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{{Hinduism small}}
'''''Bhakti''''' ({{lang-sa|[[:wikt:भक्ति#Sanskrit|भक्ति]]}}; [[Pali]]: ''bhatti'') is a term common in [[Indian religions]] which means
One of the earliest appearances of the term is found in the [[Early Buddhist schools|early Buddhist]] ''[[Theragatha]]'' (''Verses of the Elders'').<ref name=":4" /> In ancient texts such as the ''[[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]]'', the term simply means participation, devotion and love for any endeavor, while in the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'', it connotes one of the possible paths of spirituality and towards [[moksha]], as in ''bhakti marga''.<ref>John Lochtefeld (2014), ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism'', Rosen Publishing (New York), {{ISBN|978-0823922871}}, pp. 98–100. Also see articles on bhaktimārga and jnanamārga.</ref>
Bhakti ideas have inspired many popular texts and saint-poets in India. The ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'', for example, is a [[Krishna]]-related text associated with the Bhakti movement in Hinduism.<ref name="Cutler" /> Bhakti is also found in other religions practiced in India,<ref>{{cite book|last=Flood|first=Gavin D.|title=The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2003|page=185|isbn=978-0-631-21535-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSfneQ0YYY8C&pg=PA185}}</ref><ref name="Neill 2002 412">{{cite book|last=Neill|first=Stephen|title=A History of Christianity in India, 1707–1858|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002|pages=412|isbn=978-0-521-89332-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi-tvrYbYxMC&pg=PA412}}</ref><ref name="Kelting 2001 87">{{cite book|last=Kelting|first=Mary Whitney |author-link=Mary Whitney Kelting|title=Singing to the Jinas: Jain Laywomen, Maṇḍaḷ Singing, and the Negotiations of Jain Devotion|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|pages=87|isbn=978-0-19-514011-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=elcn1IEJ3CEC&pg=PA87}}</ref> and it has influenced interactions between Christianity and Hinduism in the modern era.<ref>A. Frank Thompson (1993), ''Hindu-Christian Dialogue: Perspectives and Encounters'' (Editor: Harold Coward), Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, {{ISBN|978-8120811584}}, pp. 176–186</ref><ref>Karen Pechelis (2014), ''The Embodiment of Bhakti'', Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, see Introduction chapter</ref> ''Nirguni bhakti'' (devotion to the divine without attributes) is found in [[Sikhism]], as well as Hinduism.
The term also refers to [[Bhakti movement|a movement]], pioneered by the [[Tamils|Tamil]] [[Alvars]] and [[Nayanars]], that developed around the gods [[Vishnu]] ([[Vaishnavism]]), [[Shiva]] ([[Shaivism]]) and [[Devi]] ([[Shaktism]]) in the second half of the 1st millennium CE.<ref name="encyclopediabrit" /><ref name="karen" /><ref name="Rinehart">{{cite book |last=Rinehart |first=Robin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hMPYnfS_R90C&pg=PA45 |title=Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-57607-905-8 |page=45}}</ref><ref name="Flood">{{cite book |last=Flood |first=Gavin |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi0000floo |title=An Introduction to Hinduism |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-521-43878-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi0000floo/page/131 131] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Embree" /><ref>Jerry Bentley, ''Old World Encounters: Cross Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 120.</ref>
== Terminology ==
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The term ''Bhakti'' refers to one of several alternate spiritual paths to [[moksha]] (spiritual freedom, liberation, salvation) in Hinduism,<ref name=johnmartin /> and it is referred to as ''bhakti marga'' or ''[[bhakti yoga]]''.<ref name="Klostermaier">{{cite book|last=Klostermaier|first=Klaus|author-link=Klaus Klostermaier|title=A survey of Hinduism|publisher=SUNY Press|year=1989|pages=210–212|isbn=978-0-88706-807-2}}</ref><ref>Karen Pechelis (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 14-15, 37-38</ref> The other paths are ''[[Jnana yoga|Jnana marga]]'' (path of knowledge), ''[[Karma marga]]'' (path of works), ''Rāja marga'' (path of contemplation and meditation).<ref name=johnmartin>John Martin Sahajananda (2014), Fully Human Fully Divine, Partridge India, {{ISBN|978-1482819557}}, page 60</ref><ref>KN Tiwari (2009), Comparative Religion, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120802933}}, page 31</ref>
