) .

Th is la t ter event precip i ta ted a reform m o v e m e n t i n it ia t e d by R a m a n u j a a n d M a d h v a t h a tc h a n ged fo re v e r t h e B h a g a v a t a re li g i o n a n d re pres e n t e d t h e t h i rd st a ge o f d e v e lo p m e n t ,according to Grierson: "With the a ppe a ra n c e of these tw o gre a t re fo rm e rs c o m m e n c e s th e


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16 Images of Bhaktimean active selection and recontextualization of tradit ion, then i t fi ts in with the scholarlyperspective on bh ak ti tha t I discuss in chap ter I . Usu ally , how ever, this is not the case: T h epers is tent image of revivalism in contempo rary sch olarship points to the emotionalism ofbhakti in contrast to the "cold" re li g io n s o f B ra h m a n i s m , J a i n i s m , a n d B ud d h i s m . I n re -sponse to this ima ge, 1 review theories of bha kti as a mov em ent in chap ter 2 and pro vide adetailed case s tudy of the re la t ionship between bhakt i and Jainism in medieval Tamilnaduin part II. It is the case that the emotional aspect of bhakti is crucial, and i t does serve as af r a me for interpreting received tradit io n, but this was done in relation to emotion al responsest h a t h ad already been defined an d discussed b y tradi t ion. I n chapter I , then, after consider-ing the na tur e of bhakti as a frame for received trad it ion, I turn to a consideration of the oft-used t ranslat ion of bhakti in English, "devotion."


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O N E

Bhakt i as Devotion

Scholar ly consen sus today tends to view bh akti as a post-Vedic developm ent thattook place primarily in the watershed years of the epics and puran as, l i tera turesthat are credited with a primary role in the cul tural t ransi t ion from Vedism to H i n -du ism . T he sc hol a rl y p e r iodiz a t ion of te x ts wi th in V e dism a nd H indu ism is b a se don a view o f t radi t ion reworking i tse l f , but i ts re lent lessly l inear nature probablyob sc u re s c onte m p ora ne ou s a nd c om p e t ing form u l a t ion s , ra the r tha n e l u c ida t ingthem. Since the Bhagavad Gita is the first text to them atize b ha kti overtly and it iscontextual ized in the Mahabharata epic, w e m u st a c knowl e dg e tha t th e first self-consciously bhakti text does appear in a post-Vedic mil ieu, in spite o f a m i n o r i t yscholar ly posi tion that bhakti can be f o un d in the Vedas.1M adeleine B iardeau, who has done m uch to revise scholarship on the ear ly his-tory of bhak ti , states tha t bhakti "englobes" the earlier traditions of Vedism (inclu dingth e B r a h m a n a s and U p a nisa ds) , a process that is characteristic of c u l tu ra l c ha ng ein India:

Historically, th e c o n q ue s t s of the great sovereigns d id not , in general , lead to the s u b -s t i tut ion of one power for another , but to a subordinat ion of the vanquished to thev i c t o r w h i c h pre pa re d th e g r o u n d for a possible reversal of the si tuat ion, a lwaystheoret ical ly conceivable s ince th is took place in the l imited domain of ar tha. Butreversal is no longer possible when it is a q ue s t i o n o f i m p o s i n g s o c io - re li g i o us n o rm sw h i c h s t ructure the whole of socie ty . The superior has to remain superior , but h ishierarchical vision precisely enables h i m t o integrate a lmost an yth ing w ith a m i n i -m al change in structure. 2T h e perspective of the Bhagavad Gita seems to suppo rt this character izat ion of

c h a n g e ; in tha t text , bh akti was the f r a m e f or u nd e r s t a ndi ng t ra di t ions th a t c o u l d b etraced to earl ier textua l sources an d r i tua l pract ices. T h e e x a m p l e of the disp l a c e -m e n t o f Vedic sacrif ice , which w a s a t o m i z e d t h r o u g h s u b s e q u e n t i n t e r p r e t a ti o n ,

