Bhakti

Bhakti is loving devotion to a deity, expressed through practices such as worship, prayer, chanting, and remembrance. It is a major path of religious practice in Hindu traditions.

Puja: A Hindu ritual of honoring a deity through offerings, gestures, and prayer. Puja gives devotional love a structured form of worship.
Hinduism: A diverse family of religious traditions originating in South Asia. Bhakti is practiced across many Hindu traditions.
Alvars: Tamil poet-saints who composed devotional hymns to Vishnu between roughly the sixth and ninth centuries. Their hymns helped establish an influential early South Indian tradition of devotion.
Jnana yoga: A spiritual path that seeks liberation through knowledge and discernment. It emphasizes insight where bhakti emphasizes loving devotion.
Japa: The repeated recitation of a mantra or divine name, often using prayer beads. Repetition focuses devotion on a deity’s name.
Moksha: Liberation from the cycle of rebirth in Indian religious traditions. Many bhakti traditions present devotion as a path toward liberation.
Nayanars: Tamil poet-saints who composed devotional hymns to Shiva between roughly the sixth and ninth centuries. Their songs helped spread passionate devotion to Shiva in South India.
Karma yoga: A spiritual path that seeks liberation through action performed without attachment to its results. It centers disciplined action rather than a personal bond with a deity.
Kirtan: A devotional practice of singing or chanting divine names, often in a group. Shared song turns remembrance into communal devotion.
Samsara: The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth in Indian religious traditions. Bhakti is often understood as a way beyond this cycle.

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