The term ''bhakti'' has been usually translated as "devotion" in [[Orientalism|Orientalist]] literature.<ref>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 15-24</ref> The colonial era authors variously described ''Bhakti'' as a form of mysticism or "primitive" religious devotion of lay people with monotheistic parallels.<ref name=paulcarus>Paul Carus, {{Google books|96sLAAAAIAAJ|The Monist|PA514}}, pages 514-515</ref><ref>DG Mandelbaum (1966), Transcendental and Pragmatic Aspects of Religion, American Anthropologist, 68(5), pages 1174–1191</ref><ref>DC Scott (1980), Hindu and Christian Bhakti: A Common Human Response to the Sacred, Indian Journal of Theology, 29(1), pages 12-32</ref> However, modern scholars state "devotion" is a misleading and incomplete translation of ''bhakti''.<ref name=karen2324 /><ref name="Gale">{{cite book|title=Gale Encyclopedia of Religion|pages=856–857|editor=Lindsay Jones|publisher=Thomson Gale|year=2005|volume=2|isbn=978-0-02-865735-6}}</ref>
Many contemporary scholars have questioned this terminology, and most now trace the term ''bhakti'' as one of the several spiritual perspectives that emerged from reflections on the Vedic context and Hindu way of life. Bhakti in Indian religions is not a ritualistic devotion to a God or to religion, but participation in a path that includes behavior, ethics, mores and spirituality.<ref name=karen2324 /> It involves, among other things, refining one's state of mind, knowing God, participating in God, and internalizing God.<ref name=karen2324 /> Increasingly, instead of "devotion", the term "participation" is appearing in scholarly literature as a gloss for the term ''bhakti''.<ref name=karen2324>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 23-24</ref><ref name="Gale" />{{love sidebar|cultural}}
''Bhakti''
▲''Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action'', State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791420256}}, pages 1-2</ref> They both share numerous concepts and core spiritual ideas, but ''bhakti'' of ''nirguni'' (devotion to divine without attributes) is particularly significant in Sikhism.<ref name=davidlorenzen /><ref name=hardip>Hardip Syan (2014), in ''The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies'' (Editors: Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech), Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199699308}}, page 178</ref><ref>A Mandair (2011), Time and religion-making in modern Sikhism, in ''Time, History and the Religious Imaginary in South Asia'' (Editor: Anne Murphy), Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415595971}}, page 188-190</ref> In Hinduism, diverse ideas continue, where both ''saguni'' and ''nirguni'' bhakti (devotion to divine with or without attributes) or alternate paths to spirituality are among the options left to the choice of a Hindu.<ref name=davidlorenzen /><ref name=johnmartin />
== History of Hindu bhakti ==
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Scholarly consensus sees ''bhakti'' as a post-Vedic movement that developed primarily during the [[Hindu Epics]] and [[Puranas]] era of Indian history (late first mill. BCE-early first mill. CE).<ref>"Scholarly consensus today tends to view bhakti as a post-Vedic development that took place primarily in the watershed years of the epics and Puranas." Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, page 17</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Monier Monier-Williams |author2=Ernst Leumann |publisher=Clarendon |place=Oxford |title=A Sanskrit-English dictionary, etymologically and philologically arranged : with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages |edition=new |year=1899 |oclc=152275976|author-link1=Monier-Williams }}</ref>
The ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' is the first text to explicitly use the word "bhakti" to designate a religious path, using it as a term for one of three possible religious approaches or [[
The ''[[Bhagavata Purana
=== Bhakti movement ===
