Role Name Affiliation National Coordinator Subject Coordinator Prof Sujata Patel Dept. Of Sociology, University of Hyderabad Paper Coordinator Prof. Edward Rodrigues Centre for the Study of Social Systems Jawaharlal Nehru University Content Writer Dr. Nivedita Rao Kishinchand Chellaram College. Churchgate,Mumbai. Content Reviewer Prof.Edward Rodrigues Centre for the Study of Social Systems Jawaharlal Nehru University Language Editor Prof.Edward Rodrigues Centre for the Study of Social Systems Jawaharlal Nehru University Technical Conversion Module Structure . Description of the Module Items Description of the Module Subject Name Sociology Paper Name Religion and Society Module Name/Title Bhakti Module Id Module no.10 Pre Requisites An understanding of the historical context, principles and practices of the Bhakti Movement Objectives This module seeks to provide a historical context to the emergence of bhakti traditions, a survey of varieties of bhakti traditions in India, their relevance as dissent. The module highlights the various areas of research in recent times concerning bhakti studies. It also enquires into the role of women in bhakti and provides a survey of bhakti literatures and theaters. Key words Tamil bhakti, Virashaivism, Varkari, Mahanubhav, Nirgun, Sagun, Kabir, Mira, Chokhamela, bhakti and women, bhakti literature, bhakti theaters. Religion and Society Module 10: Bhakti Introduction Bhakti in pre-modern India has generally been seen as a distinct religious expression contesting Brahmanical superiority as well as Brahmin mediated worship. Bhakti proponents deny the value of sacrifices and ritualism and reliance on prescribed texts for salvation. It was also a denial of renunciation or ‘ascetic withdrawal in search of speculative knowledge of the divine’ [Schomer 1987:1]. Some rejected idol worship but nevertheless accepted the notion of a transcendent deity. Devotion was defined by ‘ecstatic abandonment’ and an intensely self-expressive mode of a loving relationship with a personally conceived supreme deity. Salvation from such a God was seen as prerogative of all, thus allowing for the entrance of members from the Shudra, Atishudra and women groups. Thus ‘spiritual leadership shifted from the Brahmin priest knowledgeable about ritual and Sanskrit scriptures to the figure of the popular saint–poet who composed fervent songs of devotion in the regional vernacular’. [Schomer 1987:1] With time many of the bhakti followers organized themselves into communities [sampradayas or panths] having a distinct social ideology and doctrine with regard to the revealed status of the scriptures, role of the Brahmin, observance of the varnashrama dharma [rules and norms of caste society] and a defined role of women in sectarian institutions. Bhakti therefore profoundly changed both the quality and structures of religious life in medieval India and even today forms a part of what can be called as the ‘living traditions’ both as performance and evocative quality of the compositions ‘giving present–day Hinduism its emotional texture, its spiritual and social values and its basic philosophical assumptions.’[Schomer1987:2] Over time these songs and other compositions have either been canonized and thus become part of the temple/matha ritual, or recited at important periods of the sects’ festivals and other occasions or performed during pilgrimages and other festive occasions. This module is divided into three sections. The first section looks at the main areas of research in the field of bhakti studies. Section II examines the historical contexts of various bhakti traditions in India and section III looks at the issues of women and bhakti as well as the varieties of bhakti literatures. Section I Areas of research in bhakti studies As an area of study it attracted first the Christian missionaries in the nineteenth century who saw in bhakti the beginnings of a monotheistic impulse within Hinduism. This was because as Krishna Sharma notes ‘this formulation can be traced back to the identification of the general term bhakti, first with Krishna bhakti and then with Vaishnavism as a whole’ [Sharma 1987: 8]. However its attraction for a later generation of historians and literary scholars were primarily in the area of its social content and ideological imperatives for the lower castes and women. Regarded as culture heroes [Mani 2005] the bhakti poets were considered after the decline of the Buddhism to have challenged Brahmanical religion. For feminist historians, bhakti afforded one of the few avenues of recovering voices/testimonies as well as literary knowledge associated with women bhakti poets. Bhakti also attracted attention from historians writing in post-communal India to look for a Hindu–Muslim dialogue within the broad syncretic traditions of bhakti. [Skyhawk 1992, Zelliot 1987] In the study of its literary texts bhakti opened up new debates on the beginnings of a vernacular literary culture, its counter position to the classical Sanskrit hegemonic culture as well as precursor to modern vernacular literature. Max weber’s essay on the ‘Religion of Non–Privileged Classes