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59-406: Such a deity is often the object of one's devotion ( bhakti ), and is coaxed to watch over one's clan ( kula ), gotra , family, and children from misfortune. This is distinct from an ishta-devata (personal tutelar ) and a grāmadevatā (village deities). Male kuladevatas are sometimes referred to as a kuladeva , while their female counterparts are called a kuladevi . The word kuladevata

118-482: A personal God (like Krishna or Devi ), a formless ultimate reality (like Nirguna Brahman or the Sikh God ) or for an enlightened being (like a Buddha , a bodhisattva , or a guru ). Bhakti is often a deeply emotional devotion based on a relationship between a devotee and the object of devotion. One of the earliest appearances of the term is found in the early Buddhist Theragatha ( Verses of

177-556: A Buddhist. Also, bhakti is clearly connected with a person as an object, whereas śraddhā is less connected with a person, and is more connected with truthfulness and truth. Śraddhā focuses on ideas such as the working of karma and merit transfer . One source for Indian Buddhist devotion is the Divyāvadāna , which focuses on the vast amount of merit ( puṇya ) that is generated by making offerings to Buddhas, stupas and other Buddhist holy sites . This text contrasts faith in

236-566: A central virtue and liberally made use of Buddha images, which are often accompanied by attendant bodhisattvas. These new developments in Buddhist bhakti may have been influenced by the pan-Indian bhakti movement , and indeed, many Gupta monarchs, who were devoted to the Vaishnava Bhagavata religion also supported Buddhist temples and founded monasteries (including great ones like Nalanda ). Buddhists were in competition with

295-405: A devotee takes according to his individual temperament to express his devotion towards God in some form. The different bhāvas are: Several saints are known to have practiced these bhavas . The nineteenth century mystic, Ramakrishna is said to have practiced these five bhavas . The attitude of Hanuman towards the god Rama is considered to be of dasya bhava . The approach of Arjuna and

354-551: A form of mysticism or "primitive" religious devotion of lay people with monotheistic parallels. However, modern scholars state "devotion" is a misleading and incomplete translation of bhakti . Many contemporary scholars have questioned this terminology, and most now trace the term bhakti as one of the several spiritual perspectives that emerged from reflections on the Vedic context and Hindu way of life. Bhakti in Indian religions

413-589: A historical shift in meaning. Similar developments in Buddhist devotion took place with regards to worshipping the Buddha's relics and Buddha images . In later faith-oriented literature, such as the Avadānas , faith is given an important role in Buddhist doctrine. Nevertheless, faith ( śraddhā ) is discussed in different contexts than devotion ( bhakti ). Bhakti is often used disparagingly to describe acts of worship to deities, often seen as ineffective and improper for

472-561: A movement , pioneered by the Tamil Alvars and Nayanars , that developed around the gods Vishnu ( Vaishnavism ), Shiva ( Shaivism ) and Devi ( Shaktism ) in the second half of the 1st millennium CE. Devotional elements similar to bhakti have been part of various world religions throughout human history. Devotional practices are found in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism. The Sanskrit word bhakti

531-513: A murti, establishing prana (life force) into the image and inviting the god or goddess to reside in the murti. Bhakti ( bhatti in Pali ) has always been a common aspect of Buddhism , where offerings, prostrations, chants, and individual or group prayers are made to the Buddha and bodhisattvas , or to other Buddhist deities . According to Karel Werner Buddhist bhakti "had its beginnings in

590-579: A personal God, or for spirituality without form ( nirguna ). According to the Sri Lankan Buddhist scholar Sanath Nanayakkara, there is no single term in English that adequately translates or represents the concept of bhakti in Indian religions. Terms such as "devotion, faith, devotional faith" represent certain aspects of bhakti , but it means much more. The concept includes a sense of deep affection, attachment, but not wish because "wish

