INTRODUCTION

In the Hindu religious system, the term Bhakti is a very common word. It is derived from the
root word Bhaja in Sanskrit, whose literal sense is 'to utter'. But 'to adore' or 'to love with honor'
is the inner meaning of the term Bhaja. The word is used to mean 'unquestionable faith and
absolute devotion to God' in devotional literature. Thus, Bhakti means devotion to God in a
general way.

The Bhakti notion is an age-old one. The term Bhakti has come into vogue right from the time of
the compiling of the Vedas. The term Bhakti has been referred to many times in the Rig Veda
Samhita, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Chhandyoga Upanishad, Katha and Kausitaki Upanishad.
Shrimad Bhagavad Gita's Bhakti Yoga is more specific in this regard. It prescribes the three
basic characteristics of Gnana (knowledge), Karma (action) and Bhakti (devotion) to smash the
slavery of the physical world and serve the Almighty God..

Bhakti as a religious concept means devotional surrender to a personally conceived supreme God
for attaining salvation. The origin of this doctrine has been traced to both the Brahmanical and
Buddhist traditions of ancient India and to various scriptures such as the Gita. But it was for the
th th
first time in South India between the 7 and the 10 century that bhakti emerged from a mere
religious doctrine into a popular movement based on religious equality and broad-based social
participation.

The genesis of the Bhakti movement lies in the social evils prevalent in the-then Hindu society.
During the time of Muslim rule in India the Hindu society was full of many social anomalies like
rigidity of caste system, irrelevant rituals and religious practices, blind faiths and social dogmas.
The society also suffered from polytheism, segregation, severe economic disparity due to
casteism, untouchability etc.
The Brahmines, who themselves lived a degenerate and dishonest moral life, monopolised
religion itself. In general, common men had developed an unfavourable attitude towards these
social evils and wanted a liberal form of religion in which they could identify with simple
religious practises. Therefore, widespread discontent with the prevailing religious social evils
was a major impetus for a long span of time behind the propagation of the Bhakti movement
across India.

In the 10th century, after which it started to decline, the movement spearheaded by famous saint-
poets reached its peak. However, a series of ambulatory scholars or acharyas, starting with
Ramanuja in the 11th century, transformed it as a theological and ideological movement. The
formation of the Delhi Sultanate coincided with many widespread socio-religious initiatives
building on the principles of bhakti in different parts of the world. These initiatives have been
regarded as a revival of the older movement of South Indian bhakti. But each of these subsequent
movements had its own historical background and its own peculiarities.1

1
https://www.indianetzone.com/21/bhakti_movement_south_india.htm;