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1 8 Images of Bhaktinever to r e a ppe a r a s a d o m i n a n t c o m m u n i t y r i t u a l a c ti v i t y , i l lu s t r a te s B i a r d e a u 'sn o t i o n o f th e i r r e v e r s ib i l i ty o f s o c io r e l ig io us n o r m s . D id bh a k t i e ve r po s s e ss th ek i n d o f c u l t u r a l h e g e m o n y t h a t th e V e d ic s a c r i f ic e o n c e po s s e ss e d ? B ia r d e a u s ug-gests t h a t it d id , in her thesis o f " th e un iv e r s e o f b h a k t i " and her id e n t i f ic a t io n ofb h a k t i as the doctrine o f th e m y th o l o gic a l e p ics .3 W i th t h i s im a g e , B i a r d e a u r e v i-s io n s th e idea of the epics an d p u r a n a s a s a c u l t u r a l w a te r s h e d to u n d e r s t a n d t h e ma s f u l l - b l o w n bh a k t i t r e a ti s e s .

B i a r d ea u s u g g e s t s t h a t , w i t h i n V e d ic t r a d i t io n , th e Yajurveda m ay h a v e pr o v id e da c o r n e r s to n e f o r th e d e v e l o pm e n t o f bh a k t i . Sh e m a k e s th e c as e s t r o n gl y , in d ic a t -ing th a t bh a k t i ' s " s t r uc tur e s a r e un in te l l ig ib l e s o l o n g a s th e y a r e c u t o f f f ro m VedicRevela t ion." A ccord ing to her , the Yajurveda pr o v id e s a m o d e l f o r th e im po r ta n c eo f a c tio n f o r s a l v a t io n , w h ic h i s a m a jo r th r e a d in bh a k t i : "There i s n o d o ubt th a tth e Yajurveda was pa r t icu lar ly a t the centre of the sp ecula t ion s of bh ak ti , bo th in i tsritualistic part an d in i ts Upanisads, and th is cannot be a pure acc ident; the Yajurvedais the Veda of the adhvaryu, the pr ies t w ho, in the sacr if ice , is charged w ith a l l ther i t u a l m a n i p u l a t i o n s , the a c to r par excellence, whose every gesture must rece ive as y m b o l i c i n t e r p r e ta t i o n . T h i s w i l l be one of the th r e a d s to guid e u s t h r o u g h th e l a by -r in th of bhakti." 4 I n p a r t i c u l a r , th e Tait t i r iya school of the Black Yajurveda m a y b emost directly i n f l u e n t i a l ; fo r e x a m pl e , it is th is school ' s vers ion of the Sa tarudr iya -stotra tha t appears to have been quoted in T a m il S iv a - bh a k t i po e t r y.5 T h e Yajurvedai s a m a n ua l o f p r a x is in a r i tua l c o n te x t , a n d th e Satarudriya is a l i turgica l prayer;bo th are part of the V e d ic w o r l d v i ew , w h i c h u n d e r s t a n d s c o m m u n i t y a c t i v i t y in thew o r l d to be re l igious a c t iv i ty . Indeed, m ost scho lars have noted th e th i s - w o r l d l yn a tur e of the V e d ic w o r l d v ie w . B h a k t i ' s po s i t iv e v a l ua t io n of action in the w o r l d ,w h i c h is a c o n s t i tu t iv e pr e m is e o f bhakti ' s thesis o n e m b o d i m e n t , resonates w i t hprac t ica l aspects of the Vedic worldview. T h e se lec t iv i ty on the part of agents ofb h a k t i m a y h a v e be e n gr o un d e d in s uc h r e s o n a n c e s .

