Progression of mode of Bhakti throughout history

Sanjay Korukonda
1610110295

Bhakti in Hinduism is considered to be one of the means of getting salvation:

along with karma and knowledge. Since the prehistoric times, bhakti has

evolved and articulated its form and purpose with respect to the modern

conventions and ideologies. This shift in the purpose of bhakti from traditional

and confined sanskritic rituals to substantiate the emotional connect towards an

individual has engulfed and transformed the concept and understanding of

devotion towards god. The context on how Bhakti is viewed and reflected upon

since the course of history, highlights its means of propagation enabling to

redefine poetry in a quotidian basis. But have the people embraced bhakti as

poetry to address their love towards god? This paper further progresses in

elaborating and answering the social outreach towards Bhakti throughout

history.

The history of bhakti is the history of a growing spiritualization of religion and

the start of a movement that increases away from external ritualism in practice

and a growing sense of nearness of the deity in experience. The word bhakti

derives from the Sanskrit root ‘bhaj’, meaning “to share, to possess,” and bhakti

poetry is an intense way of sharing in the divine. Before the evolution of bhakti,
the idea of emergence of a path of salvation towards god was vague. The

postulation of ‘God’ as a superior and supernatural being parallels the

differences in the way bhakti has revolutionised its representation as a mode of

medium between god and the devotee. The brahmanical and Vedic way of

devotion couldn’t help but rather symbolize the socio-economic bridge between

God and devotee. The presence of holy priests, sages or Brahmins as the

perpetrator of pious offerings and rituals to the god for the common people

highlights the gaps in the emotional and personal connect in gaining salvation

for themselves. Not only this, the accessibility of Vedic texts and Vedas was not

prominent to the whole population resulting in the need of a closer and personal

form of devotion. This hierarchy in terms of devotion towards god has led to the

birth of bhakti. With the practice of rituals and reciting Vedas limited to temples

and houses of the elites, a wanting of a sense of oneness and salvation towards

god has led to the emergence of many iconoclasts against these conventional

norms. This moving away from ritualism and laying emphasis on the experience

began in southern India by the Vaishnavites Alvars and Shaivite Nayanars.

Bhakti revitalised its form using various ways and poetry has been one of the

main assets of this movement. With bhakti dependent on paving its way through

an audience, poetry has struck amongst the chords of the common people.

Poetry in particular has pristine emotion, and aestheticizes the concept making it

easier to remember. The use of poetry as a tool for empathy to connect with

audience even generations later has been well apparent in the movement of
bhakti. Poetry infuses the refusal to forget the emotions and feelings attached to

the context. The influence of poetry to mock the social stigmas and educate the

masses to attain salvation from the social misery and hierarchy has been quite

evident with Kabir. Kabir was a believer of fundamental equality of man and

also on the essential unity of god. His poems talk volumes on the rejection of

caste system and inequalities based on belief in superiority of a particular race

or a religion.

If caste was what the Creator had in mind,

why wasn't anyone born

with Siva's three-lined sign?

If you're a Brahmin,

from a Brahmin woman born, •

why didn't you come out some special way?

And if you're a Muslim,

from a Muslim woman born,

why weren't you circumcised inside?

Says Kabir: No one is lowly born.

The only lowly are those

who never talk of Ram.

This is one of the prime example of Kabirs poem where he criticises the

Brahmins for treating themselves exceptional and superior by stating that they

weren’t born any different than the others. He also denounces the differences in

creed, Hindus and Muslims implying to a solitary god. Bhakti poetry has not

only been used to question the social inequalities, it emphasized on the personal

relationship and devotions towards god. One prominent poet has been Mirabai

who has expressed his love for Lord Krishna as her husband describing her

devotion towards him. Mirabai’s love towards Krishna was publicly expressed

by dancing and singing thereby breaking the social norms of that time.

Sister, I had a dream that I wed

the Lord of those who live in need:

Five hundred sixty thousand people came

and the Lord of Braj was the groom.

In dream they set up a wedding arch;

in dream he grasped my hand;

in dream he led me around the wedding fire

and I became unshakably his bride.

Mira's been granted her mountain-lifting Lord:

from living past lives, a prize.

This poem depicts her love towards Lord Krishna and refers as her husband.

Mirabai’s poems also hint at the gender equalities of that time. Male (Krishna)

is the inflictor of injury and Female (Mirabai) is the injured. Most of her poems

refer to the body as female and love as a wound to it. Mirabai’s poems are not

as blatant on social aspects as Kabir but most of them contain a sense of long

lasting and erotic love with a double fantasy of control and weakness. Bhakti

poetry in such a way was influenced by poets in the medieval times to find

answers individually towards god.

The Bhakti movement cannot be called a mass movement for it did not directly

aim at changing the living conditions of the masses. Its prime aim was to strive

for individual salvation. For the Bhakti proponents, real devotion was not the

renunciation of the world. Devotion for them was repeating God's name and

seeking him within oneself while carrying out the daily duties. They propagated

humanism and individualism. They were against any form of organised or

institutionalised religion. The use of poetry to achieve mystical union with God

is significant in bhakti movement. Bhakti poetry enabled them to see god

through their own lens and enrich their devotion towards him. Bhakti poetry

helped not only in influencing the masses by reading, reciting or singing it

rather the purpose and meanings were well dwelled and rooted in their everyday

lives. Bhakti perfected the notion of man and god and of ritual and conduct.
References:
1. Songs of the saints of India. (1989). Snell, R. (1990). John Stratton
Hawley [and] Mark Juergensmeyer (ed. and tr.).