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Scholars state that the ''bhakti'' movement focused on Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti and other deities, that developed and spread in India, was in response to the arrival of [[Islam]] in India about 8th century CE,<ref>Note: The earliest arrival dates are contested by scholars. They range from 7th to 9th century, with Muslim traders settling in coastal regions of Indian peninsula, to Muslims seeking asylum in Tamil Nadu, to raids in northwest India by [[Muhammad bin Qasim]]. See: Annemarie Schimmel (1997), Islam in the Indian subcontinent, Brill Academic, {{ISBN|978-9004061170}}, pages 3-7; Andre Wink (2004), Al-Hind: the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Brill Academic Publishers, {{ISBN|90-04-09249-8}}</ref> and subsequent [[Religious violence in India|religious violence]].<ref name=encyclopediabrit /><ref name=karen /><ref name=johnhawley /> This view is contested by other scholars.<ref name=johnhawley>John Stratton Hawley (2015), A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movement, Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|978-0674187467}}, pages 39-61</ref>
The Bhakti movement swept over east and north India from the fifteenth-century onwards, reaching its zenith between the 15th and 17th century CE.<ref name=schomer>Karine Schomer and WH McLeod (1987), The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120802773}}, pages 1-2</ref> According to Patton Burchett, the four key features of this early modern bhakti movement in north India were:<blockquote>First and foremost, these communities were united by a distinctive focus on personal devotion to the Divine, as opposed to other traditional pillars of Indic religiosity such as [[Jñāna|knowledge]], ritual, or the practice of [[yoga]] or [[asceticism]]. This devotion took place in the context of an intimate, loving relationship with the Divine in which caste, class, or gender typically were said to have no place. This was a bhakti that found its most characteristic expression in (a) the context of spiritual fellowship ([[satsaṅg]]) with other devotees (bhaktas), (b) the medium of song, (c) the idiom of passionate love (śṛṅgāra/mādhurya) or painful separation (viraha), and (d) the remembrance—in meditation, recitation, chant, and song—of the name(s) of God. Second, these new devotional communities of [[Mughal India]] were alike in their production and performance of devotional works, composed in vernacular languages, remembering the deeds of God (especially [[Krishna|Kṛṣṇa]] and [[Rama|Rām]]) and exemplary bhaktas. Third, important in all these communities was the performance and collection of songs attributed to renowned bhakti poet-saints like Kabīr, Raidās, and Sūrdās. Finally, despite their many differences, the vast majority of bhakti authors and sectarian communities in early modern North India came together in articulating a devotional sensibility distinct from—and often explicitly positioned in opposition to—certain [[Tantra|tantric]] paradigms of religiosity.
''Genealogy of Devotion - Bhakti, Tantra, Yoga, and Sufism in North India'', pp. 2-3. Columbia University Press.</ref></blockquote>Bhakti poetry and ideas influenced many aspects of Hindu culture, religious and secular, and became an integral part of Indian society.<ref name="Embree" /> It extended its influence to [[Sufism]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Flood|first=Gavin D.|title=The Blackwell companion to Hinduism|publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]]|year=2003|page=185|isbn=978-0-631-21535-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSfneQ0YYY8C&pg=PA185}}</ref> [[Christianity]],<ref name="Neill 2002 412" /> and [[Jainism]].<ref name="Kelting 2001 87" /> [[Sikhism]] was founded by [[Guru Nanak]] in the 15th century, during the bhakti movement period, and scholars call it a Bhakti sect of Indian traditions.<ref>W. Owen Cole and Piara Singh Sambhi (1997), A Popular Dictionary of Sikhism: Sikh Religion and Philosophy, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0700710485}}, page 22</ref>
Saints such as [[Mirabai]], [[Surdas|Soordas]], [[Narsinh Mehta]] composed several bhajans that were a path towards Bhakti for many, that are universally sung even today. A modern age saint, Shri Devendra Ghia (Kaka) has composed about 10,000 hymns. These hymns are related to bhakti, knowledge, devotion, faith, introspection and honesty.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BHAAV SAMADHI VICHAAR SAMADHI - KAKA BHAJANS |url=https://www.kakabhajans.org/ |access-date=11 June 2022 |website=Kakabhajans.org}}</ref>
