Devotional Paths to Divine Summary Class 7 History
The Idea of a Supreme God
Before the growth of large kingdoms, many local communities worshipped a variety of gods and goddesses connected with particular places, tribes or professions. Over time religious ideas developed in different directions. Some learned texts taught that social privileges belonged to those born in certain families or castes. Many people found these ideas unjust and turned to the teachings of reforming religious traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism. Others were attracted to the belief that a single, Supreme God could deliver people from social and spiritual bondage if approached with bhakti (devotion).
- The worship of local deities often led to their identification with major gods such as Shiva, Vishnu or goddesses like Durga, as regional cults merged with pan-Indian traditions.
- The idea of bhakti spread widely and influenced not only Hindus but also many Buddhists and Jains, who adopted devotional practices.
- Devotion to a personal God emphasised love, surrender and direct experience rather than elaborate ritual or strict adherence to birth-based privilege.
A New Kind of Bhakti in South India - Nayanars and Alvars
Between the seventh and ninth centuries new devotional movements emerged in South India. Two important groups of saint-poets were the Nayanars, who were devoted to Shiva, and the Alvars, who were devoted to Vishnu. These saints travelled extensively and composed moving devotional poems in the regional language, praising the deity and describing personal experiences of devotion.
- The Nayanars and Alvars sang in Tamil; their poems were lyrical and intended to be sung or recited in public gatherings.
- From the tenth to the twelfth centuries the Chola and Pandya rulers built elaborate stone temples. These temples became important centres for worship and for the performance of bhakti poetry and music, thus strengthening the link between devotional movements and temple culture.
- The bhakti of the Alvars and Nayanars emphasised personal relationship with the deity, emotional surrender and the accessibility of devotion to all social groups.
Philosophy and Bhakti
Devotional movements interacted with philosophical thought. Two important philosophers who influenced bhakti ideas were Shankara and Ramanuja.
- Shankara, born in Kerala, is associated with Advaita (non-dualism), the doctrine that the individual soul (Atman) and the Supreme Reality (Brahman) are ultimately one. His philosophy emphasised knowledge and the realisation of oneness with the Absolute.
- Ramanuja, born in Tamil Nadu in the eleventh century, offered an alternative emphasis. Strongly influenced by the Alvars, he held that devotion to Vishnu and surrender to the personal God provided a sure way to salvation. Ramanuja's thought integrated philosophical reasoning with the emotional and practical aspects of bhakti.
Basavanna's Virashaivism
In the mid-twelfth century a new movement known as Virashaivism emerged in Karnataka under the leadership of Basavanna and his companions, such as Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi. Virashaiva saints composed vachanas (short didactic poems) and organised communities that pointedly criticised prevailing social ideas.
- Virashaivas argued for the equality of all human beings and opposed the Brahmanical ideas that linked social status to birth.
- They also advocated better treatment and status for women and rejected elaborate ritualism, placing emphasis instead on direct devotion and moral conduct.
The Saints of Maharashtra
From the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries Maharashtra became a major centre of the bhakti movement. Many saint-poets composed in Marathi and reached out to ordinary people.
- Important saint-poets included Dnyaneshwar (also spelled Gyaneshwar), Namdev, Eknath and Tukaram. Women saints such as Sakhubai and members of the family of Chokhamela (an "untouchable" Mahar caste family) also played significant roles.
- These saints rejected rigid ritualism and the exclusive control of religious life by a few. They composed devotional songs (such as the abhang in Maharashtra) in the local language so that their message could be easily sung and understood by common people.
Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis
Alongside bhakti and temple traditions, several other religious currents criticised superficial ritual and social inequality. Groups known as the Nathpanthis, Siddhacharas and various orders of yogis emphasised inner experience.
- These groups taught that the path to salvation lies in meditation, disciplined spiritual practice and the realisation of the formless Ultimate Reality.
- They often used esoteric practices and emphasised direct personal experience of the divine rather than formal or external rites.
