Bhakti

Bhakti is from the Sanskrit root bhaj, meaning to share, to participate in, or to be devoted to[1]. Devanagari: भक्ति. The noun bhakti emerges in classical Sanskrit literature as a name for loving devotion directed toward the divine[2]. The term is shared across many South Asian traditions but is most associated with Hindu devotional movements, especially the bhakti movements that flourished across the subcontinent from roughly the 6th century onward[3].

bhakti is both emotional and disciplined, and it has produced poetry, song, ritual, and theology across many regions.

Bhakti is one of the major paths to liberation in classical Hindu thought, alongside knowledge (jnana) and disciplined action (karma yoga)[4]. The Bhagavad Gita gives bhakti a central place: God promises that even the worst sinner who turns to bhakti is set on the right path[5]. Vaishnava bhakti traditions center devotion to Vishnu or his avatars Krishna and Rama; Shaiva bhakti centers Shiva; Shakta bhakti centers Devi[6]. Bhakti can be expressed through song, dance, story, poetry, pilgrimage, temple ritual, and inner remembrance of the divine name[3].

The medieval bhakti poets of South India (the Alvars and Nayanars), Maharashtra (Tukaram, Namdev), Karnataka (Basavanna and the Lingayats), Rajasthan and Gujarat (Mirabai, Narsi Mehta), and North India (Kabir, Tulsidas, Surdas) produced a vast devotional literature in regional languages, often explicitly challenging caste hierarchy and Sanskritic elitism[3]. Sikhism arose in this broader bhakti milieu, with Guru Nanak's teaching emphasizing devotion to the formless One[7].

Bhakti practice often includes singing (kirtan, bhajan), chanting the divine name (japa), seeing the deity (darshan), and participating in festivals and pilgrimage[6]. The relationship between devotee and divine takes many emotional forms: servant, friend, child, parent, lover. The Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition systematized these as bhava: the moods of devotion[6].

Religious studies has produced extensive scholarship on bhakti as both a religious movement and a literary tradition[3]. Karen Pechilis, John Stratton Hawley, and others have explored the social dimensions of medieval bhakti, especially its frequent challenge to caste and gender hierarchies[3]. Comparative work places bhakti alongside Christian devotional traditions, Sufi devotional Islam, and Vaishnava-influenced movements like the Hare Krishna tradition, while keeping the specific framework of Hindu theology in view[6].

• A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movementby John Stratton Hawley
  book
• The Bhagavad Gitaby Eknath Easwaran (translator)
  primary source