Bhakti Movement and Literature

Bhakti Movement and

Literature
Re-forming a Tradition

Edited by
M. Rajagopalachary
K. Damodar Rao

RAWAT PUBLICATIONS
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ISBN 978-81-316-0812-8

© Contributors, 2016

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 Contents

Contributors ix

Introduction 1
M. Rajagopalachary and K. Damodar Rao

1 Bhakti: Precept and Practice 9

Ch. Subba Rao

2 Bhakti in Life and Literature 17

S. Laxmana Murthy

3 ‘Sandhya Bhasha’: The Language of Bhakti Poetry 25

P. Mallikarjuna Rao

4 Bhakti Movement: Vitality of Vaishnavism and

Vishishtadvaita 34
N. Ramesh Chandra Srikanth

5 Veerashaiva Bhakti Movement and Social Reform 41

Avula Meenakshi

6 Women Poet-Saints of the Bhakti Movement 48

P. Shailaja

7 The Gita and Human Life 60

T. Viswanadha Rao
vi Contents

8 Devi Bhakti in Indian Tradition: Contextualising the

Translation of Bhoomaiah’s Brilliance-jewelled Swan 66
K. Damodar Rao

9 Bhakti Literature and Nationalism: A Select Study of

Poonthanam and Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri 75
S. Rukmini

10 Metamorphosis of Militia Man into an Ardent Meditator:

The Life of Kanakadasa 83
A.V. Suresh Kumar

11 Bridal Mysticism in Andal’s Poetry 93

G. Mohana Charyulu

12 Mirabai: Devotee of a Noble Order 99

B.V. Ramana

13 Interweaving Divinity through Altruistic Vision:

A Study of Kabir’s Poetry 107
N. Anil Krishna

14 Sant Kabir and Yogi Vemana: A Comparative

Study of their Philosophy 111
Gannu Nataraja Shekhar

15 Quest for Salvation in Pothana Mahabhagavatham 120

K. Rajamouly

16 Light from Heaven: Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and

Krishna Consciousness 125
Baishali Mitra and B. Gopal Rao

17 Annamacharya: Exponent of Pada Kavita in

Telugu Bhakti Literature 134
Palakurthy Dinakar

18 Bhakti and its Manifestations in Annamayya 139

Thummuri Sharath Babu

19 Sant Jnaneshvar: A Pioneer of Reformist Bhakti Cult 143

T. Shyama Krishna

20 Bhakti and Religious Pluralism in

S. Radhakrishnan’s Works 147
G. Damodar
 Contents vii

21 Sri Aurobindo’s Vision of Renaissance in India 162

M. Rajagopalachary

22 Savitri: A Spiritual Quest 170

G. Damodar and B. Geetha Devi

23 Tagore: Humanity and Divinity 179

B. Krishna Chandra Keerthi

24 Raja Rao: A Note on the Philosophy 187

S. Laxmana Murthy

25 Bhakti Literature and Recent Indian Fiction:

Politics and Poetics of Protest 194
Rajeshwar Mittapalli

26 Cinema and Social Consciousness: Elements of

Bhakti in Bollywood Music 207
Sumita Roy

27 Sufism in India 217

Shahida

Author Index 227

Subject Index 229

 Contributors

M. Rajagopalachary, Emeritus Professor of English, Kakatiya

University, Warangal 506009, Telangana.
K. Damodar Rao, Associate Professor of English and Head,
Department of English, Kakatiya University, Warangal, Telangana.
Ch. Subba Rao, Lecturer (Retired) from Chirala, A.P.
S. Laxmana Murthy, Professor of English (Retired), eminent
scholar-critic, Kakatiya University, Warangal, Telangana.
P. Mallikarjuna Rao, Professor of English (Retired), Kakatiya
University, Warangal.
N. Ramesh Chandra Srikanth, Assistant Professor of English,
Government Degree College, Thorrur
Avula Meenakshi, Assistant Professor of English, Government Pingle
College for Women, Waddepally, Hanamkonda.
P. Shailaja, Professor of English (Retired), Kakatiya University,
Warangal.
T. Viswanadha Rao, Professor of English (Retired), MSN P.G. Centre,
Kakinada, Andhra University, AP.
S. Rukmini, Assistant Professor of English, Gitam Institute of
Technology, Visakhapatnam, 530045, A.P.
A.V. Suresh Kumar, Professor of English (Retired), Osmania
University, Hyderabad.
x Contributors

