other hand, since most Hindu devotion-
alism involves a community of
worshipers, the devotee also gets to
share in the company and community of
like-minded people.
Bhaktamal
(“Garland of Devotees”) Text written by
Nabhadas(ca. 1600) in which he gives
short (six-line) biographical accounts of
over two hundred bhakti (devotional)
figures. Although Nabhadas himself was
a Ramanandi, and thus a devotee
(bhakta) of the god Rama, his work not
only includes devotees of all sectarian
persuasions but is generally considered
unbiased. The text is notably free of
astonishing and miraculous events.
Instead, the main emphasis is on the
devotee’s personal qualities, which serve
as a model for others. In many cases the
Bhaktamal gives the earliest reliable
account of these figures, which makes it
an extremely important source for
northern Indian literary and religious
history. It is all the more interesting that
the text cannot be definitively dated,
although internal evidence suggests that
it was completed early in the seven-
teenth century.Bhaktavijaya
(“Triumph of [God’s] Devotees”) Text
written by Mahipati, an eighteenth-cen-
tury writer and hagiographer of the
devotional (bhakti) poet-saints. The sto-
ries in the Bhaktavijayafocus mainly
on the saints connected with the
Varkari Panth, a religious group
centered around the worshipof the god
Vithobaat his temple at Pandharpur.
This focus is understandable since
Mahipati himself was a Varkari. In
keeping with the trend toward unifica-
tion often promoted by the devotional
movement, he also included tales of
other great devotees (bhakta), most
notably Kabir, Namdev, Jnaneshvar,
and Narsi Mehta. The stories in the
Bhaktavijaya present each of these
saints as a paradigm of devotion and
stress the power of piety to overcome all
obstacles. This theme also marks
Mahipati’s other major work, the
Bhaktililamrta. The Bhaktavijayahas
been translated by Justin E. Abbott and
Narhar R. Godbole as Stories of Indian
Saints, 1988.Bhakti
(“sharing”) The most common word
denoting devotion to God. This is one of
the three traditional paths to gain final
liberation of the soul (moksha), and it
has been the most widespread type of
religious practice for well over a thou-
sand years. The word’s literal meaning
conveys the sense of relationship. On
one hand, it refers to an intense and pas-
sionate love between devotee (bhakta)
and deity, and on the other, it refers to
separate communities of people bound
together by their common love of God.
Although references to bhakti can be
found in such early texts as the
Shvetashvatara Upanishad and the
Bhagavad Gita, the bhakti propounded
here is radically different from laterBhaktamal
A family makes an offering in a burning tray.
Offerings are a sign of religious
devotion (bhakti) to a deity.