B ia r d ea u f ur th e r po in ts to tw o U pa n is a d s a s e s pe c ia ll y s i g n i f i c a n t for the devel-o p m e n t of bh a k t i : the Katha and the Svetasvatara.6 For B ia r d e a u , the sectarian as-pects o f these texts (Visnu in the former; Siva in the latter) a re less i m p o r t a n t t h a nth e texts' r e pr e s e n ta t io n of the cosmic force as act ive : "But the fac t tha t the divineis n o l o n ge r a neutra l pr inc iple a lso changes its re la t ionship to the still empiricalm an who aspires to l ibera t ion. Nor is it an accident tha t the Katha and Svetasvatarabring in to th is re la t ions hip an e lem ent of e lec t ion, grace. . . . T he disciple's k n o w l -edge and his a s s id ui ty in his exercises do not suffice to e n s ur e the success of hisundertaking if the Puru sa h imself does not call him."7 O ne of t he m o s t fa m o us im a ge sof an active G od p r o m o t e d in bh akti l i te ra ture is the descent of V is n u in the form ofavataras to h e lp h u m a n i t y . N o t o n l y i s God a m i d h u m a n k i n d as an active agent b u talso there is a r e l a t io n s h ip ( bh a k t i ) be tw e e n th e m . God "calls" h u m a n k i n d to par-take (bhakti) of h i m . In the po e m - s o n gs of Tamil Siva-bhakti , both the cosmic andlocal deeds of Siva are c e l e br a te d , in the context of the poets' emotional engage-m e n t w i th the L o r d .B ia r d e a u id e n t i f ie s th i s s e l ec t io n o f e l e m e n ts f ro m V e d is m , pr im a r i l y th e th i s -w o r l d l y f o c u s a n d th e a c t io n o f Go d in th e w o r l d , a s pa r t o f a w o r l d v ie w th a t ba l -a n c e d th e pr a c t ic a l a n d s pe c ul a t iv e d im e n s io n s o f t ra d i t io n in a " te n s io n c h a r a c te r -istic of the w o r l d of bhakti . " 8 O ne m a n i f e s t a t i o n o f th is te n s io n is the in te r a c t io n of


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Bhakti as Devotion 19tw o compet ing worldviews in b h a k t i : th e perspective of r e nu nc i a t i on and that ofaffirming life in the world. They are brou gh t together in a bhakti theory of salva-t ion. Biardeau views this interact ion as const i tut ive of the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n fromVedism to Hinduism: "Neither th e world of the renouncers nor secular life remainedunscathed, and w h a t is called 'H ind uism ' ra ther than 'brahm anism ' emerged fromth e process."9

This negotiation w as played out across the developing schema of the purusar thas the four goals of hum ankind , being ar tha , kama, dharma, and m oksa. A ccordingto Bi a r de a u , the key term is k a m a . K a m a had been "readily" used in the Brhada-ranyaka Upanisad as a term that denoted love of atman, the highest goal of spiri-tual knowledge and the love for which all else was abandoned.1 0 Yet the term wasalso used in the same Upanisad with the meaning of a selfishly constituted love,involving the rise of the ego and res ult in g in igno rance .1 1 U ltim ately, in an increas-ingly polemical context, the l a n g u a g e of k a m a as representing connection to thea t ma n was dropped, and kama became understood by the speculative renouncers,or sa nnya s i ns , as representing th e egoism and ignorance of the world, "the all-encom passing v alue in this world." A ccord ing to B iardeau, the sann yasin perspec-tive presented th e problem to which bhakti proposed a solut ion:

W h e r e a s th e starting-point of the sannyasin 's speculat ions w as k a r ma n , th e analysish e condu ct ed , parallel to that of the B r a h m a n , on h u m a n act ions and goals, h as shiftedth e focus o f interest. It is this notion of k a m a i n th e al l -encompassing sense wh i c ht h e re n o un c e r attr ibutes to i ttogether with th e w h o l e conste l la t ion of associatedideas, wh i c h comes to constitute a golden thread that runs through a ll speculationsabout true universal salvation. Bhakti would seek a solut ion in the abol i t ion o f k a m ain th e very heart of m a n ' s ordinary activity. I n other words, it would seek t o i m buesecular l ife with th e sannyasin 's ideal.12There is a tension in bhakti , then, between encompassing the cri t ical stance of

the yogic renouncer toward the world and affirming life within the world. In Biar-deau's terms, th e former, representing th e sanny asin ideal, was englobed by the latter,representing the ideal of bhakti; wh at made this possible w as the ba nishm ent of kama.Certainly th e Gita endorses bhakti-yoga, th e discipline of bhak ti, with its main teach-ing that this discipline involves relinquishing attachment to the fruits of action infavor of dedicating them to the Lord. Biardeau views this as the sannyasin idealembedded in everyday life: to live life in the world but eschew desire or passion forthe fruits of action.