G. Mohana Charyulu, Associate Professor of English, KL University,

Vijayawada, A.P.
B.V. Ramana, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Gitam
Institute of Technology, Gitam University, Visakhapatnam, A.P.
N. Anil Krishna, Assistant Professor of English, Osmania University,
Hyderabad.
Gannu Nataraja Shekhar, Assistant Professor of English,
Government Polytechnic College, Warangal.
K. Rajamouly, Lecturer in English (Retired), KDC, Warangal,
Telangana.
B. Gopal Rao, Professor of English (Retired), Osmania University,
Hyderabad, Telangana.
Baishali Mitra, Senior Assistant Professor, VNR Vignan Jyothi Institute
of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad.
Palakurthy Dinakar, Assistant Professor of English, Government
Degree College, Koratla, Dist: Karimnagar, Telangana.
Thummuri Sharath Babu, Research Scholar, Department of English,
Kakatiya University, Warangal.
T. Shyama Krishna, Lecturer in English (Retired), Kakatiya
University, Warangal.
G. Damodar, Professor of English, Dean, College Development Council
and Director, CFRAC, Kakatiya University, Warangal.
B. Geetha Devi, Assistant Professor of English, St. Martin Engineering
College, Secunderabad.
B. Krishna Chandra Keerthi, Assistant Professor of English,
Government Degree College, S. Kota, AP.
Rajeshwar Mittapalli, Professor of English, Kakatiya University,
Warangal, Telangana.
Sumita Roy, Professor and Head Department of English, Osmania
University, Hyderabad.
Shahida, Assistant Professor of English, NIT, Kurukshetra, Haryana.
 Introduction

M. Rajagopalachary and K. Damodar Rao

Bhakti has been an inalienable part of the cultural and religious

fabric of India. While the philosophical schools of thought are
confined to the elite, bhakti has come to define a way of life for a
vast number of people living in India. The main contribution of
the movement was that it brought God within the reach of all.
Bhakti movement emerged as a socio-cultural mass movement in
South India during eight and ninth centuries AD and gradually
spread to the North in the medieval period. It brought about a
counter-cultural movement against the dominant, abstruse
philosophical speculations. Defying the religion and ritual, it
assumed the form of protest against the divisive barriers of caste,
creed, colour and race, thus reaching out to a vast majority of
people who were hitherto kept outside the rigid framework of
Sanskritic tradition. It has produced a great body of devotional
literature, music and songs that gave India a new spiritual
impetus with its inclusiveness and pan-Indian outlook. Bhakti
literature in India is so vast and varied that it is difficult to make
any systematic analysis but its contribution could be assessed in
the light of the new orientation and thrust it provided to a
thousand year-old tradition replacing many customs and
traditions, rituals and practices in the process.
The impact of Bhakti movement was immense on the minds
of millions of people in India for about 800 to 900 years from
2 M. Rajagopalachary and K. Damodar Rao

