It is very funny that when the Muslims were demolishing the temples of North India, at the same time in the relatively safe south, the devotees prayed for the Lord's refuge. If the stream of devotion was to rise due to the atrocities of the Muslims, it should have first appeared in Sindh, then in North India, but it happened in the South.
– Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi.
Concept of Bhagavad-Bhakti
Praises of God were written in the first Aryan text Rigveda. Thus the seed of the concept of Bhakti was available in the Vedas which started turning into a green plant in the Upanishad period. The Brahmasutras of Badrayana carried this work well ahead. Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta gave the plant of devotion the opportunity to become a huge banyan tree by giving ideological and philosophical fertilizers and water.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna while preaching to Arjuna has said- 'Sarvadharman Parityajya Mamekam Sharanam Vraja.' That is, leave all religions and take refuge in me. That is, do my devotion. In the twelfth chapter of the Gita, a very gentle representation of devotion has been given.
With the rise of religious movements of Buddhists and Jains in the 6th century AD, the tree of Bhakti started drying up, but this tree of Bhakti was revived again during the period of Sunga, Kanva, Satavahana and Gupta rulers. This was the reason that from the Shunga period (BC 184-BC 72) to the Gupta period (AD 320-495) various religious literature was created and the huge banyan tree of devotion again started waving with full enthusiasm. .
The Sutras and Smritis were composed in the Shunga period, while the various Puranas were written in the Gupta period, which are basically devotional texts and preach the devotion of Vishnu and his various forms i.e. God and his incarnations. According to the Bhagavata Purana, by complete surrender to the Lord, we can attain Brahman in a blissful state.
Various branches of Vaishnavism took shape on the huge banyan tree of devotion to God through various Puranas. We discuss the birth and development of Puranic religion or Vaishnavism 'Rise and development of Puranic religion or Vaishnavism' It has been done in detail in the chapter titled. Later-Gupta rulers from Purugupta to Vishnugupta (A.D. 467-550) again gave shelter to Buddhism, which caused the plant of Bhakti-dharma to wither once again.
In the eighth century A.D., Shankaracharya refuted the view of the Buddhists and described Brahman as the basis of the world and 'Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam, Govindam Bhaja Mudhamate' By proclaiming he opened the blocked flow of devotion again. Since Shankaracharya's 'Brahm' The compassionate calls of the devotees were not available to hear, so almost all the Acharyas after Shankaracharya refuted and vindicated the Advaitamat of Shankaracharya and freed Bhakti from the prisons of knowledge.
'Sagun Vaishnav-Bhakti' in South India after Shankaracharya stream appeared. From Vedas, Upanishads, Sutra texts, Smritis, Puranas etc., all the principles and forms of devotion were presented, the Alvar and Nayanar saints wrote those principles in the vernacular language and spread the devotion of God easily to the general public. made available. He prepared a very simple form of devotion, whose philosophical sentiment was of a very high order.
Although this period of Alvar and Nayanar saints is about eight hundred to nine hundred years long. These saints were less educated and led a simple life. It is difficult to determine their number. While the Alvar saints, considering Lord Vishnu as the deity god, flowed the stream of devotion through songs and hymns, the Nayanar saints presented the path of worship of Shiva. The Nayanar saints used to express solemn devotional expressions, displaying Lord Shiva as a lover and showing himself as a lover.
Thus, taking the support of the showers of devotion from the south, the Hindu-religious banyan tree rose again around the eleventh century. This huge tree of devotion is still standing with full energy and is providing cool shade to human beings.
Reasons for the revival of Bhakti movement
In the Delhi Sultanate period (AD 1206-1526), the Bhakti movement revived on the land of India to save Hinduism from Islam. The Bhakti movement continued like the Vegwati river until the Delhi Sultanate weakened in the fifteenth century. Due to the influence of this Bhakti movement, Hindus got new morale and provincial states emerged in different regions of India. Many of these states were ruled by Hindu Rajputs. Under his patronage the Bhakti movement within Hinduism reached its zenith. The reasons for the revival of the Bhakti movement seem to be-
(1.) National Requirement: At the time when the Delhi Sultanate was established in India, Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shakta religion, Buddhism and Jainism were present in the country, as well as a large number of sects and sects within these religions. were remained. From the kings-maharajas and sages and saints to the common people, these sects were broken and scattered, being confused.