649-574: A rough guide. Various figures for the number of total verses in the collection are given- the oral tradition claimed 1360, 1294 are mentioned in summaries within the text, but a plain count of the verses gives a number of 1279. This may be because different versions of the Theragatha were combined to produce the current version of the text. While most of the verses are spoken by the monk to whom they are attributed, some seem to have become associated with them in other ways- some verses are addressed to

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708-537: A scholar on Theravāda in Myanmar , "warm, personalized, emotional" bhakti has been a part of the Burmese Buddhist tradition apart from the monastic and lay intellectuals. The Buddha is treasured by the everyday devout Buddhists, just like Catholics treasure Jesus . The orthodox teachers tend to restrain the devotion to the Buddha, but to the devout Buddhist populace, "a very deeply devotional quality"

767-529: A term for one of three possible religious approaches or yogas (i.e. bhakti yoga ). The Bhagavata Purana (which focuses on Krishna bhakti) develops the idea more elaborately, while the Shvetashvatara Upanishad presents evidence of guru-bhakti (devotion to one's spiritual teacher). The Bhakti Movement was a rapid growth of bhakti, first starting in the later part of 1st millennium CE, from Tamil Nadu in southern India with

826-461: Is an important term in Sikhism and Hinduism. They both share numerous concepts and core spiritual ideas, but bhakti of nirguni (devotion to divine without attributes) is particularly significant in Sikhism. In Hinduism, diverse ideas continue, where both saguni and nirguni bhakti (devotion to divine with or without attributes) or alternate paths to spirituality are among the options left to

885-498: Is derived from the verb root bhaj- , which means "to worship, have recourse to, betake onself to" or bhañj-, which means "to break." The word also means "attachment, devotion to, fondness for, homage, faith or love, worship, piety to something as a spiritual, religious principle or means of salvation". The meaning of the term Bhakti is analogous to but different from Kama . Kama connotes emotional connection, sometimes with sensual devotion and erotic love. Bhakti, in contrast,

944-531: Is derived from two words: kula , meaning clan , and devata , meaning deity , referring to the ancestral deities that are worshipped by particular clans. Kuladaivams of the Shaiva tradition are often considered to be forms of Shiva and Parvati , while those of the Vaishnava tradition are often regarded to be forms of Vishnu and Lakshmi . Due to the veneration of holy men ( babas ) in several regions of

1003-461: Is not a ritualistic devotion to a God or to religion, but participation in a path that includes behavior, ethics, mores and spirituality. It involves, among other things, refining one's state of mind, knowing God, participating in God, and internalizing God. Increasingly, instead of "devotion", the term "participation" is appearing in scholarly literature as a gloss for the term bhakti . Bhakti

1062-496: Is one of the earliest use of the word Bhakti in ancient Indian literature, and has been translated as "the love of God". Scholars have debated whether this phrase is authentic or later insertion into the Upanishad, and whether the terms "Bhakti" and "Deva" meant the same in this ancient text as they do in the modern era. Max Muller states that the word Bhakti appears only once in this Upanishad, that too in one last verse of

1121-853: Is selfish, affection is unselfish". Some scholars, states Nanayakkara, associate it with saddha (Sanskrit: Sraddha ) which means "faith, trust or confidence". However, bhakti can connote an end in itself, or a path to spiritual wisdom. The term Bhakti refers to one of several alternate spiritual paths to moksha (spiritual freedom, liberation, salvation) in Hinduism, and it is referred to as bhakti marga or bhakti yoga . The other paths are Jnana marga (path of knowledge), Karma marga (path of works), Rāja marga (path of contemplation and meditation). The term bhakti has been usually translated as "devotion" in Orientalist literature. The colonial era authors variously described Bhakti as

1180-458: Is spiritual, a love and devotion to religious concepts or principles, that engages both emotion and intellection. Karen Pechelis states that the word Bhakti should not be understood as uncritical emotion, but as committed engagement. She adds that, in the concept of bhakti in Hinduism, the engagement involves a simultaneous tension between emotion and intellection, "emotion to reaffirm the social context and temporal freedom, intellection to ground