ninth century to seventeenth century. It became a pan-Indian

movement around fourteenth century when it took north India
into its fold. While tracing the rupture and ‘shift’ it caused in the
Hindu couture, Ramanujan says: ‘A great many-sided shift
occurred in Hindu culture and sensibility between the sixth and
ninth century … Bhakti is one name for that shift’ (1983: 103).
According to him, its main contribution lies in ‘bringing the high
to the low, esoteric paradox to the man in the street, transmuting
ancient and abstruse ideas into live contemporary experiences; at
the same time, finding everyday symbols for the timeless’ (1973:
39). Narada rules out any distinction of birth, learning,
appearance, family, wealth, religious observances and the like
among the devotees of God (nasti tesu tati vidya rupa kula dhana
kriyadi bhedah). Sri Chaitanya says that everyone, be as petty as a
blade of grass, or as enduring as a tree, whether honoured or
humble should worship Hari. Adi Shankara in his Manisha
Panchakam admits that a jnani is a guru to a person whether he is
a paraiah or a brahmin.
The term bhakti comes from the root bhaj and the suffix ktin.
Bha means ‘to serve’ or ‘to share’ and ‘to participate’
(Ramachandran 31). In other words, it is intense devotion to God
to serve him, to share and participate in the divine experience.
K.S. Narayanachar defines it: ‘Bhakti, according to the highest
traditions of philosophical and religious thought in India, is living
for God, and living in God, in thought, feeling and deed.
God-Union, which Vedantins call Sayujya, and which is the
summum bonum of all philosophical and religious endeavour, is
described by Sage Yajnavalkya as a fulfilled experience of union
between the lover and the beloved, that knows nothing of other
external or exterior aspects and of nothing higher or superior in
taste’ (1989: 17).
The notion of bhakti in general terms can be traced to the
hymns in Rigveda, and it began to be crystallised during the Epic
period and the Puranic periods of Hindu history. The Narayaneeya
section of Santiparvan in the Mahabharata, the Vishnu Purana,
Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavd Gita clearly explore Bhakti Yoga
or the Path of devotion as a means to salvation. Laxmana Murthy
affirms: ‘It is generally agreed that the Bhagavd Gita has provided
the most comprehensive exposition of Bhakti in all its aspects.
Bhakti sutras of Narada and Shandilya followed the Bhagavd Gita’
 Introduction 3

(1989: 11). While tracing the development of Bhakti movement in

India, Avadesh Kumar Singh points out that the bhakti in the Gita
is jnana bhakti (intellectual devotion). He says: ‘The
Narada-Bhakti-Sutra interpreted the jnana-bhakti of the Gita in
formulaic form without losing sight of its various aspects. The
Srimad Bhagavata established it in illustrative mode in the ninth
century’ (2012: 301–302). He observes that Narada-Bhakti-Sutra
mentions bhakti in its eleven forms: (1) Love of God’s blessed
qualities, (2) Love of beautiful form, (3) Love of worshipping
Him, (4) Love of remembering Him, (5) Love of serving Him, (6)
Loving Him like a friend, (7) Loving Him as a son, (8) Loving Him
as a husband, (9) Love in submission to Him, (10) Love of
complete absorption or being drowned in Him and (11) Love of
experiencing anguish of separation from Him (2012: 304). With
one stroke, ‘distinctions such as caste, learning, beauty, family,
wealth, and profession among others that had plagued Hindu
society for long are removed …’ (2012: 300).
The Bhagavata classifies bhakti in nine ways: ‘Sravanam
kirtanam visnoh/Smaranam padasevanam/Archanam vandanam
dasyam/Sakhyamatma nivedanam’. Bhakti can assume the forms
of listening to the wonderful deeds of Lord Vishnu, praising them,
meditating on Him, taking refuge in His feet, worshipping Him,
saluting Him, serving him like an attendant, making friends with
Him and surrendering oneself to Him. Though Shankara and
Ramanuja advocated jnana marga, it is generally presumed that
jnana when matured becomes bhakti and vice versa. According to
Sri Ramanuja, ‘Bhakti is a kind of love that is constant and fearless
(snehanupurvam anudhyanam bhaktih). Ramanuja asserts that
bhakti is a species of ‘knowledge’, and indeed such ‘knowledge’
that overflows and matures into Love – (Bhaktischa Jnanavisesha
eva Shemushi Bhakti rupa)’ (Narayanachar 18). Bhakti is regarded
as the fifth Purushartha and counted as the tenth rasa in
aesthetics.
The South Indian Bhakti movement has been enriched by the
63 Nayanars (Shaivite devotees), 12 Alvars (Vaishnavite
devotees), Saranas, Dasas, Vachana sahitya of Veerashaiva poets
such as Basavanna, Pada kavitha of Annamacharya, Kshetrayya,
great masters of Carnatic music – Thyagaraja, Purandara Das,
Ramadas and the author of Andhra Mahabhagavatam, Pothana
among others, while the Northern movement was spearheaded by
4 M. Rajagopalachary and K. Damodar Rao

