Read the following answer and produce a concise summary that will show the overall thrust of the argument. Then click on answer and see a possible summary. Consider how it differs from your summary and whether the differences are significant.
The different types of bhakti in Hinduism
Bhakti is one of the four margas (or yogas), each of which offers a different path for reaching moksha. Bhakti means ‘loving devotion’, therefore, bhaktimarga is the way of loving devotion. This means that bhaktas offer all their worship and service to a specific deity (or deities). In doing this Hindus focus on God as personal, rather than the impersonal, transcendent reality of Brahman. For a Hindu following the bhakti path, all actions should be done in remembrance of Istadevata, or the personal or cherished God, known by the term Ishvara. The term Ishvara has been given very many different translations, one of which is simply ‘God’ or ‘Lord’. However, the etymology of the word and analysis of its use in Sanskrit has brought out its fullest meaning as trying to convey ‘the very best of oneself’, or ‘the very best there is’. Within bhakti this has been given the understanding of the divine essence as love and as bringing out the purest loving relationship between the divine and devotee.
Loving devotion, therefore, is central to the understanding of bhaktimarga. This is not only one-way; the deity loves the devotee and the devotee should try as hard as possible to love the deity in return. There are different types of bhakti relationships between the deity and devotee; for example, the devotee may love the deity as a friend, or as a child to a parent, or as a parent to a child, or even as a lover. These are known as bhavas (loving essences) and according to traditional Hinduism they are:
- santa, a placid love for God;
- dasya, the attitude of a servant;
- sakhya, the attitude of a friend;
- vatsalya, the attitude of a mother towards her child;
- madhura, the attitude of a woman towards her lover.
In following the Bhaktimarga, the hope is that the deity may remove the devotee’s karmic weight and grant them mukti or moksha. Mukti or moksha is not something that can be earned through good behaviour; within bhaktimarga it is the result of divine grace given out of love.
There are a number of different types of practices and ways of living for devotees to develop a loving relationship with God. Bhakti is popular in both Vaishnavism and Shaivism. Vaisnavism is usually focused on an understanding of either Rama or Krishna as Bhagavan (another word for deity). In Shaivism, according to the Vidyeshvara Samhita of the Shiva Purana, practices specifically include wearing a small lingam around the neck, wearing the tilak and mantra meditation. Both traditions can also explore the different types of bhakti through different practices. These include: an austere code of behaviour; engaging with sacred texts; listening to the teaching of a guru as often as possible; and daily puja involving detailed care and attention for murtis and a focus on the divine glimpse (Darshan). Yoga and meditation, usually combined with karmamarga and jnanamarga meditations, are sometimes part of bhaktimarga with a specific focus on bhakti for loving union. In addition, a common practice among all types of bhakti is that of yatra or pilgrimage. The focus here, again, is on receiving darshan.
Bhakti is one of four paths to liberation. Its fullest meaning beyond personal devotion to a specific deity is best summarised in the term ‘devotion to Ishvara’, a phrase used of a deity that is the ‘very best there is’ and which in turn brings out ‘the very best of oneself’. The relationship between deity and devotee is explored through the imagery of different relationship-types (bhavas), including social, familial, erotic and the divine. These relationships are the focus for Vaishnavas and Shaivites for example, when they perform religious acts such as austerity, reading religious texts, yatras and daily puja with the immediate expectation of darshan and the ultimate aim of moksha.