1239-420: Is the relationship of the intimate love. In bhakti worship, rituals are primarily directed towards physical images. The terms " murti " and " vigraham " are commonly used in Hinduism to describe these images. A murti denotes an object with a distinct form that symbolizes the shape or manifestation of a particular deity, either a god or goddess. A ritual called pranapratishta is performed before worshipping

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1298-491: The Theragāthā , bhatti had the meaning of 'faithful adherence to the [Buddhist] religion', and was accompanied with knowledge. Later on, however, the term developed the meaning of an advanced form of emotional devotion. This sense of devotion was thus different than the early Buddhist view of faith . According to Sanath Nanayakkara, early Buddhist refuge and devotion, meant taking the Buddha as an ideal to live by, rather than

1357-535: The Bhagavad Gita offered an alternative to two dominant practices of religion at the time: the isolation of the sannyasin and the practice of religious ritual. Bhakti Yoga is described by Swami Vivekananda as "the path of systematized devotion for the attainment of union with the Absolute". In various chapters, including the twelfth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita , Krishna describes bhakti yoga as one of

1416-522: The Bhakti movement were ever a social reform or rebellion of any kind. They suggest Bhakti movement was a revival, reworking and recontextualization of ancient Vedic traditions. The Bhagavad Gita introduces bhakti yoga in combination with karma yoga and jnana yoga , while the Bhagavata Purana expands on bhakti yoga, offering nine specific activities for the bhakti yogi. Bhakti in

1475-631: The Krishna Yajurveda . The Alvars and Nayanars were instrumental in propagating the Bhakti tradition. The Bhagavata Purana 's references to the South Indian Alvar saints, along with its emphasis on bhakti , have led many scholars to give it South Indian origins, though some scholars question whether this evidence excludes the possibility that bhakti movement had parallel developments in other parts of India. Scholars state that

1534-600: The Milindapanha suggests that while chapters continued to be added to the Theragatha for a period of 300 years or so, the collection was ultimately closed and put in a final form. A variety of early and late poetic meters are employed, and K.R. Norman suggests that the inclusion of miracle stories and congregations of gods are indicative of later additions. Some of the verses in the collection seem to mirror contemporary secular poetry of their time, with romantic lyrics replaced with religious imagery. Notable texts from

1593-735: The Shaiva Nayanar poets were influential. The Tirumurai , a compilation of hymns by sixty-three Nayanar poets, is still of great importance in South India. Hymns by three of the most prominent poets, Appar (7th century CE), Campantar (7th century) and Sundarar (9th century), were compiled into the Tevaram , the first volumes of the Tirumurai . The poets' itinerant lifestyle helped create temple and pilgrimage sites and spread devotion to Shiva. Early Tamil-Shiva bhakti poets quoted

1652-498: The bhakti movement focused on Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti and other deities, that developed and spread in India, was in response to the arrival of Islam in India about 8th century CE, and subsequent religious violence . This view is contested by other scholars. The Bhakti movement swept over east and north India from the fifteenth-century onwards, reaching its zenith between the 15th and 17th century CE. According to Patton Burchett,

1711-493: The gopis . The behavior of the gopis in the Bhagavata Purana exemplifies the essence of bhakti. When separated from Krishna, the gopis practiced devotion by listening to his stories ( śravaṇa ), praising his glorious deeds ( kīrtana ), and other acts to keep him in their thoughts. Traditional Hinduism speaks of five different bhāvas or " affective essences". In this sense, bhāvas are different attitudes that

1770-483: The Bhakti movement in Hinduism. Bhakti is also found in other religions practiced in India, and it has influenced interactions between Christianity and Hinduism in the modern era. Nirguni bhakti (devotion to the divine without attributes) is found in Sikhism , as well as Hinduism. Outside India, emotional devotion is found in some Southeast Asian and East Asian Buddhist traditions. The term also refers to