the poet-saints such as Sri Chaitanya, Kabir, Sur Das, Tulasi Das,
Mira Bai, Tukaram, Sant Jnaneshvar and others. We can also
mention names such as Sri Aurobindo and Tagore among the later
bhakti poets for their contributions. The South India’s 75
proponents of bhakti nurtured the incipient Bhakti movement
under the Pallavas and Pandyas in the second century to eighth
century AD.
It is interesting to note that Karaikkal Ammaiyar, who was an
earliest Shaivite saint of around fifth century, was said to be a
contemporary of the Vaishnavite saints Bhuttalwar and Peialwar.
They influenced the philosophical systems of Ramanuja and
Madhava later. The Nalayira Divya Prabandham, known as Tamil
Veda, consists of 4,000 hymns written by the 12 Alvars. Of these,
1,102 verses by Nammalvar are often considered the most
important. It forms a part of the daily ritual of the Sri Vaishnava
temples. They give in Tamil verse the quintessence of the
Upanishads, the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas.
According to S. Abid Husain, ‘The Alwars played an important role
in making the Hindu religion a living experience for the common
people in the south. Their ideas were mostly taken from the
Vishnu Purana, Bhagawad Gita and other books of sacred Hindu
literature. Their profound passion and poetic genius gave Vishnu
Bhakti the status of an independent religion which had far greater
attraction for the common people than its rivals …’ (61).
Andal’s Thiruppavai, which is a holy book to be recited in the
Dhanurmasa, is considered an easy method to reach God. The fact
that the Alvars are from a variety of social strata that included
sudras and a woman indicates how liberal the bhakti cult had
been towards caste, class and gender – the divisions which were
upheld by the larger, pan-Indian tradition until then. ‘The Alvars
stressed the superiority of bhakti marked by recitation of nama
(nama smaranam), and total surrender to God … Their new and
simplified version of bhakti opened its door to all men and
women, rich and poor, high and low in the language of people’
(Singh 308).
Among Vaishnava sampradayas, we find four main lineages –
the Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) of Sri Ramanujacharya,
the Dvaita or Brahma sampradaya of Sri Madhvacharya and
Achintya Bheda Abheda (literally ‘inconceivable difference and
non-difference’) of Gaudiya Vaishnavism espoused by Chaitanya
 Introduction 5

Mahaprabhu, Shuddhadvaita (‘pure non-dualism’) of Rudra

sampradaya espoused by Vishnuswami and Vallabhacharya and
Dvaitadvaita of Kumara sampradaya espoused by Nimbarka
(Klostermaier 1998). Abid Husain avers that it was ‘Ramanuja who
raised the cult of Bhakti to the level of an independent religion and
helped it to conquer the minds of the people throughout India from
south to the north’ (62).
Virashaiva faith of twelfth and thirteenth centuries is an
enlightening movement founded by Basavanna. It sprang from
Shaivism of old days. It views God as a formless symbol. It
emphasises the sarva shristi samanvayam (collective and
symphonised view of all the shristis) through the means of the
Agamas. As a reformist movement of bhakti, it sought to abolish
the caste system and gender discrimination. Both the Shaivite and
Vaishnavite proponents tried to put the idea of bhakti on a
philosophical basis.
In Karnataka, the Virashaiva and the Haridasa movements
spread during the rule of the Vijayanagara Empire. The
philosophy of Madhvacharya influenced the Kannada Haridasas.
Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa were the reputed disciples of
Sripadaraya who contributed greatly to the Carnatic music.
Yakshagana is also an offshoot of this movement in Karnataka.
In the period between thirteenth and seventeenth centuries,
there swept a great Bhakti movement through Northern India
initiated by Meera Bai, Kabir, Sur Das, Tulsi Das, Tukaram and
other mystics known as ‘Sants’. Their philosophy is called Sant
Mat, meaning ‘point of view of the Sants’. They cast aside the
burden of rituals and subtleties of philosophies in favour of
expression of intense love for God in vernacular language. Their
teachings are characterised by ‘an egalitarianism opposed to the
qualitative distinctions of the Hindu caste system, and to those
between Hindus and Muslims’ (Woodhead 71–72). The Sants are
divided into two groups: the northern and the southern. The
northern group of Sants such as Kabir and Raidas wrote in
vernacular Hindi and the southerners such as Ramananda and
Namdev in Marathi. Though they are a heterogeneous group, they
are distinguished by such characteristic features as non-sectarian
attitude, vernacular verse, faith in divinity, dismissal of religious
rituals, concepts of caste and liturgy, close affinity to the
marginalised sections including women and the untouchables and
6 M. Rajagopalachary and K. Damodar Rao