Each sect declared itself as the best and only truth and completely rejected the other sect. In such a situation, when Islam invaded the land of India, there was a need to bring these sects under the umbrella of a universally accepted religion by tying them in a single philosophical spirit. If this was not done, then the Hindu religion, which had been fragmented, would have been completely destroyed by the grip of Islam.
During this period, Buddhism was almost destroyed and the influence of Jainism was very limited, but there was a need to unite the different sects of Hinduism. The monism and Mayavad of Shankara were not able to keep the Hindus before Islam. Therefore Hinduism needed such a philosophical basis which could give assurance of God being all-powerful and devotee-Vatsal so that people believe in the superiority of their own religion and do not accept foreign religion.
(2.) Har Ko Hari Naam: During the Muslim rule, all taxes were imposed on the Hindu farmers and the taxes of the farmers who became Muslims were waived off. Similarly, the doors of state service for Hindus were closed, but those who became Muslims were kept in state service and were honored.
When it became difficult to feed the Hindus, they automatically became Muslims. There were many people who wanted to die but did not become a Muslim. Such people took the help of God-devotion, making the proverb Harinam to the loser meaningful.
Bernier has written in Tithee Ferozshahi - 'Hindus had no means of earning money. Most of them had to struggle continuously for livelihood while living the life of poverty and deprivation. The standard of living of the Hindu subjects was very low. The entire burden of taxes was on him. State posts were unattainable to him. Allauddin Khilji had rigorously raised 50 percent of the produce from the Hindus of the Doab.'
In these dire circumstances, the feeling of Harinam to the loser i.e. God himself is the shelter of the defeated and weak person, and the Hindus took the path of going to the shelter of God to reduce their sufferings. As a result, there was a revival of Bhakti movement in Hinduism during the Sultanate period.
(3.) Need for planning of functional power: When Hindus were thrown out of state services in large numbers, their farms were ruined, fields and houses were taken away by Muslims, they were denied the right to own and acquire property, then Hindus had the right to employ their functional power. There was no way to do it. In such a situation the troubled and poor Hindus employed themselves in devotional service to the Lord. In this way an immense stream of devotional spirit started flowing.
(4.) Need for an accessible road: During the Muslim rule, many Hindus voluntarily became Muslims after getting fed up with the ostentatiousness of Hindu religion and the caste system. Then the Hindu-reformers realized that Hinduism should be made accessible to all people so that people would not adopt other religions except it. Therefore, the path of simple devotion to God was expanded which was accessible to all and gave equal place to all.
(5.) The Means of Forgetting the Sufferings of Dependence: By the rulers of the Delhi Sultanate, Hindus were denied the rights to wear jewellery, to ride a horse, to do state service, to own property, etc. This independence bore him. The path of devotion proved to be a good means of forgetting their subjection. Considering the attainment of God and salvation as paramount, it was propagated that God can be attained only by the mercy and devotion of God.
(6.) Need for mutual support: Man is a social animal, living together requires the cooperation of each other. This is possible only when there is no animosity in the society. The basis of devotion to God is also the inspiration to love all beings considering them as children of God. This feeling needed to be expanded continuously, so the Bhakti movement continued to grow.
Characteristics of Medieval Bhakti Sects
The Bhakti emphasized by the promoters of the medieval Bhakti movement was simple and pure in nature. He had no priests and rituals. The promoters of Bhakti movement tried to make it simple and clear by removing the pomp and complexities of Hindu religion.
These people resorted to monotheism and incarnation and worshiped God in the form of Vishnu and his incarnations i.e. Rama and Krishna. The Hindu-reformers believed that salvation could be achieved only by the grace of God. Bhakti-Margi Reformers 'Naam' and 'Guru' Emphasized the importance of 'surrender' in his teachings has primacy and 'Ego' lacks.
Some of these saints were idol worshipers, while some considered idol-worship to be meaningless, but all the saints unanimously opposed the caste-system and suggested the way for everyone to attain salvation through devotion. Some saints also suggested the path of Prapatti and refuge along with devotion.