published in 1922 was one of the earliest to note why their religion was different from that of the elite, dominant groups and located the reasons as those arising from the specific social, economic and political situations. Although much of what he propounded has been rejected his observations on diversity of religious attitudes of the non – privileged groups and their tendency towards congregational religion, and a religion of salvation and finally towards rational ethical religion holds true according to Lorenzen [2004] about nirgun bhakti traditions in north India even today. Marxist historians and bhakti- Marxist historians writing on the feudalism debate saw bhakti as an ideological apparatus of Hinduism in establishing a feudal agrarian order and a graded system of hierarchy in caste. The identification of the king with the principle deity of the temple, the similarities in architecture and rituals for both the king and deity are seen as legitimizing devices for the newly aryanised monarchies. Similarly in the language of complete surrender and loyalty to the deity is also seen a resemblance between the lord-serf and deity-devotee relationship as idealized and celebrated in the bhakti literature. For a detailed understanding of this debate see relevant works by D.D. Kosambi (1970), R. S. Sharma (2003), and Kesavan Veluthat (1993). Thapar however counters this understanding of bhakti stating that such an overview was derived from the Bhagvad Gita which emphasized caste duties. [Thapar 2004] Later bhakti proponents have severely criticized both the nature of caste and Brahmanical superiority within this system. Debates on Authorship The debates on authorship as we understand it in the print culture of the twentieth century seem to be misleading when used in the context of premodern literatures. Hawley in writing about determining the authenticity of the compositions attributed to Kabir, Ravidas, Mira and Surdas also notes that it would be difficult to state that all of the songs were written by the same author. He suggests that instead of looking for the authenticity of the songs it would be better if one were to look for the ‘authority’ that the songs carried by way of the signature, the mudrika or the bhanita of the sant. Thus he notes that the ‘weight and meaning’ of the poet’s signature would in case of Mirabai appeal to those poems that implied importance to bhakti over the calling of home and family while in case of Ravidas the appeal to his signature would be made if the poem had a ‘strong vein of social protest. [Hawley 1988] Novetzke on the other hand proposes the concept of ‘corporate authorship’ stating that authorship functions in a tripartite way- the first is the author whose verses are recited within the kirtan and this is the genealogical author, the second the originator of the art form, the eponymous author and the third the kirtankars who are the principal transmitters of the tradition. [Novetzke 2008] Parita Mukta’s work ‘Upholding the Common Life: The Community of Mirabai’ [1994] shows how a community of Dalit women, peasants, and Muslims the subordinated classes of Saurashtra and Rajasthan coalesced around the songs of mirabai to protest against feudal privilege and caste norms as well as marital relationships. Thus her work brilliantly essays the formation of a ‘people’s Mira’, and even today songs are composed in her name. Section II Historical development of bhakti Historically bhakti has been located in early medieval India, a period following the decline of the Guptas and the rise of regional kingdoms. Most of these states showed distinct regional, political, economic and socio-religious trends. Many developed into vast agricultural regions with the expansion of irrigation networks, resource bases and cultural sub regions. Concomitant with the growth of agrarian bases there seems to have been a peasantisation of tribes and their absorption into the dominant social order as caste categories. Such a society also underwent ideological and religious changes. Bhakti and the worship through bhakti of god as a lord located in a temple was the key ideological strand of the period. The shift of emphasis from sacrifice to puja i.e. from Vedic Brahmanism to Puranic Hinduism, integration of various local cults and deities as well as the influence of Sramanic religions [Buddhism and Jainism] especially the quality of compassion as espoused by the Bodhisattva all contributed to the emergence of varieties of bhakti in this period. Tamil Bhakti Between the sixth and the ninth centuries there emerged seventy five bhakti saints in Tamil Nadu belonging to the Shaiva and Vaishnava traditions of Puranic Hinduism. The twelve Alvar saints belonged to the Vaishnava tradition notable among them were Pey, Bhutam and Poigai along with Nammalvar, and Andal. Among the sixty three Nayanar saints were the most famous Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar who belonged to the Shaiva tradition. Both groups had saints that came from diverse social backgrounds and expressed themselves in songs of pain of separation and joy of union of their respective deity.