The movement has traditionally been considered as an influential social reformation in Hinduism, and provided an individual-focused alternative path to spirituality regardless of one's birth caste or gender.<ref name="schomer" /> [[Postmodernism|Postmodern]] scholars question this traditional view and whether the [[Bhakti movement]] were ever a social reform or rebellion of any kind.<ref>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 10-16</ref> They suggest Bhakti movement was a revival, reworking and recontextualization of ancient Vedic traditions.<ref>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 15-16</ref>
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=== Nine forms of Bhakti ===
The ''[[Bhagavata Purana
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|# ''śravaṇa'' (listening to ancient texts)
# ''kīrtana'' (praying)
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}}
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' describes many examples of bhakti, such as those exhibited by [[Prahlada]] and the [[
=== Bhavas ===
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=== Murti ===
In ''bhakti'' worship, rituals are primarily directed towards physical images. The terms "[[murti]]" and "''vigraham''" are commonly used in Hinduism to describe these images. A ''murti'' denotes an object with a distinct form that symbolizes the shape or manifestation of a particular deity, either a god or goddess. A ritual called ''[[Prana pratishtha|pranapratishta]]'' is performed before worshipping a murti, establishing ''prana'' (life force) into the image and inviting the god or goddess to reside in the murti.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Flueckiger |first=Joyce Burkhalter |title=Everyday Hinduism |date=2015 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4051-6021-6 |location=Chichester, West Sussex |pages=
== In other religions ==
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{{Main|Buddhist devotion|Faith in Buddhism}}
<!--"Buddhist devotion#Definition" links here -->
Bhakti (''bhatti'' in [[Pali]]) has always been a common aspect of [[Buddhism]], where offerings, prostrations, chants, and individual or group prayers are made to the [[Buddha]] and ''[[bodhisattvas]]'',<ref name="swearer9">Donald Swearer (2003), ''Buddhism in the Modern World: Adaptations of an Ancient Tradition'' (Editors: Heine and Prebish), Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195146981}}, pages 9-25.</ref><ref>Karen Pechelis (2011), The Bloomsbury Companion to Hindu Studies (Editor: Jessica Frazier), Bloomsbury, {{ISBN|978-1472511515}}, pages 109-112</ref> or to other [[Buddhist deities]].<ref name="child138">{{cite book|author=Louise Child|title=Tantric Buddhism and Altered States of Consciousness: Durkheim, Emotional Energy and Visions of the Consort |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYDeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT138 |year=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-04677-6|pages=138–139}}</ref> According to [[Karel Werner]] Buddhist bhakti "had its beginnings in the earliest days".<ref name="werner45">Karel Werner (1995), ''Love Divine: Studies in Bhakti and Devotional Mysticism,'' Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0700702350}}, pages 45-46</ref> Perhaps the earliest mention of the term bhatti in all Indic literature appears in the early Buddhist ''[[Theragatha]]'' (''Verses of the Elders'').<ref name=":4">Dayal, Dar (1970). ''The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature,'' p. 32. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.</ref> As such, Har Dayal writes that, bhakti "was an integral part of the Buddhist ideal from the earliest times".<ref name=":4" /> John S. Strong writes that the central meaning of Indian Buddhist bhakti was "recollection of the Buddha" (Sanskrit: [[Buddhānusmṛti|buddhanusmrti]]).<ref name=":6">Strong, John S. (2017). ''The Legend and Cult of Upagupta: Sanskrit Buddhism in North India and Southeast Asia,'' p. 117. Princeton University Press.</ref>
One of the earliest form of Buddhist devotional practice was the early Buddhist tradition of worshiping the Buddha through the means of [[