surrender to the God ‘who dwells in the heart’. It appears

Ramananda, who was a Vaishnava saint, initiated Kabir, Raidas
and other Sants. Sikh gurus including Guru Nanak are also
included in the Sant Mat. Though the Sants remained
non-sectarian, their followers developed the sects after their
names such as Kabir Panth, Dadu Panth, Dariya Panth, Advait Mat
and Radhasoami. Medieval Sufi poets such as Jalal ad-Din
Muhammad Rumi, as well as Sindhi poets, seem to have affinity to
the teachings of poet-saints of Sant Mat (Alsani 637–638).
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533) of West Bengal was a
prominent proponent of the Vaishnava school of Bhakti Yoga
especially based on Lord Krishna and Radha. He popularised the
chanting of Hare Krishna mantra. His followers are known as
Gaudiya Vaishnavas. Chaitanya’s philosophy of bhakti was
systematised and propagated by the six saints selected by him,
namely – Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, Gopala Bhatta
Goswami, Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami, Raghunatha Dasa
Goswami and Jiva Goswami. Chaitanya’s cultural legacy is deep in
Bengal. Ramprasad Sen’s songs known as Shyama Sangeet, or
Songs of the Dark Mother of the seventeenth century, were
devoted to Ma Kali.
Bhakti literature was marked by a note of ecstasy, and hence
it produced a rich body of poetry born of the heart. This new
genre ‘was enriched by the Nayanmars, the Alvars, the Virasaivas
and the bhasha poets from different castes, regions, religions, and
genders’ (Singh 315). Avadesh Kumar Singh brings out the
relationship between bhakti poetry and mysticism: ‘This element
of ecstasy expressed in different literary and metrical forms was
unique because at a certain level it was related to mysticism as
well … . Bhakti was an unfathomable ocean of love fed by an
inexhaustible springs of mystical experiences’ (315–316).
The vachana poetry flourished between tenth and twelfth
centuries for about 200 years through Virashaiva poets such as
Dasimayya, Basavanna, Allama, and Mahadeviyakka. It is the
most impassioned poetry in a simple, colloquial language written
in mother tongue, that is, Kannada setting aside Sanskrit, the
classical language of pundits. Vachana is defined by Ramanujan
as ‘a religious lyric in Kannada free verse’ (1973). Vachana
literally means ‘saying, thing said’. Vachana poets reject both the
classical and folk rituals. Basavanna, for example, mocks at the
 Introduction 7

empty recitations of Vedic hymns before God; at the same time, in

another vachana, he condemns the animal sacrifice in the folk
festivals. He reveals his passionate bhakti in viewing his entire
body itself as a temple. Devara Dasimayya rejects the gender
differences as superficial. These poets propound monotheism and
reject polytheism. The vachana poetry is a kind of protest poetry
questioning the dominant tradition, its preaching and practices.
Among Pada tradition of poets, we can mention the names of
Annamacharya and Kshetrayya. Annamacharya (1408–1503),
who was known as Padakavitapitamaha (Father of Pada tradition
of poetry), contributed greatly to the bhakti literature with his
32,000 kirtanas and padams on Lord Sri Venkateshwara, of which
only 12,000 are available now. He views all the incarnations of
Vishnu as forms of Lord Venkateshwara, the Ultimate Reality. His
Adhyatma sankirtanas emphasise the need for bhakti and virakti.
He pleads for equal treatment of all human beings and equanimity
of mind. His sringara keerthanas while exuding the erotic strain
scale the heights of spiritual ecstasy by ascribing it to the Lord
Venkateshwara and his consort in the last charanam.
Kshetrayya of seventeenth century A.D. is known for his
madhura bhakti expressed in his padams. He uses sringara as a
motif to express the relationship with the divine, especially in the
name of Muvva Gopala. It is intimately connected with the
devadasis of the South Indian temples. Kshetrayya’s padams have
now become an integral part of the dance and musical traditions
of South India with its accompaniment to dance.
An attempt is made in the present anthology of critical essays
to analyse and assess the precept and practice of bhakti and the
rich contribution of bhakti poets right from the period of Alvars to
the present day. Its relevance can be seen in its impact on the past
and present of the society with its reformatory zeal. The editors
would like to acknowledge the valuable contributions of writers
from different parts of the country. Many of these articles were
presented in the Seminar on ‘Bhakti Literature and Social Reform’
conducted in 2013 at Kakatiya University as part of the SAP-DRS-I
of Department of English by its Coordinator Prof. M.
Rajagopalachary. We thank the Head of the Department of
English and other faculty members for their support in bringing
out this book.
8 M. Rajagopalachary and K. Damodar Rao

