Chapter 6 — Devotional Paths to the Divine

Bhakti is generally understood as a person's devotion to his or her chosen deity. The idea of bhakti is present in the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred book of the Hindus. It could be practised by anyone — rich or poor, high or low caste, man or woman.

The Nayanars were 63 saints devoted to Shiva who emerged between the seventh and ninth centuries in South India. They came from diverse social backgrounds including potters, peasants, hunters, soldiers, Brahmanas, and those considered 'untouchable'. The Alvars were 12 saints devoted to Vishnu from equally varied backgrounds. Both groups composed devotional poems in Tamil and set them to music.

The Tevaram and Tiruvacakam are two compilations of songs composed by the Nayanars (saints devoted to Shiva). The Divya Prabandham is the compilation of songs by the 12 Alvars (saints devoted to Vishnu). The best known Nayanars include Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar, and Manikkavasagar; the best known Alvars include Periyalvar, his daughter Andal, Tondaradippodi Alvar, and Nammalvar.

Shankara, born in Kerala in the eighth century, was an advocate of Advaita — the doctrine of the oneness of the individual soul and the Supreme God, the Ultimate Reality. He taught that Brahman was formless and without any attributes, that the world around us is an illusion (maya), and preached renunciation of the world and the path of knowledge to attain salvation.

Ramanuja was born in Tamil Nadu in the eleventh century and was deeply influenced by the Alvars. He taught that the best means of attaining salvation was through intense devotion to Vishnu, and that Vishnu in His grace helps the devotee attain the bliss of union with Him. His doctrine, which held that even when united with God the soul remained distinct, greatly inspired the bhakti movement in north India.

The Virashaiva movement was initiated by Basavanna and his companions Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi. It began in Karnataka in the mid-twelfth century. The Virashaivas argued strongly for the equality of all human beings and against Brahmanical ideas about caste and the treatment of women. They also rejected all forms of ritual and idol worship.

From the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, Maharashtra saw saint-poets including Dnyaneshwar (Gyaneshwar), Namdev, Eknath, Tukaram, Sakhubai, and Chokhamela's family who belonged to the 'untouchable' Mahar caste. This tradition focused on the Vitthala (a form of Vishnu) temple in Pandharpur. These saint-poets rejected ritualism, outward piety, and social differences based on birth, and insisted that bhakti lay in sharing others' pain.

Kabir was brought up in a family of Muslim weavers near Benares. His teachings involved a complete rejection of external worship of both Brahmanical Hinduism and Islam, opposition to the caste system and priestly classes, and belief in a formless Supreme God. He preached that the only path to salvation was through bhakti or devotion. His poetry was in spoken Hindi widely understood by ordinary people, and his verses are said to have been compiled in collections sung by wandering singers.

Mirabai was a Rajput princess married into the royal family of Mewar in the sixteenth century. She became a disciple of Ravidas, a saint from a caste considered 'untouchable', and was devoted to Krishna. She composed innumerable songs expressing her intense devotion. Her songs also openly challenged the norms of the 'upper' castes and became popular with the masses in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Baba Guru Nanak (1469–1539) was born at Talwandi (now known as Nankana Sahib in Pakistan). He travelled widely before establishing a centre at Kartarpur. He emphasised the worship of one God and insisted that caste, creed, or gender was irrelevant for attaining liberation. He appointed Guru Angad as his successor before his death in 1539. His teachings stressed right worship, welfare of others, and purity of conduct.

The Guru Granth Sahib is the holy scripture of the Sikhs. Guru Angad, the successor of Baba Guru Nanak, compiled the compositions of Guru Nanak and added his own in a new script called Gurmukhi. Guru Arjan compiled all these compositions in 1604, adding the writings of Kabir, Bhagat Namdev, and Guru Tegh Bahadur. In 1706, this compilation was authenticated by Guru Gobind Singh, the son and successor of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

Between the tenth and twelfth centuries, the Chola and Pandya kings built elaborate temples around many of the shrines visited by the Nayanar and Alvar saint-poets. This strengthened the links between the bhakti tradition and temple worship. During this period the poems of these saints were also compiled, and hagiographies (religious biographies) of the Alvars and Nayanars were composed.

The Nathpanthis, Siddhacharas, and Yogis were religious groups that criticised ritual and other aspects of conventional religion using simple, logical arguments. They advocated renunciation of the world and believed the path to salvation lay in meditation on the formless Ultimate Reality. They advocated intense training of the mind and body through practices like breathing exercises and meditation, and became particularly popular among 'low' castes.

A large number of Sufis from Central Asia settled in Hindustan from the eleventh century onwards, especially after the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate. The Chishti order was among the most prominent, with a long line of teachers including Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti of Ajmer, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki of Delhi, Baba Farid of Punjab, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, and Bandanawaz Gisudaraz of Gulbarga. Sufis rejected outward religiosity and emphasised love and devotion to God.

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