1829-480: The Buddha with bhakti for mundane deities (such as Hindu gods), and in this case, it sees bhakti as something for those who are less developed spiritually. However, in other passages, the term is used positively, and in one story, the sage Upagupta says to the demon Mara : Even a very small bit of bhakti [toward the Buddha] offers nirvana to the wise as a result. In short, the wicked things that you [Māra] did here to

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1888-462: The Divine in which caste, class, or gender typically were said to have no place. This was a bhakti that found its most characteristic expression in (a) the context of spiritual fellowship ( satsaṅg ) with other devotees (bhaktas), (b) the medium of song, (c) the idiom of passionate love (śṛṅgāra/mādhurya) or painful separation (viraha), and (d) the remembrance—in meditation, recitation, chant, and song—of

1947-548: The Elders ). In ancient texts such as the Shvetashvatara Upanishad , the term simply means participation, devotion and love for any endeavor, while in the Bhagavad Gita , it connotes one of the possible paths of spirituality and towards moksha , as in bhakti marga . Bhakti ideas have inspired many popular texts and saint-poets in India. The Bhagavata Purana , for example, is a Krishna -related text associated with

2006-704: The Hindu religions of the time, like the Bhagavatas and Shaivas, and they developed Buddhist bhakti focused on the Buddhas and bodhisattvas in this religious environment. Theragatha The Theragāthā ( Verses of the Elder Monks ) is a Buddhist text , a collection of short poems in Pali attributed to members of the early Buddhist sangha . It is classified as part of the Khuddaka Nikaya ,

2065-657: The Sage, when your mind was blind with delusion, all of these have been washed away by the copious waters of śraddhā that have entered your heart. - Divyāvadāna 360.1–4 [ Aśokāvadana 22.7-9] In the 11th century, the Bengali Buddhist scholar Rāmancandra Kavibhārati composed a work on Buddhist bhakti called the Bhakti Śataka. Today, affective devotion remains an important part of Buddhist practice, even in Theravada Buddhism. According to Winston King,

2124-584: The Shaiva Nayanars and the Vaishnava Alvars . Their ideas and practices inspired bhakti poetry and devotion throughout India over the 12th-18th century CE. The Alvars ("those immersed in God") were Vaishnava poet-saints who wandered from temple to temple, singing the praises of Vishnu. They hailed the divine abodes of Vishnu and converted many people to Vaishnavism . Like the Alvars,

2183-418: The Theragatha include the eighth poem of chapter sixteen, consisting of verses recited by the reformed killer Angulimala , and the third poem of chapter seventeen, in which the Buddha's cousin and retainer Ananda mourns the passing of his master. Many of the verses of the Theragatha concern the attempts of monks to overcome the temptations of Mara . A single commentary attributed to Dhammapala covers both

2242-537: The choice of a Hindu. The last of three epilogue verses of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.23), dated to be from 1st millennium BCE, uses the word Bhakti as follows: yasya deve parā bhaktiḥ yathā deve tathā gurau । tasyaite kathitā hyarthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ He who has highest Bhakti of Deva (God), just like his Deva , so for his Guru (teacher), To him who is high-minded, these teachings will be illuminating. This verse

2301-468: The closing credit to sage Shvetashvatara in verse 6.21 can mean "gift or grace of his Soul". Scholarly consensus sees bhakti as a post-Vedic movement that developed primarily during the Hindu Epics and Puranas era of Indian history (late first mill. BCE-early first mill. CE). The Bhagavad Gita is the first text to explicitly use the word "bhakti" to designate a religious path, using it as

2360-539: The collection of minor books in the Sutta Pitaka . A similar text, the Therigatha , contains verses attributed to early Buddhist nuns. Theragatha is a Pali word, constructed from the words thera (elder, masculine) and gāthā (verse). The Theragatha consists of 264 poems, organized into 21 chapters. Chapters are based on the number of verses in the poem, but beyond chapter 16 the chapter headings are only

