Bhakti - Wikipedia. Bhakti (Sanskrit: भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, piety".[1] In Hinduism, it refers to devotion to, and love for, a personal god or a representational god by a devotee.[2][3] 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.[4]Bhakti in Indian religions is "emotional devotionalism", particularly to a personal god or to spiritual ideas.[5][6] The term also refers to a movement, pioneered by Alvars and Nayanars, that developed around the gods Vishnu (Vaishnavism), Shiva (Shaivism) and Devi (Shaktism) in the second half of the 1st millennium CE.[2][3][7] It grew rapidly in India after the 1. Hindu traditions, possibly in response to the arrival of Islam in India.[8][9][1. Bhakti ideas have inspired many popular texts and saint- poets in India. The Bhagavata Purana, for example, is a Krishna- related text associated with the Bhakti movement in Hinduism.[1. Bhakti is also found in other religions practiced in India,[1.
Christianity and Hinduism in the modern era.[1. Nirguni bhakti (devotion to the divine without attributes) is found in Sikhism, as well as Hinduism.[1. Outside India, emotional devotion is found in some Southeast Asian and East Asian Buddhist traditions, and it is sometimes referred to as Bhatti.[1. Terminology[edit]The Sanskrit word bhakti is derived from the verb root bhaj- , which means "to divide, to share, to partake, to participate, to belong to".[1. 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".[1][2. 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, is spiritual, a love and devotion to religious concepts or principles, that engages both emotion and intellection.[2. Karen Pechelis states that the word Bhakti should not be understood as uncritical emotion, but as committed engagement.[2. 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 the experience in a thoughtful, conscious approach".[2. One who practices bhakti is called a bhakta.[2. 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.[1. It may refer to devotion towards a spiritual teacher (Guru) as guru- bhakti,[2. 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. Dr.Seerkazhi S.Govindarajan Songs Download- Listen to Dr.Seerkazhi S.Govindarajan songs MP3 free online. Play Dr.Seerkazhi S.Govindarajan hit new songs and download. 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 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,[3. The other paths are Jnana marga (path of knowledge), Karma marga (path of works), Rāja marga (path of contemplation and meditation).[3. The term bhakti has been usually translated as "devotion" in Orientalist literature.[3. The colonial era authors variously described Bhakti as a form of mysticism or "primitive" religious devotion of lay people with monotheistic parallels.[3. However, modern scholars state "devotion" is a misleading and incomplete translation of bhakti.[4. 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 is not a ritualistic devotion to a god or to religion, but participation in a path that includes behavior, ethics, mores and spirituality.[4. It involves, among other things, refining one's state of mind, knowing god, participating in god, and internalizing god.[4. Increasingly, instead of "devotion", the term "participation" is appearing in scholarly literature as a gloss for the term bhakti.[4. David Lorenzen states that bhakti is an important term in Sikhism and Hinduism.[1. They both share numerous concepts and core spiritual ideas, but bhakti of nirguni (devotion to divine without attributes) is particularly significant in Sikhism.[1. 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 the choice of a Hindu.[1. History[edit]The Upanishads[edit]The last of three epilogue verses of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, dated to be from 1st millennium BCE, uses the word Bhakti as follows,यस्य देवे परा भक्तिः यथा देवे तथा गुरौ ।तस्यैते कथिता ह्यर्थाः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मनः ॥ २३ ॥[4. 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 is one of the earliest use of the word Bhakti in ancient Indian literature, and has been translated as "the love of God".[3. Scholars[4. 7][4. 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 the epilogue, could have been a later addition and may not be theistic as the word was later used in much later Sandilya Sutras.[4. Grierson as well as Carus note that the first epilogue verse 6. 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 the closing credit to sage Shvetashvatara in verse 6. Soul".[3. 7]Scholarly consensus sees bhakti as a post- Vedic movement that developed primarily during the Epics and Puranas era of Indian history.[5. The Bhagavad Gita is the first text to explicitly use the word "bhakti" to designate a religious path, using it as a term for one of three possible religious approaches.[5. The Bhagavata Purana develops the idea more elaborately,[1. Shvetashvatara Upanishad presents evidence of guru- bhakti (devotion to one's spiritual teacher).[3. Bhakti movement[edit]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 the Saiva Nayanars[9] and the Vaisnava Alvars. Their ideas and practices inspired bhakti poetry and devotion throughout India over the 1. CE.[8][9] The Alvars ("those immersed in God") were Vaishnava poet- saints who wandered from temple to temple singing the praises of Vishnu. They established temple sites (Srirangam is one) and converted many people to Vaishnavism.[9]. Meera was one of the most significant poet- sants in the Vaishnava bhakti movement.[5. Like the Alvars the Saiva 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.[5. Early Tamil- Siva bhakti poets are quoted the Black Yajurveda.[5. The Alwars 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.[5.
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