T he bhakt i of the Gita did respond to the physical and emotional sequesteringof those o n the religious path as represented by the sann yasin ideal. In i ts em phasison e mb odi me nt in the ordinary social world, th e Gita's vision of bhakti presentedan alternative to do m inan t form s of religiosity, both the asocial sann yasin and thetemporally defined practice of r i tual. In the former, religious experience was en-gendered by physical separation from society; in the latter, time was the me c ha -nism by wh ich re l igious exp erience was set apart f rom social format ions. I n con-trast, bh ak ti represented the possibi l i ty of r e l ig i ou s exp e r ie nc e a nyw he r e , a nyt i m e .However , if bh ak t i sou g ht to "abolish" kama, w h y privi lege a term (bhakti) t h a tha d, and c ont i nu e d to have even in the e p ic s , me a n i ng s of love and affect ion?1 3 T h e


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2 0 Images of Bhaktim o v e t o w a r d u s i n g b h a k t i in p la c e o f k a m a s u g g e s t s t h a t th e s a n n y a s i n - i n s p i r e dredefinit ion o f k a m a did not take root as a v i a b l e m e a n i n g . K a m a c o n t in u e d to denoteerotic love, and i t r e ma i ne d ne c e s s a r y to a c k n o w l e d g e t h a t i t was p a r t o f h u m a nsocial life a s d i s t in c t fr o m h u m a n r e l ig i o u s l ife . B h a k t i had to char t a new coursew i t h respect to e m o t i o n a n d e xp e r i e nc e . N o r w a s i t necessary to d i s t i n g u i s h b h a k t if rom ka ma a lone ; i t a l s o ha d t o b e d i s t i ng u i s he d f rom ot he r w e l l -de f i ne d t e r ms ,not a b ly sraddha (reverence) . 1 4

T h e t e n s i o n in b h a k t i is b e t w e e n e m o t i o n a n d i n t e l l e c ti o n : e m o t io n to reaf f i rmthe s oc i a l c ont e xt and t e mp or a l f r e e dom, i n t e l le c t i on to g r o u n d the bhakt i re l i -g i ou s e xp e r i e nc e i n a t h o u g h t f u l , c ons c i ou s a p p r oa c h . T hi s t e ns i on w a s mi s s e dby o rientalis t scho lars , who even in the earliest definit io ns s tressed w ha t they viewedas the u nc on t ro l le d e mo t ion of b h a kt i : " T he w h ole r e l ig i ou s and m o r a l code of thesect i s com prised in one wo rd, Bhakti, a term that s ign i f ies a un ion of im plic i t fa i tha n d i nc e s s a nt de vot i on , a nd w h i c h . . . i s t he m om e nt a r y re p e t it ion o f t he na me ofK R I S H N A , u n d e r a f irm b e l i e f , t ha t s u c h a p r a c t i c e is s u f f i c i e n t fo r s a lva t i on . "1 5F o r M o n i e r -W i ll ia m s , t h e ful l r e a l i z a t i o n o f b h a k t i ' s p o t e n t i a l f o r u n c o n t r o l l e de mot i on oc c u r e d i n t he "abuses" o f th e f o l l o w e r s o f t h e s i x t e e n t h - c e n t u r y b h a k t aV a l la b ha c a r ya .1 6 B u t th e or iental i s ts were m i s t a k e n in t he ir a na ly s i s ; in bh ak t i texts ,emot ion i s f reed f rom social and temporal cons t ra int , not moral pr inciples .