Sri Lankan scholar Indumathie Karunaratna notes that the meaning of ''bhatti'' changed throughout Buddhist history.<ref name="ik435" /> In [[Early Buddhist schools|early Buddhist]] sources like the [[Theragatha|''Theragāthā'']],{{sfn|Nanayakkara|1966|p=678}} ''bhatti'' had the meaning of 'faithful adherence to the [Buddhist] religion', and was accompanied with knowledge. Later on, however, the term developed the meaning of an advanced form of emotional devotion. This sense of devotion was thus different than the early [[Faith in Buddhism|Buddhist view of faith]].{{sfn|Nanayakkara|1966|p=679}}
According to Sanath Nanayakkara, early Buddhist refuge and devotion, meant taking the Buddha as an ideal to live by, rather than the later sense of self-surrender.<!--p=680--> But already in the [[atthakatha|Commentary]] to the [[Abhidhamma]] text ''[[Puggalapaññatti]]'', it is mentioned that the Buddhist devotee should develop his ''saddhā'' until it becomes ''bhaddi'', a sense not mentioned in earlier texts and probably influenced by the Hindu idea of ''bhakti''.<!--p=679--> There are instances where commentator [[Buddhaghosa]] mentions taking refuge in the Buddha in the sense of mere adoration, indicating a historical shift in meaning.<!--Nanayakkara 680--> Similar developments in Buddhist devotion took place with regards to worshipping the Buddha's [[Śarīra|relics]] and [[Buddhist art|Buddha images]].<ref name=":2">Gokhale, Pradeep. "The Place of Bhakti in Buddhism", in ''Illuminating the Dharma: Buddhist Studies in Honour of Venerable Professor KL Dhammajoti'', Edited by Toshiichi Endo, Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong, 2021.</ref>
In later faith-oriented literature, such as the ''[[Avadana|Avadānas]],'' faith is given an important role in Buddhist doctrine. Nevertheless, faith (''śraddhā'') is discussed in different contexts than devotion (''bhakti''). ''Bhakti'' is often used disparagingly to describe acts of worship to deities, often seen as ineffective and improper for a Buddhist. Also, ''bhakti'' is clearly connected with a person as an object, whereas ''śraddhā'' is less connected with a person, and is more connected with truthfulness and truth. Śraddhā focuses on ideas such as the working of [[karma (Buddhism)|karma]] and [[merit transfer]].<ref name="Rotman 2008">{{cite book |last1=Rotman |first1=Andy |title=Thus Have I Seen: Visualizing Faith in Early Indian Buddhism |date=2008 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-045117-2 |chapter=Getting and Giving |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-0JCAAAQBAJ}}</ref> One source for Indian Buddhist devotion is the ''[[Divyavadana|Divyāvadāna]]'', which focuses on the vast amount of [[Merit (Buddhism)|merit]] (''{{IAST|puṇya}}'') that is generated by making offerings to Buddhas, [[
This text contrasts faith in the Buddha with bhakti for mundane deities (such as Hindu gods), and in this case, it sees bhakti as something for those who are less developed spiritually.<ref name=":5">Rotman, Andy (2008). ''Thus Have I Seen: Visualizing Faith in Early Indian Buddhism,'' p. 245. Oxford University Press, USA.</ref> However, in other passages, the term is used positively, and in one story, the sage [[Upagupta]] says to the demon [[Mara (demon)|Mara]]:<blockquote>Even a very small bit of bhakti [toward the Buddha] offers nirvana to the wise as a result. In short, the wicked things that you [Māra] did here to the Sage, when your mind was blind with delusion, all of these have been washed away by the copious waters of [[Faith in Buddhism|śraddhā]] that have entered your heart.
- ''Divyāvadāna'' 360.1–4 [''Aśokāvadana'' 22.7-9] <ref>Sanskrit: svalpāpi hy atra bhaktir bhavati matimatāṃ nirvāṇaphaladā saṃkṣepād yat kṛtam. te vṛjinam iha muner mohāndhamanasā sarvaṃ prakṣālitaṃ tat tava hṛdaye gataiḥ śraddhāmbuvisaraiḥ</ref><ref name=":5" /> </blockquote>In the 11th century, the Bengali Buddhist scholar Rāmancandra Kavibhārati composed a work on Buddhist bhakti called the ''Bhakti Śataka.''<ref>Keune, Jon (2021). ''Shared Devotion, Shared Food: Equality and the Bhakti-caste Question in Western India,'' p. 49. Oxford University Press.</ref>