2419-404: The cowherd boys of Vrindavan with the god Krishna is regarded as sakhya bhava . Radha 's love towards Krishna is madhurya bhava . The attitude of Krishna's foster-mother Yashoda towards him exemplifies vatsalya bhava . The Chaitanya Charitamrita mentions that Chaitanya came to distribute the four spiritual sentiments of Vraja loka: dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, and sringara . Sringara

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2478-419: The earliest days". Perhaps the earliest mention of the term bhatti in all Indic literature appears in the early Buddhist Theragatha ( Verses of the Elders ). As such, Har Dayal writes that, bhakti "was an integral part of the Buddhist ideal from the earliest times". John S. Strong writes that the central meaning of Indian Buddhist bhakti was "recollection of the Buddha" (Sanskrit: buddhanusmrti ). One of

2537-440: The earliest form of Buddhist devotional practice was the early Buddhist tradition of worshiping the Buddha through the means of stupas and bodily relics ( sarira ). Later (after about the third century CE), devotion using Buddha images also became a very popular form of Buddha bhakti. Sri Lankan scholar Indumathie Karunaratna notes that the meaning of bhatti changed throughout Buddhist history. In early Buddhist sources like

2596-502: The epilogue, could have been a later addition and may not be theistic as the word was later used in much later Sandilya Sutras . Grierson as well as Carus note that the first epilogue verse 6.21 of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad is also notable for its use of the word Deva Prasada (देवप्रसाद, grace or gift of God), but add that Deva in the epilogue of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad refers to "pantheistic Brahman " and

2655-497: The experience in a thoughtful, conscious approach". One who practices bhakti is called a bhakta . The term bhakti, in Vedic Sanskrit literature, has a general meaning of "mutual attachment, devotion, fondness for, devotion to" such as in human relationships, most often between beloved-lover, friend-friend, king-subject, parent-child. It may refer to devotion towards a spiritual teacher ( Guru ) as guru-bhakti , or to

2714-512: The following deities are venerated as kuladevatas: The following is a list of kuladevatas venerated in Sri Lanka : Bhakti Traditional Bhakti ( Sanskrit : भक्ति ; Pali : bhatti ) is a term common in Indian religions which means attachment, fondness for, devotion to, trust, homage, worship, piety, faith, or love. In Indian religions, it may refer to loving devotion for

2773-403: The four key features of this early modern bhakti movement in north India were: First and foremost, these communities were united by a distinctive focus on personal devotion to the Divine, as opposed to other traditional pillars of Indic religiosity such as knowledge , ritual, or the practice of yoga or asceticism . This devotion took place in the context of an intimate, loving relationship with

2832-510: The goddess Tara . Mahayana sources like the Lotus Sutra describe the Buddha as the loving father of all beings, and exhorts all Buddhists to worship him. Mahayana bhakti also led to the rise of temples which were focused on housing a central Buddha image, something which became the norm during the Gupta period . Gupta era Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism stressed bhakti towards the Buddha as

2891-551: The later sense of self-surrender. But already in the Commentary to the Abhidhamma text Puggalapaññatti , it is mentioned that the Buddhist devotee should develop his saddhā until it becomes bhaddi , a sense not mentioned in earlier texts and probably influenced by the Hindu idea of bhakti . There are instances where commentator Buddhaghosa mentions taking refuge in the Buddha in the sense of mere adoration, indicating

2950-549: The monk the poem is named for, and a collection of verses associated with Ananda contains a mix of verses recited by or to Ananda on various occasions. Several verses in the Theragatha appear elsewhere in the canon, attributed to the same monks. Most of the monks in the Theragatha lived during the time of the Buddha, but the collection seems to have continued to grow until at least the Third Buddhist Council . The omission of similar verses that were included in

