History
Bhakti Movement Part – 1
• Aim – Sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of devotion to achieve salvation.
• Time Period – From beginning of 7th century in South India, and spread towards North India with reaching its epitome in around 12-13th cen CE.
• Mode – Developed around different Gods and Goddesses and some sub sects such as Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism.
• The movement was inspired by many poet-saints, who championed a wide range of philosophicalpositions ranging from theistic dualism of Dvaita toabsolute monism of Advaita Vedanta.
• First or the Earliest Reference of this Bhakti Movement is found in – Shvetashavtara Upnishad
यस्यदेवेपराभक्तिःयथादेवेतथागुरौ।
तस्यैतेकथिताह्यर्थाःप्रकाशन्तेमहात्मनः
• Meaning – He who has highest Bhakti (love, devotion) of Deva (God), just like his Deva, so for his Guru (teacher), To him who is high-minded, these teachings will be illuminating.
• The Bhagavad Gita, a post-Vedic scripture composed in 5th to 2nd century BCE, introduces bhakti marga (the path of faith/devotion) as one of three ways to spiritual freedom and release,
• The other two being karma marga (the path of works) and jnana marga (the path of knowledge)