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Klostermaier, K.K. A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Oxford: Oneworld
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Laxmana Murthy, S. ‘Bhakti in Life and Literature’. Bhakti in Indian Liter-
ature. Eds. C.D. Narasimhaiaha and C.N. Srinath. Mysore: Dhvanyaloka,
1989: 10–29. Print.
Narayanachar, K.S. ‘Nuances of Bhakti in the Ramayana’. Bhakti in Indian
Literature. Mysore: Dhvanyaloka, 1989: 17–29. Print.
Ramachandran, C.N. ‘Bhakti as Celebration of Life’. Bhakti in Indian Liter-
ature: 30–40. Print.
Ramanujan, A.K. Trans. and Ed. Speaking of Siva. Harmondsworth: Penguin,
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—-. Trans. Hymns for the Drowning. Delhi: Penguin, 1993. Print.
Singh, Avadesh Kumar. Revisiting Literature, Criticism and Aesthetics in India.
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Woodhead, Linda and Paul Fletcher. Religion in the Modern World: Traditions
and Transformations. UK: Routledge, 2001. Print.
 Author Index

Adi Sankara/Sankara/Shankara, 2, 3, Chaitanya, 2, 4, 5, 6, 18, 20, 21, 34,

11, 20, 23, 34, 35, 36, 38, 71, 76, 37, 38, 39, 111, 124–133, 201,
104, 147, 151, 161, 162, 181, 186, 202, 205, 206
190, 193 Charvaka, 11
Akka Mahadevi, 27, 42, 43, 44, 45,
48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 94 Dasimayya, Devara, 6, 7, 42, 43
Allama Prabhu, 29, 30, 32, 42 43, 45,
46, 70 Janabai, 48, 57, 94
Alvars, 4, 34–35, 77, 95, 98 Jayadeva, 38, 39, 99
Ammaiyar, 4, 48, 53 Jnaneshvar, Sant, 4, 84, 100,
Andal, 4, 35, 48, 53, 55, 92–98, 101, 143–146, 207, 211
103
Thiruppavai, 4, 94–98, 103 Kabir, 4, 5, 6, 27, 28, 38, 76, 99, 100,
Annamacharya/Annamayya, 3, 7, 103, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112,
133, 134–142 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119,
Attar, 201, 221, 222 196, 199, 200, 201, 205, 206, 211
Aurobindo, Shri, 4, 60–61, 65, 67–68, Kanakadasa, 5, 83–92
74, 97, 98, 162–169, 181, 188, 193 Kapila, 11, 127
Foundations of Indian Culture, 67, Kshetrayya, 3, 7
74, 164, 168
Savitri, 170–178, 181
Lal Ded, 48, 53, 55
The Renaissance in India, 163–164,
168, 169
Madhava, 4, 11, 81, 84, 85, 95
Bahinabai, 48, 56, 59, 94 Madhvacharya, 4, 5, 34, 37–39, 70
Basavanna, 3, 5, 6, 27, 41, 42, 43, 44, Mirabai, 4, 48, 50, 53, 54, 55, 70, 76,
45, 46, 47, 70 94, 99–106, 211
228 Author Index

