Bhakti Hinduism started in Southern India in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, most likely during the latter part of the 7th century. The movement would continue to grow and flourish for the next 800 years spreading to other major states such as Karnataka and Maharashtra, and would finally reach northern India in the 15th century. From the 15th to 17th centuries, the Bhakti movement was at its peak in India and was widely known throughout the country.
Origins and Development
The Hindu religion is one religion that worships multiple gods. The Alvaras were a Hindu group that worshiped Lord Vishnu and the Nayanars were another group that worshiped Lord Shiva. Both of these groups began to travel and spread the idea that anyone can worship God through dancing and song. The movement arose at this time for many reasons. First, as Islamic leaders arose in India, many people began to fear they would not be allowed to follow their Hindu religion anymore. Secondly, many people began to want to rebel against the caste system and were looking for more equality in society. Finally, many people of the lower castes did not have access to the complicated rituals taught by the Brahmin and they were looking for a way to worship God that would allow them to fully embrace religion and lead to the ultimate salvation the religion promised if they practiced it.
Adi Shankaracharya was born in 788CE in Kerala India, just as the Bhakti movement started to gain some momentum in this area. He was born into a family that belonged to the Brahmin caste and his Mother stated that she had a dream that Lord Shiva himself promised her he would take the form of her new baby. Many people in India considered Shankaracharya as the reincarnation of Lord Shiva. Even as a child he had a strong interest in becoming a monk. He was very intelligent and as a young man began writing his own analysis of the sacred texts of the day. He eventually would travel across India spreading the Bhakti movement with him and training many other people to be his disciples.
Growth and Expansion
Bhakti Hinduism spread at a time when war and genocide would overtake the country of India. The Islamic invasion of India is one of the bloodiest genocides in human history. When Muhammad began invading India in 712CE, all Indian men over the age of 17 were killed, whether or not they were involved in the battle. All of the women and children were captured and enslaved. The conquest by Islam to take over India continued like this throughout the Middle Ages. The people of India were also forced to begin to follow the Muslim religion. Eventually, around the middle of the 13th century, the Indian and Islamic people would begin to live in more harmony and some of the tenants of the Muslim religion would be integrated into the more liberal Bhakti Hindu culture. For instance, the Muslim religion worshiped one god, and in the Muslim religion there was no caste system; everyone was considered equal in the eyes of this god. These elements of the Muslim religion were attractive to the Indian population struggling under the complicated rituals of the Hindu religion and the oppressive caste system.
The Bhakti movement spread, giving people who desperately wanted to continue to follow the Hindu religion a simplified way to worship, just when they needed it most. People's desperation to cling to their religion and their culture would aid in the spread of Bhakti and bring hope to many in India.
During the 18th century, the Bhakti movement would begin to decline, but it had a permanent positive effect on Indian culture that persists today.
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The Bhakti movement is based strongly on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. This ancient religious text is sometimes referred to as "The Song of God". The text of the Gita, as it is sometimes called, is actually an excerpt from a larger work called "Mahabharata", and is thought to have been written around 300 BCE. The sacred text dictates a dialog between a great king and warrior, Arjuna and Lord Krishna. King Arjuna is bringing his troops into battle, but his dilemma is that he has many close family members on both sides of the battle. The king wants to discuss what he should do with Lord Krishna since he knows that no matter who wins the battle, many of his family members will die. The story brings together many beliefs from other sacred Hindu texts such as the Upanishads and the Vedas, and makes the concepts easily understandable for any audience.
The major philosophical differences between traditional Hinduism and this new movement were that the Bhakti movement believed in only one god, and it did not believe in the caste system. Much like the recent Muslim influence, Bhakti Hinduism would consider all people equal and that all people could worship God equally and simply, without rituals or the understanding of texts written in highly inaccessible languages.
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Practices and Deities
Bhakti Hinduism greatly simplified methods of worship. Bhakti is based on four practices: 1) There is only one god. 2) All people are equal. 3) Castes are no longer relevant and should not be observed or recognized; and 4) Rituals are not necessary to worship God. After centuries of observing the often corrupt Brahmin, the people wanted religious practices that were accessible to all and were not filled with complicated and unnecessary dogma.
