Bhaktimarga
(“path of devotion”) Along with the path
of action (karmamarga) and the path of
wisdom (jnanamarga), this is one of
Hinduism’s three generally accepted
ways to gain final liberation of the soul
(moksha). The bhaktimarga seeks
release of the soul through bhakti, or
passionate devotion to God.
Bhaktirasabodhini
(“Awakening the Delight in Devotion”)
Name of a commentary on the
Bhaktamalof Nabhadas; this commen-
tary was written by Priyadasin 1712. In
the Bhaktamal, Nabhadas had given
brief six-line biographies of over two
hundred contemporary bhakti (devo-
tional) figures. These biographies are
notably free of astonishing and miracu-
lous events and usually stress the devo-
tee’s personal qualities, to serve as a
model for others. In the
Bhaktirasabodhini, Priyadas gave great-
ly expanded accounts for each devotee
mentioned by Nabhadas, often narrat-
ing amazing stories to which Nabhadas
made no reference. In his biography of
the poet-saint Ravidas, Nabhadas drew
from the texts written by the biographer
Anantadas, but in other cases his
sources are not clear. The accounts in
the Bhaktirasabodhini are suspect as
genuine biographies of these saints,
given Priyadas’s penchant for miracu-
lous events and his chronological dis-
tance from his subjects. Still, the text is
extremely valuable as a mirror of his
time, and careful analysis can reveal
much about contemporary religious
tensions and issues.
Bhamati Advaita
A later branch of the Advaita Vedanta
philosophical school. The Advaita
school upholds a position known as
monism, which is the belief that a single
Ultimate Reality lies behind all things
and that everything is merely a differing
form of that reality. Advaita proponents
believe that reality is nondual (advaita),
that is, that all things are nothing but the
formless, unqualified Brahmandespite
the appearance of diversity. For the
Advaitins, this assumption of diversity is
a fundamental misunderstanding of the
ultimate nature of things, or avidya.
Although often translated as “igno-
rance,” avidyais better understood as
a lack of genuine understanding,
which ultimately causes human beings
to be trapped in karmic bondage,
reincarnation (samsara), and suffering.
Bhamati Advaita is based on the
ideas of Mandana Mishra, although the
school takes its name from a commen-
tary written by Mandana’s disciple
Vachaspati Mishra. Mandana was a
contemporary of the philosopher
Shankaracharya, Advaita Vedanta’s
greatest exponent, and took definitive
stands on several philosophical points
on which Shankaracharya had remained
silent. One such point was the location
of avidya, which Mandana claimed must
be each individual Self because it was
absurd to conceive of Brahman as sub-
ject to ignorance. For Mandana there
were clearly multiple, separate selves,
since one person’s liberation did not
bring liberation for all.
Mandana’s comments presupposed
the existence of a common, if illusory,
world, which his followers explained as
the activity of one primal ignorance;
however, they also had to explain how a
single primal ignorance could simulta-
neously affect multiple souls. This was
done using philosophical models known
as limitationism and reflectionism,
although it is the former that has been
more commonly associated with the
Bhamati school. Limitationism assumes
that there are some things (i.e., the color
red) that we do not conceive of as
divided, even when different red colors
appear in different places. In the same
way, the Bhamati school argued, avidya
can be found in multiple souls at
the same time but is complete and
undivided in each of them.
Reflectionism is based on the idea of a
mirror’s image, which is different from
the original but made from it. ThereforeBhaktimarga