Mistry, Rohinton, 202, 203, 204 Roy, Arundhati, 195, 202, 203, 204
Rumi, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad, 6,
Nanak, Guru, 6, 38, 111, 199, 200, 201, 219, 221
201, 205, 206
Narada, 2, 3, 15, 18, 20, 34 Sankara, 161, 162, 181, 186, 193
Nathamuni, 35 Shandilya, 2, 18, 19, 49, 107
Narayana Bhattathiri, 75, 78–79 Siddarama, 28, 43, 46,
Nayanars, 3, 48, 70, 79, 80 Sufi Poets, 6, 218, 222, 225
Sur Das, 4, 5, 76, 99, 100, 197, 205,
Pothana, 120–125 206
Poonthanam, 75, 78–80, 82
Purandaradasa, 3, 5, 83, 85, 86, 205 Tagore, Rabindranath, 4, 101, 105,
109, 121, 150, 163, 179–186, 201,
Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli, 32, 33, 40, 205, 206
147–161, 162 Gitanjali, 179, 181–182, 184, 185,
Raidas, 5, 6, 38, 196–197, 205 101–102, 106
Ramanuja, Sri, 3, 4, 5, 11, 18, 19, 29, Thyagaraja, 3
34–40, 49, 85, 98, 100, 161, 162, Tukaram, 4, 5, 56, 70, 76, 84, 198,
192 199, 205, 206
Ramanujan, A.K., 2, 6, 8, 29, 31–32, Tulasi Das, 4, 38, 103, 205
33, 47, 52, 56, 59, 69, 70, 77, 85,
100 Vallabhacharya, 5, 37, 38, 39
Speaking of Shiva, 8, 33, 47, 59, Vemana, 27, 72, 111–119
69, 74 Vengamamba, Tarigonda, 48, 53, 55
Rao, Raja, 187–193
The Cat and Shakespeare, 192, 193 Yajnavalkya, 2, 49
The Serpent and the Rope, 190, 192,
193
 Subject Index

Advaita, 35, 36, 37, 94, 128, 145, Christianity, 10, 11, 148
147, 150–151, 159 compassion, 20, 23, 50, 113, 121,
archana, 3, 15, 21, 49, 76, 134 122, 176, 211, 213, 221
austere, 77, 110, 221
avataras, 21, 76 Dalits, 131, 202, 203
Dasa Sahitya, 3, 5, 6, 83–92, 131, 205
Bhagavad Gita, 2–3, 4, 11–14, 18–19, Devi bhakti, 66–74
34, 35, 60–65, 75, 78, 82, 93–94, devotion/devotional poetry, 1, 2, 3,
96, 105, 106, 125, 126, 129, 134, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 26, 35, 36,
144, 148, 151, 189, 193 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51,
Bhagavatha, 2, 3, 18, 20, 21, 34–36, 53–57, 59, 61, 62, 67, 70, 74,
38–39, 49, 86, 100, 105, 125–126, 76–79, 81, 83–89, 91–93, 95–98,
130, 133, 143 100–105, 108, 120–122, 124–127,
Bhakti Marga, 2, 6, 19, 64, 122, 125, 129, 131–135, 139, 143–145, 147,
140 156, 189, 191, 192, 201, 208–210,
Bhakti Movement, 1, 3–4, 5, 21, 212, 213, 215–217
34–40, 70, 76–77, 79, 82, 93, 100, dvaita, 4, 5, 38, 94
107, 111, 125–127, 131, 132, 134, Dhvanyaloka, 8, 25, 59
138, 144, 208, 214
GaudiyaVaishnavism, 4, 6, 131 ecstasy, 6, 7, 53, 54, 105, 125, 154, 201
Gopika bhakti, 15 enquiry, 188, 202
Madhura bhakti, 7, 103
Sarana Movement, 3, 42, 82, 89
gender, 4, 5, 6, 7, 41, 70, 71, 100,
Vaishnava Bhakti, 132, 201
102, 110, 127, 212, 222
Virashaiva Movement, 5, 6, 41–47
Women in Bhakti Movement, 48–59 Gita Govinda, 38, 39, 99
bliss/blissful, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 86, Grace/graceful, 20, 21, 23, 37, 71, 79,
88, 89, 90, 109, 115, 130, 133, 107, 121, 122, 123, 124, 135, 140,
135, 157 167, 175, 181, 182, 192, 193, 214
Buddhism, 35, 49, 68, 111, 143,159, Gunas/Sattwa/Rajas/tamas, 11, 12, 14
160, 187, 195, 196
hegemony, 74, 195, 208
chanting, 6, 38, 76, 78, 104, 110, 121 humility/humble, 2, 9, 72, 97, 98,
124, 141, 179, 210, 221
230 Subject Index