Under the Bhakti religion, one god could be worshiped simply by singing his name or by dedicating a dance to him. Although there was only one god in the Bhakti religion, followers recognized that he had several names, and any of these names could be used in worship. Complicated rituals and the worship of multiple deities or idols were not a part of Bhakti. Social responsibility was also emphasized as a way to worship God. Social giving to those outside of your own caste was introduced for the first time. The most important parts of Bhakti were charity, complete non-violence, helping others by providing community-supported food and shelter, and promoting the culture of Bhakti.
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Rejection of the Caste System
The movement did more than just reject the caste system; it actually began to ignore it. Community kitchens were established for the first time where people of different castes could share a meal. This had been unheard of before this time. Instead of considering some people as "Untouchable", the poor were provided with free community housing. Poor farmers were provided assistance in farming and food was then provided to those in need regardless of social station. Beginning to break free of the oppressive and unfair caste system is arguably the biggest effect Bhakti would have on Indian culture.
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Bhakti would begin to cause social change in India as people began to recognize and assist people in need regardless of caste. People were no longer considered "Untouchable". The people of the lower castes no longer needed to depend on the Brahmin in order to worship or achieve salvation. The humanitarian attitude would persist even as the movement as a whole started to slow. The status of women was elevated; some of the rituals of Hinduism like sacrifices were discontinued, and social service for those in need continued. The songs and texts of Bhakti would continue to be written in accessible languages and simple living would continue to be emphasized.
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The Bhakti movement was the spread of the Hindu religion in a way that was simplified and accessible to all the citizens of India without complicated texts or rituals or the worship of idols. A large factor that led to the spread of the Bhakti movement was the invasion of India by the Islamic people who propagated the Muslim religion and discouraged Hinduism. The text that was most influential in Bhakti Hindusim was the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhakti movement also encouraged social reform such as the rejection of the rigid and discriminatory caste system. Adi Shankaracharya was one of the most prominent figures in the spread of the Bhakti movement throughout India.
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Video Transcript
The Bhakti Movement
If we look at various religions that have developed throughout human history, it's not uncommon to see a pattern that repeats itself. Religions go through periods of evolution that often vary with the local political and social environment. While they may start out with only the best intentions after being introduced by some sort of messiah or spiritual messenger, they're sometimes influenced by corrupt leaders who use the religious dogma in a self-serving way. For example, the Spanish Inquisition supposedly began as a campaign to fight heresy but turned into a brutal power-grab for some Spanish monarchs. The same type of pattern can be seen in Hinduism with the advent of the Bhakti movement.
The Bhakti movement was a trend that took place in the faith of Hinduism during medieval times, specifically, around the time of the late seventh century up until the seventeenth century. The concept of Bhakti began with Hinduism itself and referred to total devotion to God. However, the Bhakti movement was something that occurred later, mostly as a response to changing social and political conditions.
Two groups of individuals who were considered poets and saints were an important factor in the spread of the Bhakti movement. These were the Nayanars and the Alvars. In Hinduism, there are several main gods to whom followers devote themselves, including Shiva and Vishnu. The Nayanars devoted themselves to Lord Shiva, while the Alvars devoted themselves to Lord Vishnu. An eighth-century Hindu religious reformer and philosopher, Adi Shankaracharya, also played a large role in spreading the Bhakti movement throughout India. It is said that Shankaracharya was a child prodigy who mastered all the Hindu holy texts by the age of eight.
Medieval Indian Society
During the medieval period of Hinduism, around the seventh century, Muslims from nearby lands began to invade northern India. This began a period of Muslim rule in India that lasted well into the 1700s. The Bhakti movement developed in large part as a response to this Muslim invasion and rule.