Today, affective devotion remains an important part of Buddhist practice, even in Theravada Buddhism. According to Winston King, a scholar on [[Theravada|Theravāda]] in [[Myanmar]], "warm, personalized, emotional" ''bhakti'' has been a part of the [[Burmese Buddhism|Burmese Buddhist]] tradition apart from the monastic and lay intellectuals.<ref name="King1964p173">{{cite book |author=Winston Lee King |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_dCAAAAIAAJ |title=A thousand lives away: Buddhism in contemporary Burma |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1964 |isbn=9780674887107 |pages=173–176}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=1981 |title=Bhakti in Early Buddhism |encyclopedia=Tradition and modernity in Bhakti movements |publisher=[[Brill (publisher)|Brill Archive]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kLs3AAAAIAAJ |editor-last=Lele |editor-first=J |volume=31 |isbn=978-9004063709 |last1=Gokhale |first1=Balkrishna Govind |author-link=Balkrishna Govind Gokhale}}</ref> The [[Buddha]] is treasured by the everyday devout Buddhists, just like Catholics treasure [[Jesus]]. The orthodox teachers tend to restrain the devotion to the Buddha, but to the devout Buddhist populace, "a very deeply devotional quality" was and remains a part of the actual practice. This is observable, states King, in "multitudes of [[Burmese pagoda|Pagoda]] worshippers of the Buddha images" and the offerings they make before the image and nowhere else.<ref name="King1964p173" />
==== In Mahayana Buddhism ====
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A rich devotionalism developed in Indian [[Mahāyāna Buddhism]] and it can be found in the veneration of the transcendent Buddha [[Amitabha]] of [[Pure Land Buddhism]] and of bodhisattvas like [[Manjushri|Mañjusri]], [[Avalokiteśvara|Avalokiteshvara]] (known as [[Guanyin]] in East Asia and Chenrezig in Tibetan) and the goddess [[Tara (Buddhism)|Tara]].<ref>Dayal, Dar (1970). ''The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature,'' p. 36. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.</ref><ref name="ik435">{{cite encyclopedia|editor1-last=Malalasekera|editor1-first=Gunapala Piyasena|editor1-link=G. P. Malalasekera|first=Indumathie|last=Karunaratna|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Buddhism|title=Devotion|date=2000|volume=IV|publisher=Government of Ceylon|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/283214333/Enceylopaedia-of-Buddhism-Vol-IV|pages=435–7}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/early%20buddhist%20theory%20of%20knowledge_jayatilleke.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911084454/http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/Early%20Buddhist%20Theory%20of%20Knowledge_Jayatilleke.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 September 2015|last1=Jayatilleke|first1=K.N.|author-link1=K.N. Jayatilleke|title=Early Buddhist theory of knowledge|date=1963|publisher=[[George Allen & Unwin]]|isbn=978-1-134-54287-1|page=384}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Mahayana sources like the ''[[Lotus Sutra]]'' describe the Buddha as the loving father of all beings, and exhorts all Buddhists to worship him.<ref>Dayal, Dar (1970). ''The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature,'' p. 34. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.</ref>
Mahayana bhakti also led to the rise of temples which were focused on housing a central Buddha image, something which became the norm during the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta period]].<ref name=":3">Sukumar Dutt (1988). ''Buddhist Monks and Monasteries of India: Their History and Their Contribution to Indian Culture,'' pp. 193-94. Motilal Banarsidass Publisher.</ref> Gupta era Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism stressed bhakti towards the Buddha as a central virtue and liberally made use of Buddha images, which are often accompanied by attendant bodhisattvas.<ref name=":3" />
These new developments in Buddhist bhakti may have been influenced by the pan-Indian [[bhakti movement]], and indeed, many Gupta monarchs, who were devoted to the [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnava]] [[Bhagavata]] religion also supported Buddhist temples and founded monasteries (including great ones like [[Nalanda mahavihara|Nalanda]]).<ref>Sukumar Dutt (1988). ''Buddhist Monks and Monasteries of India: Their History and Their Contribution to Indian Culture,'' p. 180, 197. Motilal Banarsidass Publisher.</ref> Buddhists were in competition with the Hindu religions of the time, like the Bhagavatas and Shaivas, and they developed Buddhist bhakti focused on the Buddhas and bodhisattvas in this religious environment.<ref>Dayal, Dar (1970). ''The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature,'' p. 38. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.</ref>