Indian culture, 34, 60, 76, 105, 148, saint-poets, 48, 55, 94, 111, 202
163, 202 salvation, 2, 18, 36, 53, 62, 63, 79,
Ishtalinga, 41, 42, 44 80, 82, 104, 112, 120–124, 132,
Islam, 10, 11, 111, 115, 196, 199, 137, 180, 181, 192, 210
201, 202, 205, 217, 218, 219, 223, sampradaya, 4, 5, 37, 38, 39, 94, 131
224, 25, 226 Sandhya Bhasha, 25–33
Sankhya Yoga, 11, 18, 22, 62, 63, 127
Jainism, 143, 195 sannidhi, 37
Jnana Marga, 3, 12, 17, 19, 76, 84, Sant Mat, 5, 6
130, 135, 137, 189, 192 satguru/guru, 2, 9, 20, 37, 38, 42, 44,
45, 47, 62, 74, 81, 82, 83, 85, 87,
Karma Marga, 12, 13, 15, 19, 37, 42, 107, 108, 111, 117, 159, 189, 191
62, 76, 79, 80, 159, 177, 192 Sayujya, 2, 13, 49
keerthanas, 7, 135, 136, 138, 139, 140 Sikhism, 38, 201
slokas, 20, 23, 71, 82
liberation, 13, 14, 32, 48, 49, 104, spirituality, 34, 45, 77, 107, 146, 159,
105, 110, 122, 124, 127, 129, 130, 164, 165–169, 196, 201, 208, 215,
137, 159, 185 Stotra, 10, 21, 22, 23, 24, 190
Lingayats, 41, 43 Sufi/Sufism, 6, 28, 53, 201, 202,
216–226
Mahabharata, 2, 4, 11, 18, 60, 69, 137 surrender, 3, 4, 6, 15, 19, 21, 23, 31,
mercy, 10, 64, 97 32, 37, 46, 49, 57, 61, 71, 79, 88,
Mother, 6, 15, 16, 20, 23, 56, 66, 71, 120, 121, 122, 126, 129, 131, 132,
162, 163, 168, 174–176, 179, 135, 140, 183, 184, 192, 193, 212
191–193, 213–215
Multicultural, 65, 202 Therigatha, 49
Mysticism, 6, 84, 88–90, 93, 94, 97 timeless, 2, 172, 177
Mythical/mythological, 11, 14, 15,
45, 71, 73, 75, 207, 10 Upanishads, 4, 11, 18, 27, 3, 33, 34,
36, 48, 72, 75, 93, 95, 96, 148, 151,
Narayaneeyam, 2, 18, 78, 81, 82 161, 168, 179, 184, 188, 190, 193
nirguna, 13, 17, 27, 50, 151
nivedanam, 3, 21, 49, 134 vachana poetry, 6, 7, 28, 29, 43–47, 70
Vaishnava, 4, 6, 22, 35–37, 39, 48,
Pada Kavitha, 3, 7, 99, 106, 134, 70, 83, 95, 96, 125, 127, 129, 132,
138–140 133, 192, 201,
personal God, 17, 18, 126, 158 Vedanta, 28, 34, 73, 93, 128, 147,
Puranas, 4, 11, 21, 36, 76, 81, 93, 95, 148, 149, 151, 159, 160, 189–193
197, 199 Vedas, 35, 48, 49, 56, 57, 66, 67, 69,
75, 77, 81, 87, 93, 95, 96, 128,
Ramayana, 4, 8, 11, 18, 38, 59, 76, 137, 144, 160, 197, 200
78, 95, 135 Vishnupurana, 18, 19
Religious pluralism, 68, 147–161, 218 Visishtadvaita, 4, 34–40, 94, 16
Rishis, 75, 170, 196, 222–226
ritualistic, 10, 196, 208,