The Sanskrit word bhakti is derived from the root bhaj, which means "divide, share, partake, participate, to belong to". … See more

Ancient Indian texts, dated to the 1st millennium BCE, such as the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, and the Bhagavad Gita mention Bhakti.
The last of three epilogue verses of the Śvetāśvata… See more

The Bhakti movement originated in Tamilakam during the seventh to eighth century CE, and remained influential in South India for some time. In the second millennium, a second wave of bhakti spread northward… See more

The Bhakti movement of Hinduism saw two ways of imaging the nature of the divine (Brahman) – Nirguna and Saguna. Nirguna Brahman was the concept of the Ultimate Reality as formless, without attributes or quality. Sa… See more

The Bhakti movement led to devotional transformation of medieval Hindu society, wherein Vedic rituals or alternatively ascetic monk-like lifestyle for moksha gave way to individualistic loving relationship with a personally … See more

Bhakti has been a prevalent practice in various Jaina sects, wherein learned Tirthankara (Jina) and human gurus are considered superior beings and venerated with offerings, songs and Āratī prayers. John Cort sugge… See more

Contemporary scholars question whether the 19th- and early 20th-century theories about the Bhakti movement in India, its origin, nature, and history are accurate. Pechilis in her book on Bhakti movement, for example… See more