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

Bhakti’ has formed an important part of religious life oftheIndian people since the early medieval period. Devotees canbeblessed with divine grace or attain union with God throughtheirintense devotion called bhakti. This book attempts toelucidate theconcepts of bhakti and traces its development,theoretical as wellas historical, in the religious history ofIndia. This volume isdivided in two parts. The first part, TheTheoretical Framework ofBhakti and its Historical Development,contains seven chaptersdealing with various types of theories ofbhakti in the Indiantraditions. These chapters specificallyinvestigate how the idea ofbhakti emerged, took shape and wasestablished in suchphilosophical schools as Vedanta, Pancaratra,Srivaisnava andTantras.The second part, The Philosophical Influenceof Bhakti andIts Popular Acceptance, contains seven chaptersfocusing on how theidea of bhakti exerted an influence on theIndian religioustraditions, or how bhakti was popularly accepted inthe Indiancultural contexts. Each chapter deals with the populardevotionalmovements led by Jnanesvar, Tukaram, Kabir, Tulsidas andRamalingarwith their works in the respective vernacular languages.