Bhakti Devotion in Hinduism
“Among wide range of Hindu practices, the path of bhakti devotionalism has been perhaps the most popular because of its welcoming of women as well as Dalits and other low caste individuals. (Laycock 17)”
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Indian religions have their own understanding of how life has entrapped us and how we can liberate from its shackle. This concept is shared in all Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism. Each of these religious traditions, suggest different self-efforts which help in liberation and salvation from this worldly life such as through meditation, chanting, or other techniques. As Prothero explains, “Each also offers devotional traditions of other-help in which liberation comes as a gift from Hindu gods, buddhas and bodhisattvas, or the singular divinity Sikhs refer to as the Timeless One and the True Name.” (Prothero 84).
Bhakti devotion is one of three main Hindu paths which helps them in spiritual liberation from this worldly life. It is simply defined as personal devotion to one’s deity through ritual offerings, listening to stories of Krishna’s deeds, consorting with pious people, and chanting the deity’s name or merely thinking about it. (Wolpert 143)
Bakhtas (devotees) choose their own god for worship. Even in one family, every person is free to choose his/her god to get salvation.
From the Bhagavad Gita, the conversation between warrior Arjuna and divine Lord Krishna has some profound Bhati principles. Krishna mentioned that no one can attain the perfect state by mere renunciation, even when he restrains his organs from immediate action, his heart retains the object of his passion and he is eventually compelled to act in tandem to the property of his nature which might be against his will. However, by the deliberate act of good, the soul is freed of mundane entanglements and aligned with the will of the Indivisible one .
More so, adherents of the Bhakti devotion must operate within an appoint cycle of conduct so as not to be a slave of their senses and to avoid living in vain (30). This cycle requires religious sacrifices to the gods who are nourished through them and also conditioned to bless the devotes. For example, while we need all need food as living beings, food can only grow if the supply of rain and the climate condition is perfect. But for that conditions is determined by the will and desposition of the gods who wrought the actions from Brahma. When they are adequately nourished by sacrifices, they become obliged to bless the person.
This speaks to a deeper pattern observable in other leading religions where balance is maintained and perfection is attained by an unbroken relationship between man and divinity. Through good actions, one is able to fix his thought on the Supreme Spirit, free his mind from selfishness, put away sorrow and strife and align himself to the good will of the supernatural.
Work cited List
Scharfe, Hartmut E. “Bhakti” in Encyclopedia of India, ed. Stanley Wolpert, Thomson and Gale, 2006. 143.
Laycock, Joseph. and Mikles, Natasha. The Religion Matters Reader, New York W. W. Norton & Company, 2021.
Prothero, Stephen. Religion Matters, New York W. W. Norton & Company, 2020
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