The Historical Development of the Bhakti Movement in India : Theory and Practice

‘Bhakti’ has formed an important part of religious life of the Indian people since the early medieval period. Devotees can be blessed with divine grace or attain union with God through their intense devotion called bhakti. This book attempts to elucidate the concepts of bhakti and traces its development, theoretical as well as historical, in the religious history of India. This volume is divided in two parts. The first part, ‘The Theoretical Framework of Bhakti and its Historical Development’, contains seven chapters dealing with various types of theories of bhakti in the Indian traditions. These chapters specifically investigate how the idea of bhakti emerged, took shape and was established in such philosophical schools as Vedanta, Pancaratra, Srivaisnava and Tantras. The second part, ‘The Philosophical Influence of Bhakti and its Popular Acceptance’, contains seven chapters focusing on how the idea of bhakti exerted an influence on the Indian religious traditions, or how bhakti was popularly accepted in the Indian cultural contexts. Each chapter deals with the popular devotional movements led by Jnanesvar, Tukaram, Kabir, Tulsidas and Ramalingar with their works in the respective vernacular languages.