A s a re l ig ious perspect ive , bhakt i is not to be u nde r s t ood a s u nc r i ti c a l e mot i onb ut a s c o m m i t t e d e n g a g e m e n t . B h a k t i as a re l ig ious perspect ive encourages a criti-cal s tance, a dis tance not u s u a l l y a s soc i at ed w i t h t he b onds of e m ot ion (w hi c h w a sth e c r it ic i s m r a is ed b y t he s a nn ya s i n i de a l) . T he t e ns i on or , p e r ha p s , b a la nc e b e t w e e n e mot i on a n d inte l lect ion c a n b e seen in the Gita i tself . T h e Gita ident i f iedf o u r t yp e s of b ha kt i s a lva t i on , w hi c h i nc lu de , a nd a r e not opposed t o , j na na (h ig he rknow le dg e ) . These t yp e s are related to the c ondi t i on of the p e r son p r a c t ic i ng b ha kt i :arta , one who is in dis t ress ; jnasu, a seeker of k n o w l e d g e ; a r t h a r a t h i , a seeker o fw o r l d l y success ; and jnanl, a p e r s on of h i g h e r k n o w l e d g e . The Bhagavad Gita fa-vors the jnanl, w h o t h i n k s o f G o d s i n g l e - m i n d e d l y : t h e jn a n i i s ekabhakta.1 7M ode r n s c hola r s h ip o n regional bh ak t i t radi t ions a lso i l lus t ra tes th e tension b e -t w e en e m ot ion a nd i n t e l le c t i on; f or e xa m p le , E dw a r d D i moc k d i s c u ss e s t he i mp or -tance o f prema ( love) to the B e ng a l i V a i s na va S a h a j i ya s : " In his at t i tude and in hisworship there can be no t race of kama, of carnal des i re , of desire for the sat isfac-t ion of self ; kama, unless it is t ransformed into t rue love, prema, leads not to joy,but to m isery and hell."18 D avid Haberm an has ident i fied m ethods of aes thetic theoryin the Gaud iya Vaisnava t radi t ion of dram a (associated w i th Ca i tanya): "This s t u dyis intended to s tand as a c ons c i ou s c ont r a di c t ion and c h a l l e n g e to those who claimth a t m e a n s and m e th o d s h a v e no place in H i n d u bhakti. . . . Sadhana, an i n t e nt i ona lm e t h o d or t e c hni qu e de s i g ne d to realize the ult imate goal , does occupy a p r omi -n e n t p os i ti on i n the t yp e of re l ig i on kn ow n a s H i ndu bhakti."19 And N o r m a n C u t l e rdiscusses Tamil Saiva a nd Vaisnava bhakt i poet ry a s de f i ne d b y a poetics of c om-m u n i o n a m o n g poet, G o d , and a u di e nc e ; the e mot i on of the poetry is expressedw i t h i n a n eff icac ious p o e t i c s t r u c t u r e . 2 0

A p r o b l e m fo r m o d e r n s c h o l a r s is w h e t h e r th e l a n g u a g e w e u s e i n d i s c u s s i n gb h a k t i a c k n o w l e d g e s th e t e n s i o n b e t w e e n e m o t io n a n d in te l lect ion t h a t p r o p o n e n t so f b h a k t i carefu l ly d e v e l o p e d . 2 1 O n e o f th e m os t p e r va s i ve p hr a s e s u s e d to de s c r i b e