Mahāyāna interprets [[Buddhahood]] as a transcendent and eternal state (as found in the ''[[Lotus Sutra|Lotus Suta]]'') and is also equated with the ultimate reality ([[Dharmakāya|Dharmakaya]]).<ref name=":2" /> Bodhisattvas were also considered to be extremely powerful divinities that could grant boons and rescue people from danger.<ref name=":0" /> This shift towards devotion to a transcendent being in later Buddhism has been seen as being similar to [[Theism|theistic]] forms of Hindu bhakti.<!--p=681-->{{sfn|Nanayakkara|1966|pp=679–81}}<ref name=":1">Norio Sekido, [https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ibk1952/41/1/41_1_533/_pdf ''Bhakti and Sraddha''.] Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies Vol. 41, No. 1, December 1992</ref> Mahayana Buddhist bhakti was also sometimes aimed at a [[Mahayana sutras|Mahayana sutra]], such as the ''[[Prajnaparamita|Prajñaparamita sutra]]'' and the ''[[Lotus Sutra]]''.<ref>Apple, James B. "Prajñaparamita", in ''Encyclopedia of Indian Religions,'' ed. by Arvind Sharma (2019). Springer.</ref><ref>Williams, Paul (2009). ''Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations,'' 2nd edition, p. 145. Routledge.</ref>
Some sources, like the ''[[Sukhāvatīvyūhasūtra]]'', even state that through devotion to the Buddha Amitabha one can attain rebirth in his [[Pure land|Pure Land]] and here one can be purified of all negative karma and eventually attain Buddhahood. As such, they make Buddha bhakti a central element of their [[soteriology]]. Bhakti in these sutras supersedes the making of good karma and cultivation of the path in favor of devotion to the Buddha Amitabha who can lead one to liberation in the Pure Land.<ref name=":2" /> This eventually came to be seen as its own path to liberation, its own ''mārga'', often called the "easy path". A text attributed to [[Nagarjuna]], the *''Dasabhumikavibhāsā'' (Chinese: ''Shí zhù pípóshā lùn'' 十住毘婆沙論, T.1521) teaches the "easy practice" which is simply being constantly mindful of the Buddhas.<ref>Williams, Paul (2008). ''Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations 2nd Edition,'' p. 244. Routledge.</ref>
All of these ideas became the foundation for the later development of East Asian [[Pure Land Buddhism]].
Mahayana Buddhist bhakti is grounded in the Mahayana ideals of the [[bodhisattva]], [[bodhicitta]] (the mind aimed at awakening for the benefit of all beings) and skillful means ([[upaya]]).<ref name=":0">Lewis, Todd T. (2000). ''Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal: Narratives and Rituals of Newar Buddhism,'' p. 9. SUNY Press.</ref> Mahayana bhakti practices include various forms of ritual [[Puja (Hinduism)|pujas]] and prayers. The Mahayana form of the practice of [[Buddhānusmṛti]] (remembering the Buddha) could include visualization practices and recitation of the names of a Buddha or bodhisattva (as in
One common puja and prayer format in Indian Mahayana was the "seven part worship" (''saptāṇgapūjā'' or ''saptavidhā anuttarapūjā'').<ref>Dayal, Dar (1970). ''The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature,'' p. 54. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.</ref> This often included various offerings of flowers, food, scents, and music.
* ''Vandana'' (obeisance, bowing)
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* ''Atmabhavadi-parityagah'' (surrender) and ''[[Transfer of merit|pariṇāmanā]]'' (the transfer of one's Merit to the welfare of others)
Devotion to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas continued to be a major part of the later [[Vajrayana]] Buddhist traditions of tantra.<ref name=":0" /> Vajrayana Buddhism also added another form of bhakti to their teachings: guru bhakti (i.e. [[guru yoga]]), devotion towards the tantric [[guru]]. In India, various forms of devotion were practiced, including tantric songs of realization called ''[[Songs of realization|Charyagitis]].'' These first arose in the so called called ''[[Charyapada
As such, both in [[Tibetan Buddhism]] and [[East Asian Buddhism]], there remains a strong tradition of devotional veneration of various Buddhas and bodhisattvas (which includes making offerings and chanting their names or [[
=== Jainism ===
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== See also ==
*[[Bhajan]]
*[[Kirtan]]
*[[Buddhist chant]]
*[[Buddhist devotion]]
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