B hakti Tradition and the Role of Saint-
Philosophers in Popular Indian Culture
MANUSCRIPT HISTORY: This is a revised version of the paper
presented at the Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the Far West Popular
Culture and American Culture Associations in Las Vegas, Nevada.
India has been the land of saint-philosophers since very early times,
and men and women of divine nature have played an important role in popular
Indian culture. Earlier these divine people were rishis of the Vedic times, who
engaged themselves in knowledge-based and action-based search of the ultimate
reality and truth. The bhaktas, later, pursued the same goal through the
devotional approach, with faith being the main ingredient in their contemplation
of ultimate reality and truth. These divine men and women showed people the
path to spiritual pursuits and fought against undesirable aspects of popular
Indian culture. They kept the popular culture rejuvenated, so that the social and
spiritual needs of men and women could be better met in satisfactory ways. The
Bhakti movement during the Middle Ages, supported by the Muslim Sufi
tradition, resisted ritualism, formalism, and orthodoxy in Hinduism; fought
against caste, gender, social position, and power barriers; provided alternatives
to fundamentalist ways; and freed people of the tyranny of Brahmins and the
elite. These efforts resulted in greater social and religious equality, ascendancy
of lower castes in relation to others, greater status of women, and gave more
meaning to the daily endeavors of ordinary people. The Bhakti movement also
helped create new forms of art, poetry, music, literature, and social values that
continue to enrich popular Indian culture to this day.'
This paper deals with the Bhakti tradition and the saint-philosophers of
India. The focus is on the conception of Bhakti, the relationship between Bhakti
tradition and popular Indian culture, the saint-philosophers and the role they
played in popular Indian culture, and the more recent change factors and modem
trends.
Bhakti Defined
The word “Bhakti” is generally translated as “devotion” in English, but
in addition it also represents the elements of love, faith, respect, adoration,
reverence, loyalty, obedience, attachment, surrender, and worship. Key elements
in Bhakti are love, faith, devotion, and surrender. Bhakti is expressed toward a
person, an object, or a tradition, such as devotion toward one’s father (PitrU
Bhakti), devotion toward one’s mother {Matri-Bhakti), devotion toward the
spiritual teacher (Guru-Bhakti), or devotion toward the nation (Desh-Bhakti). In