All the saints believed that God, not living in a particular place, is contained in every particle and resides within every living being. God can be pleased and controlled by devotion. Almost every saint considered it necessary for a seeker to have a true Guru. The Bhaktimargi saints kept Sanskrit as the language of their philosophical texts, but accepted Hindi and the local language for teachings and hymns.
Major Currents of Bhakti Movement
In Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta, three paths have been mentioned for attainment of salvation – knowledge, action and devotion. Of these, the path of knowledge is the most difficult and the path of devotion is the easiest. Bhakti is the immense devotion and infinite love of the devotee towards his worshiper. By doing bhakti, the devotee receives God's prasad i.e. special grace, which leads to salvation. Based on the three main paths of devotion to God - knowledge, love and worship, three streams of devotion flowed - knowledge-way stream, love-way stream and Bhakti-way stream.
Stream of Knowledge
The saints of the knowledge-way stream tried to bring the two closer to each other by criticizing the extravagance and falsehoods of Hindus and Muslims. The main originator of this stream was Kabir. He was a monotheist and a worshiper of the Nirguna-nirkar Brahman. He accepted the importance of both the name and the guru.
Love-Road Section
The saints of the love-margi stream took the path of loving the various forms of God. These saints accepted God from the relation of lord, father, husband and friend etc. To Tulsi he was the master, to Sur, he was the friend, to Meera he was the husband and to Namdev he was the father. The saints of the Haridasi etc streams of love-oriented devotees declared themselves to be the beloved of their worshiped god.
Bhakti-route stream
The saints of the Bhakti-Margi stream used to be absorbed in the worship and worship of their presiding deity. They considered bhajan to be the best way for the welfare of the soul. The Bhakti-Pathi saints had no attraction for the opulence of the royal court. These saints worshiped Vishnu and his incarnations Rama and Krishna as the sagun-corporeal form. They also worshiped the divine powers like Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati etc.
These saints gave more importance to the grace of God than their deeds and qualities. The religious stream invoked by the saints of this era was completely theistic, believed in the supremacy of the Vedas and worshiped Sri Rama and Sri Krishna as the Vedic deity 'Vishnu' She believed in the incarnation of There are two streams of bhakti-way saints- Ram-Bhakti Dhara and Krishna-Bhakti Dhara-
(1.) Ram-Bhakti Section: The biggest feature of the saints of the Ram-Bhakti stream is their extreme modesty and modesty. रामानुजाचार्य, रामानंदाचार्य तथा तुलसीदास, राम-भक्ति मार्गी सन्त थे। इन सन्तों ने विभिन्न मत-मतान्तरों, उपासना-पद्धतियों तथा विचार-धाराओं में समन्वय स्थापित किया तथा हिन्दू जाति को एक सूत्र में बाँधने का प्रयास किया।
(2.) कृष्ण-भक्ति धारा: कृष्ण-भक्ति धारा के सन्तों ने श्रीकृष्ण की विविध लीलाओं का गुणगान किया और श्रीकृष्ण की उपासना पर बल दिया। निम्बार्काचार्य, चैतन्यमहाप्रभु तथा सूरदास, मीराबाई आदि कृष्ण-भक्ति मार्गी सन्त थे।
मध्य-युगीन भक्ति सम्प्रदाय
मध्य-युगीन भक्ति सम्प्रदायों में रामानुजाचार्य का श्री सम्प्रदाय, विष्णु गोस्वामी का रुद्र सम्प्रदाय, निम्बार्काचार्य का निम्बार्क सम्प्रदाय, माधवाचार्य का द्वैतवादी माध्व सम्प्रदाय, रामानंद का विशिष्टाद्वैतवादी रामानन्द सम्प्रदाय, वल्लभाचार्य का शुद्धाद्वैतवादी पुष्टि सम्प्रदाय, चैतन्य महाप्रभु का गौड़ीय सम्प्रदाय अथवा चैतन्य सम्प्रदाय, हितहरिवंश का राधावल्लभी सम्प्रदाय तथा हरिदासी सम्प्रदाय महत्वपूर्ण हैं।