When the Muslim forces took control of India, they were very intolerant of the Hindu faith and made sweeping efforts to convert the local population to Islam. These efforts were generally not peaceful ones, and included the destruction of Hindu temples, public criticism of Hinduism, intimidation of Hindu people, and prevention of Hindus from worshiping as they normally would.
However, the introduction of Islam to India also challenged aspects of some of the more destructive aspects of Hindu practice of the time, including a kind of idol worship that could easily become confusing or self-serving as well as the old Hindu caste system itself. As a result, many Indian people were rather confused, and some became alienated from Hinduism. This made the social climate receptive to a new movement, which was the Bhakti movement, in Hinduism.
Features & Impact
The Bhakti movement kept many of the basic features of the Hindu faith, but it was more progressive and rejected some of the more archaic features. Many of the ideas of the Bhakti movement are outlined in the Bhagavad Gita, which is one of the sacred Hindu Vedas, or holy scriptures. Some of the most important features of the Bhakti movement include:
- The unity of all the Hindu gods into one God
- Rejection of the worship of idols and de-emphasis on rituals or dogma that encourage blind faith
- Surrender of the self to God
- Equality of all people with the rejection of the ideas of the caste system
- Devotion to God as life's number one priority
- A loving and open-minded approach to religion and faith
One important impact that the Bhakti movement had on India and on followers of Hinduism is that it helped them to regain both hope and a greater alignment with their Hindu faith. The invading Muslims had used a rather strong arm in their attempts to convert Hindus to Islam, resulting in many people simply becoming alienated from the whole idea of religion. The Bhakti movement empowered Hindus of India to once again claim their faith as their own and as something they truly believed in.
Rejection of the Caste System
A very important part of the impact of the Bhakti movement on Hinduism in India was the rejection of the caste system. The caste system was an elitist social structure that divided people into castes, or groups divided by an inherited rank. The highest caste, the Brahmins, were considered the most spiritually evolved, and they held most of the wealth and economic power. The castes, of which there were four, continue downward in rank until the lowest one, the Untouchables, or Dalits. The word ''Dalit'' means ''oppressed.'' These people, in a class that is actually below the rest of the castes, performed undesirable labor that no one else wanted to do.
In the Hindu religion, it was believed that people were born as Untouchables because they had committed great sins in a previous life. The Untouchables could not eat with anyone from another caste and even had to drink from a different well. In the caste system, people could also only marry a partner from within their own caste, and most social activities also occurred between caste members.
The Bhakti movement, because it emphasized equality between all people and even between men and women, changed Indian society. People from different social castes or classes began to mix with one another and found out they had much in common. As a result of the Bhakti movement, there was even more harmony between Indian Muslims and Hindus.
Lesson Summary
The Bhakti movement was a trend that took place in Hinduism from about the seventh to the seventeenth century in India. It occurred as a result of changing social conditions. It was spread mainly by the Nayanars, a group of poets and saints who worshiped the god Shiva, and the Alvars, another similar group who worshiped the god Vishnu. A religious reformer, Adi Shankaracharya, also played a role in the growth of the Bhakti movement.
The Bhakti movement was in large part a response to the invasion of India by Muslims and the resulting spread of the Islam faith. While the Muslims used force and intimidation to attempt to spread their Islamic faith, many Hindus were also encouraged to leave behind aspects of Hinduism that promoted division and that did not result in spiritual growth. Many of the ideas from the Bhakti movement came from the Bhagavad Gita, which is one of the sacred Hindu Vedas, or holy texts. The Bhakti movement emphasized the unity of all the different Hindu gods, the surrender of the self to God, equality and brotherhood of all people, and devotion to God as the number one priority of life.
One of the most important impacts of the Bhakti movement on Indian society was the rejection of the caste system. The caste system was a social class system that ranked people according to what they were believed to have inherited spiritually from past lives. There were four castes, with the highest one being the Brahmins. Below the four castes was the lowest group of people, known as the Untouchables, or Dalits. These unfortunate people did society's dirty work and were isolated from the rest of the castes. Because it encouraged brotherhood of all people, the Bhakti movement did not find the caste system an acceptable part of their beliefs.
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