0


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Bhakti as Devotion 21b h a k t i in contem pora ry l i tera ture is "devot ion to a perso nal deity ."22 A s K r is h naSh ar m a h as ar gued a t l en gt h t h e ar gu m en t r un s t h r o ug h h er en t i r e bo o k , Bhaktiand the Bhakti Movement this definit ion of bhakti reprodu ces the oriental ist agend aof m o n o t h e i s m , as well as its em ph as i s on V a i s n a v i s m , b y pr i v i l egi n g the s a g u n a(with attr ibutes) im agina tion of God. Sh arm a crit icized the early orien tal ists for theirdevelopment of th is def in i t ion of bhakti, as wel l as modern scholars who repro-duce i t , by a ppe al ing to the rel igiou s perspect ive of K abir , who m she view s as apr o po n en t of n i r g u n a b h a k t i , w h i c h e n v i s io n s G od a s formless or withou t at t r ibutes .T he or iental ists had only loosely conn ected K abir , as wel l as Ra m anan da a nd Gu ruN an ak , w i th bh ak t i.2 3 In contras t , the current scholar ly consensus , developed pr i -marily by scholars of bhakt i in regional langu ag es , holds that Kabir's rel igious vi-sion is bhakt i .To d ay , s ch o lar s t end t o u n d e r s t an d bh a k t i as co m pr i si n g i n d epen d en t n i r g un aa n d s agun a w ay s o f i m a g i n i n g G o d. I n par t icular , th is d ivis ion within bhakt i h a sbeen used to g r o u p th e bhakt i l i teratures in regional languages , a l though we arenow m ore aware that n i rgu na and sag un a dis t inct ion s were related in comp lex w ay st h r o u g h o u t Sanskri t literatures. 2 4 In an ear ly parallel to the nir gu na and sa gu na dis-t inct ion, th e oriental ists h ad noted that there were what they identified as theistic2nd pantheistic tendencies in the Gita , but they attributed this to the composite natu reof th e text and in general believed that th e theistic strands were original .2 5 In them o d er n s ch em a, th e Tamil Saiva and Va isnava bh akt i poets are classified as i m ag-i n i ng a s a g u n a g o d , as are the n o r t h In d i an bh ak t i s a i n t s Sur d as , Mirabal, a n dT ul si d as. T h e V i r as a iv as o f K ar n at ak a , p l us th e n o r t h In d i an s a in t s Rav i d as , K abi r,and N a n a k , are all held to i m a g i n e God a s n i r g u n a .

T he f i rs t academic use of th is schem a w as by a H ind i scholar of the 1920s, w hoapplied it to the poems of Hindi sants .26 H e attr ibuted a different source to each:T he poetry of the nirgu na bhaktas w as "rooted in knowledge" (jnanashrayi), whereasth e poetry of the s agun a bh ak t as w as "rooted in love" (premashrayi). H e un d er -stood both of these methods to be sakhas, or branches , of bh ak t i . T h e early oriental-ists h ad opposed j n a n a to bh a k t i , j us t as they h a d i m pl i c i t l y opposed tw o theisticperspectives, pantheism (advaitd) and monotheism (bhakti), whereas scholars nowdis t inguish n irguna and sag una perspect ives w ithin bha kt i . T hu s, in the contempo-rary unders tanding of bh ak t i t h r o ugh poets' i m a g e s of God, scholars include ele-ments that th e oriental ists tended to dis tance, yet the opposi t ion between knowl-edge and em o t i o n is retained.

I n a fascinating art icle, John Stratton H awley h as quest ioned w hether th e n i r gun a-saguna dis t inct ion prominent in contemporary scholarship on bhakt i actual ly hasany ground ing in the poetry , hag iograp hies , and anthologies of H indi bhaktas up tothe seventeenth century. H e concludes that th e distinction "survives with only m ixedsuccess" in the poetry and hagiographies; yet , th e dis t inct ion is par t of an o r gan i za-tional strategy in later sectarian antho logies. H awley derives a ca utio na ry perspec-tive from his research: "Each of these yardsticks teaches us to exercise caution whenw e s peak of the great contras t between n i rgun i s a n d sagums in the ear l y o r 'classi-cal ' per iod o f N o r th I n d i a n b h a k t i , th e bhakti kal."27 S o t he i d ea o f n i r g u n a - s a g u n a ,w h i c h is i n cr eas i n gl y c o m i n g to define b h a k t i in c o n t e m p o r a r y s c h o la r sh i p (w h e t h e ror not th is is i n t en d ed ) , ac t ua l l y co m es from a very loca l ized t rad i t ion : sectar ian


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2 2 Images of Bhaktianthologies of bhakti poetry in Hindi produced in north India in the s ixteenth andseventeenth centur ies .