3009-513: The most devoted to Me. The Shandilya Bhakti Sutra and Narada Bhakti Sutra define devotion, emphasize its importance and superiority, and classify its forms. According to Ramana Maharishi , bhakti is a "surrender to the divine with one's heart". It can be practiced as an adjunct to self-inquiry, and in one of four ways: The Bhagavata Purana (verse 7.5.23) teaches nine forms of bhakti: The Bhagavata Purana describes many examples of bhakti, such as those exhibited by Prahlada and

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3068-464: The name(s) of God. Second, these new devotional communities of Mughal India were alike in their production and performance of devotional works, composed in vernacular languages, remembering the deeds of God (especially Kṛṣṇa and Rām ) and exemplary bhaktas. Third, important in all these communities was the performance and collection of songs attributed to renowned bhakti poet-saints like Kabīr, Raidās, and Sūrdās. Finally, despite their many differences,

3127-606: The paths to the highest spiritual attainments. In the sixth chapter, for example, the Gita states the following about bhakti yogi: The yogi who, established in oneness, Honors Me as abiding in all beings, In whatever way he otherwise acts, Dwells in Me. He who sees equality in everything, In the image of his own Self, Arjuna, Whether in pleasure or in pain, Is thought to be a supreme yogi. Of all yogis, He who has merged his inner Self in Me, Honors me, full of faith, Is thought to be

3186-509: The people before the arrival of Hinduism in the region. For those of Khas descent, this is often the 12 Masto gods or one of the 9 Durga Bhawanis, which include: Some of the Primary Kuladevatas of Uttar Pradesh include: Some of the primary kuladevatas of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana include: Some of the primary kuladevatas of Karnataka include: Some of the primary kuladevatas of Tulu Nadu include: Some of

3245-645: The primary kuladevatas of Kerala include: Some of the primary kuladevatas of Tamil Nadu include: The kuladevatas worshipped in Maharashtra include: The kuladevatas venerated in the Konkan region include: The kuladevatas worshipped in Gujarat and Rajasthan include: Bihar In Bihar , the following deities are worshipped as kuladevatas: Bihar asthana kayasth ki kuldeviya. Banni mata, durga mata, shiv ji , hanuman ji, batuk Bhairav ji In Bengal ,

3304-457: The subcontinent, several communities consider such men to be their kuladevatas in the place of a deity. In western India , some communities regard local monarchs who belonged to their clan to be their kuladevata. The following is a non-exhaustive list of the various kuladevatas revered in different regions of the Indian subcontinent: The kuldevata ( Nepali : Kuldeuta कुलदेउता) in many hilly Nepalese families are often local deities worshipped by

3363-472: The vast majority of bhakti authors and sectarian communities in early modern North India came together in articulating a devotional sensibility distinct from—and often explicitly positioned in opposition to—certain tantric paradigms of religiosity. Bhakti poetry and ideas influenced many aspects of Hindu culture, religious and secular, and became an integral part of Indian society. It extended its influence to Sufism , Christianity , and Jainism . Sikhism

3422-664: Was and remains a part of the actual practice. This is observable, states King, in "multitudes of Pagoda worshippers of the Buddha images" and the offerings they make before the image and nowhere else. A rich devotionalism developed in Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism and it can be found in the veneration of the transcendent Buddha Amitabha of Pure Land Buddhism and of bodhisattvas like Mañjusri , Avalokiteshvara (known as Guanyin in East Asia and Chenrezig in Tibetan) and

3481-747: Was founded by Guru Nanak in the 15th century, during the bhakti movement period, and scholars call it a Bhakti sect of Indian traditions. Saints such as Mirabai , Soordas , Narsinh Mehta composed several bhajans that were a path towards Bhakti for many, that are universally sung even today. A modern age saint, Shri Devendra Ghia (Kaka) has composed about 10,000 hymns. These hymns are related to bhakti, knowledge, devotion, faith, introspection and honesty. The movement has traditionally been considered as an influential social reformation in Hinduism, and provided an individual-focused alternative path to spirituality regardless of one's birth caste or gender. Postmodern scholars question this traditional view and whether

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