In medieval India it was caste structures that governed the lives of men and the
networks of relations that they could enter into. The structure of social divisions that
arose thus was, a rigid, inflexible and unequal one that created
extremes of inequality, privileges and disprivileges between men and social groups.
Although this was an extremely unfair system, little could be done or said against
it as it was supported by Hindu religious ideology, particularly the notions of high
and pure birth and occupation as against the low and impure. In other words,
Hinduism was as much a social system as it was a religion, and provided an
ideological framework on the basis of which Hindu society arose.
In other words. Hinduism was both religion and social framework and
governed the lives of Hindus. To be a Hindu meant that one's life was goveorned
by factors such as being born in a caste, being subject to ones' actions or karma,
to be a part of Brahman and aim at achieving moksha or Liberation of ones soul
or salvation. Further, it must be remembered that Hinduism was not a revealed
religion that had just a single text. With every phase in the development of Hinduism
came new scriptures and texts. Thus we have the Veda, the Upnishad, the Purana
and the Bhagavad Gita. Even though we have stressed that the caste system was
a system that formed the basis of life in Hindu India and was rigid and unchangeable, there nevertheless occurred many anti-caste movements in the course of the development of the religion. Buddhism and Jainism in the 6th century B.C. that spoke up against caste divisions
and social inequality. This struggle was carried forward and saw its culmination in
the rise of the medieval movement of-bhakti or 'selfless' devotion to a single God,
with which this unit is primarily concerned.
Hinduism was greatly criticised and faced many movements against it .This is so because even
though the bhakti movement was against some of the tenets of Hinduism, much
of what is a part of Hinduism in later ages developed as an outcome of the bhakti
tradition. This tradition was widespread, in fact from Northto South India. We will
outline its development in the South and North seprately.

Paths and Pillars of Bhakti

From a modem historical standpoint the development of bhakti is the coming
together of considerably earlier theistic tendencies in three major religious traditions
of ancient India:
i) the sacrificial cult of the invading Aryans and the recitation of the Brahmana
priests that become the foundation of the Vedas;
ii the practice of bodily mortification and groups known as Srarnanas probably
continuing traditions of earlier inhabitants of India but soon adapted - by some of
the Aryans; and
iii) the pre Aryan cults of spirits and village goddesses inhabiting trees and rocks and
protecting special people or special groups.
Those who worship Vishnu as the Supreme' diety are known as Vaishnavas;
likewise those who accord the Supreme place to Shiva are known as Saivas; and
those who are devotees of the Goddess of Power are known as Saktas. Each sect
is subdivided into lineages of teachers and teachings. The major forms of bhakti
are divided according to the Various mood of the devotees. Raw emotion or bhava
is transformed in drama to a refined mood or rasa. Each cbmbination of bhava or
rasa uses a particular human relationship, or devotional stances such as servant to
master or child to parent or fried to friend, parent to child and beloved to lover.
While bhakti stresses passionate attachment it is in striking contrast with Yoga
which stresses detachment. Yet many forms of bhakti do talk of detachment such
as that taught in the Bhagavad Gita. The bhakti movements, stand religiously
between the extreme ascetic paths and popular Hindu religiosity. Bhakti generally
shares the ascetic concern for moksa - release from finite existence and realization
of transcendent beatitude. What is primary is communion with the lord.
A few bhaktas make the toial commitment of time and style of life characteristic
of Hindu 'renouncers' spending whole days in chanting and singing the praise of
their Lord. Bhakti shares with popular Hinduism the basic ritual of puja, worship of the diety in image form with fruit, flower and vegetables which are returned after
worship as prasada that is material substance filled with the Lord's grace. Such
puja may take place in the home shrine or local temple. The worship could be for
any spiritual or mundane purpose. There are &o distinctive bhakti rituals -
communal singing of hymns and chants, performance of dramas, dances and chants
and recital of heroic deeds of Vishnu.
These three paths of Bhakti that Lord Krishna offered to Arjuna were:
i) the path of knowledge or jnana;
ii) the path of action or karma and
iji) the path of devorion or bhakti
The Sanskrihterm bhakti is most often translated as "devotion" and bhaktimarg
as "path of devotion". Bhakti is the divine-human relationship as experienced
from the human side. There are at least three major forms of bhakti that is
Vaisnavas, Saivas, and worshippers of the great power (Sakti). Each sect is divided
into many subjects. Bhakti is between popular religion and asceticism. Bhakti
shares the concern for moksa, that is release from the bondages of life on earth.
The ritual of puja is very important. There are other rituals too - communal
singing of hymns and chants; recitations of epics; recounting of sacred lore.
It is this last path of devotion that forms the basis of a religious tradition that
survives and proliferates today even across international boundaries. The basic
teaching of this tradition was the idea of 'loving devotion' by concentrating upon
the image of a single God and without any thought for oneself, as being the way
of liber'ation of ones soul. Any God could be the focus of one's devotion. This God
was then seen as ones personal God or ishta deva. Ishta deva is a deity that the
worshipper chooses as a personal diety and accords it personal devotion. The most
often chosen God for ones devotion we find, has been Krishna and most of the
bhakti tradition has evolved around him. It is particularly his character as the
incarnation of Vishnu and his relationship to the Gopis and Radha in particular,
which are of central importance here. Gopis is the name given to the ladies who
were worshippers of ~rishna and with whom he played many of his divine games
(lila). In fact, the love that the Gopis had for Krishna has been regarded as the best
example of the devotion of the individual for God. The idea of 'self abandonment'
or the forgetting of everything in !he presence of one's God, is also seen as an
important part of the bhakta or devotee's devotion to God.
This particular form of relationship between theSGod and devotee has been called
viraha bhakti. Viraha bhakti is the name given to exclusive personal devotion to
Sri Krishna where feeling of separation or longing is felt for the deity by the
devotee. The devotion to Krishna and the bhakti cult that arose around him became
prominent in South India around the 8th century. We nbw turn to the pillars of
bhakti.
The two main pillars of the bhakti tradition are 'love' and 'meditation'. The 'love'
is for God, and it is ecstatic in nature as well as symbolising a feeling of bliss or
happiness that is unparalleled; and an intimacy or closeness with God like that with
ones beloved. The idea that is being conveyed here is to be lost in the love of God
as though He were a beloved. At the' ske time the relatidnship that arises here
may be one of dependence upon the God. On the other h'and, as far as the aspect
of meditation is concerned, there are two kinds of meditation in bhakti. These are:
i) saguna bhakti, where one meditates on God as a separate being, through
disciplined practice;
ii) nirguna bhakti, where God and self are merged into one and little distinction is
made between self and God.

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