Furthermore , A . K . R a m a n u j a n h as denied th e us e f u l n e s s of the dis t inc t ion, v iew-ing it as a l imita t ion o n o ur u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the b h a k t i poets' creativity. H is a n a l y -s is is s imilar to Biardeau's in tha t he views bhakti as holding in tension e lementstha t o ther re l igious t radi t ions would tend to keep separa te :

T h e dis t inc t ion ic o n ic / a n ic o n ic is a useful o n e, as nirguna/saguna is not. A ll d ev o -t ional po etr y p la y s on the ten sio n between saguna and nirguna, th e lord as per so nand the lord as pr in c ip le . I f he wer e en t i r e ly a per so n , h e w o u l d not be divine, and ifh e were entirely a pr in c ip le , a go d h ea d , one c o u l d not m a k e p o e m s a b o u t h i m . T h ef or mer a t t i tud e ma k es dvaita or du al ism po ssib le , and the la t ter m akes fo r advaita orm o n i s m . . . . I t is no t either/or, b u t b o t h / a n d ; m y t h , bhakti, a n d p o e t r y w o u l d b e i m -possible w i t h o u t th e presence o f bo th a t t i tud e s .2 8I t is sure ly par t o f the dynam ic of c raf t ing def in i t ions tha t the imp etus is toward

c o l l a ps in g d is t in c t io n s m a d e in m a n y t r a d i t i o n a l o r sectarian interpretations o f agiven term o r p h e n o m e n o n . T h e n i r g un a - s a g un a d is t in c t io n a d d re s se s th is i s sue : I tsupersedes the orienta list de fin itio n of "devotion to a perso nal deity," an d it aff i rm sa n indigenous c lass if ica tory perspect ive . However , its appl icabi l i ty to bhakti gen-era l ly is put in to quest ion by H awley 's re f lec t ion s, and i ts us efu lnes s in doing so ischal lenged by R am anu jan 's . N or is i t s im ply an issue of Sanskri t as against regional-l a n gua ge bh a k t i f o r m ul a t io n s . A s Sh a r m a d e m o n s t r a te s , th e Bhagavad Gita, th eBhagavata Purana, a nd t he Bhakti Sutras o f N a r a d a a nd Sa n d i l y a do not pr e s e n t au n i f i e d pic tur e o f bh a k t i ; ev e n w i th in Sa n s k r i t t r a d i t io n s , in te r pr e ta tio n s o f b h a k t ichanged over t ime.2 9

Some scholars today, ra ther than reduce bhakti to a single term o r phrase, haveopted to c o m pi l e a l ist of charac ter is t ics for bhakti , with th e caveat that each ele-ment "may o r m a y not" apply to each in terpre ta t ion o f b h a k t i in the I n d ia n c o n -text.3 0 This is he lpful for comparison, but i t does not re l ieve us of the problem ofconceptual iz ing th e v a r io us bh a k t i s as b h a k t i , w h i c h is part of the scholar ly agenda.W hat w e need to es tabl ish in an und ersta nd ing of the te rm bhakti is an inc lusivedef in i t ion within which the many voices of bhakti can speak to us .

A possible solut ion, a s Sh a r m a r e c o gn iz e d , is to d e f in e bhakti generica l ly a s"devotion," rather than as "devotion to a personal deity." "Devotion" has been suc-cessful ly discussed cross -cu l tura l ly , as an encyclop edia ar t ic le by D avid K insleydemonstra tes .3 1 In addit ion, the re l igious meanings of devotion, inc luding pra ise ,prayer, meditation, and self-discipline,

3 2are relevant to the s tud y of bh a k t i , a l th o ug hit is noteworthy tha t se l f-disc ipl ine w a s rarely a characteristic th e orientalists asso-

ciated w ith bh a k t i .Yet, h o w m u c h does th e term devotion tell u s a b o u t b h a k t i ? A c c o rd i n g to the

Oxford English Dictionary, th e term originated in Latin and in its oldest sense d e-noted tha t which was consecra ted to something e i ther good or evil . T hen the termto o k o n th e m o r e po s i t iv e se n se o f d e v o t io n to s o m e th in g go o d , im pl y in g l o y a l ty ; i tw a s i n th is sense tha t th e t e rm p a s se d i n t o C h r i s t ia n u s a g e , m e a n i n g s p e c i f i c a l lydevoted to God, pie ty , service , o r r e l i g i o u s z e a l . S i g n i f i c a n t l y , o n l y th e C h r i s t i a nm e a n i n g s o f d e v o t i o n o r i g i n a l l y c a m e i n t o th e R o m a n c e l a n g u a g e s f r o m e c c le s ia s -

The Embodiment of Bhakti Pages 1 50

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