Islam and Sufism
From the early centuries of Islam, religious scholars developed legal and theological aspects of the faith. Alongside them, a mystical current called Sufism grew within Islam. Sufis were mystics who emphasised love of God, inner purity and compassion towards all human beings.
- Sufis often rejected outward showy religiosity and formalism, concentrating instead on inward devotion and direct experience of God.
- From the eleventh century onwards many Sufi saints and teachers from Central Asia settled in the Indian subcontinent and established hospices or centres called khanqahs where disciples gathered for spiritual instruction and communal prayer.
- The teachings of Sufis appealed to people across social divisions and at places created meetings between Islamic and local devotional ideas.
Bhakti Movement in the Deccan and North India
After the thirteenth century a fresh wave of bhakti movements spread across north India and the Deccan. These movements were marked by the active participation of people from many walks of life including artisans, peasants, traders and labourers.
- Some saint-teachers, such as Kabir and Baba Guru Nanak, rejected orthodox limits of religion and taught that devotion and righteous living matter more than ritual labels.
- Other saints like Tulsidas and Surdas worked within existing devotional traditions but tried to make sacred stories and practices accessible to ordinary people by using regional languages.
- The period also included saints such as Dadu Dayal, Ravidas and Mirabai, each of whom addressed different communities but shared the core emphasis on devotion, equality and personal relationship with the divine.
- A key feature of these saintly traditions was composition in regional languages and the creation of songs and poetry that could be sung by wandering bhajan singers or in local assemblies.
A Closer Look: Kabir
Kabir, who probably lived during the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries, is one of the most influential figures of the bhakti movement.
- Kabir composed a large body of verses known as sakhis and pads, which were carried by wandering singers and bhajan singers across regions.
- He criticised both empty ritual and narrow sectarianism. His poems often poke fun at outward ceremonies while emphasising inner devotion and a direct connection with God.
- Kabir's verses are short, direct and meant to be sung; they appealed to ordinary people and challenged social divisions based on birth and occupation.
A Closer Look: Baba Guru Nanak
Baba Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the founder of Sikhism, was born at Talwandi. He travelled widely and established a community life based on devotion to one God and on social equality.
- Before his death in 1539, Guru Nanak appointed a successor; his follower Guru Angad played an important role in organising the community, compiling Guru Nanak's compositions and promoting a script for the community's language.
- Guru Angad helped standardise the community's religious practice and promoted the Gurmukhi script to write the devotional compositions.
- The followers of Guru Nanak grew through the sixteenth century under successive Gurus. By the early seventeenth century the town of Ramdaspur (later known as Amritsar) developed around the central gurdwara called Harmandar Sahib (the Golden Temple).
- The Sikh movement began to take on political dimensions in the seventeenth century, but its early teachings emphasised the worship of one God and taught that caste, creed or gender were irrelevant for attaining spiritual liberation.
Significance of the Devotional Traditions
The bhakti and related devotional movements had far-reaching social and cultural effects:
- They weakened the monopoly of religious knowledge and ritual by priestly groups by insisting that devotion and moral conduct were more important than birth.
- They promoted the use of regional languages and enriched vernacular literature and music-poems, bhajans, abhangs and vachanas became part of popular culture.
- They encouraged social inclusion by reaching out to groups traditionally excluded from ritual authority, including women and so-called "untouchable" communities.
- They fostered new forms of religious organisation-temple and gurdwara centres, khanqahs, and simple assemblies where devotional songs were sung and teachings discussed.
- By focusing on personal experience and ethical living, these movements helped create new moral ideas and social reforms that influenced later developments in Indian society.
Overall, devotional paths to the divine emphasised a direct, emotional, and accessible relationship with the sacred. Whether through the poetry of the Nayanars and Alvars, the vachanas of Basavanna, the abhangs of Tukaram, the verses of Kabir, or the teachings of Guru Nanak, bhakti reshaped religious life by making devotion, compassion and equality central to spiritual practice.
