the start of the Common Era, relied on a ritual
process of chanting and making offerings to vari-
ous divinities. Compared with the later practice
of bhakti, these divinities were not addressed with
intimacy and a sense of connection; furthermore,
they were never iconographically represented and
were not generally visualized in human form; the
humanity of the divinity became a very important
element in later bhakti.
The devotional practices of bhakti are very old,
probably originating with the non-ARYAN (thus
non-Vedic) population. As the Aryans gradually
spread beyond their original settlement in North-
west India and established cultural dominance
over the indigenous peoples of India, they rather
freely incorporated values and traditions from the
local substratum. This influence began to show an
obvious impact in the development of the bhakti
path within Hinduism.
The Sanskrit text the BHAGAVAD GITA, written
around 200 B.C.E., was the first true bhakti text
in the Indian tradition, in that case focusing on
the worship of KRISHNA. It depicts a very close,
personal relationship with God, one with a human
form and personality. However, bhakti is still seen
as a restrained, austere practice that takes the
form of a YOGA.
As bhakti began to emerge with full force in
the extreme south of India beginning in the third
century, the devotion to the gods VISHNU and
SHIVA and to the Goddess became a passionate,
emotional experience. Devotees such as the poet-
saints who periodically emerged until the 17th or
18th century threw themselves into bhakti with
complete abandon. The quintessential devotee
took pride in being considered a mad person and
would be often completely lost in ecstatic song
and trance. One important reason why the bhakti
movement eventually swept all India and trans-
formed the face of Hinduism was that the songs
of the saints were all in the local dialects and lan-
guages, not in the Sanskrit language of the priestly
elite. These works were lovingly remembered and
compiled by their followers.
Bhakti often involved PILGRIMAGE to and wor-
ship at sacred places where ICONS of the chosen
deity could be found. The temple tradition of
India developed on the basis of devotion to dei-
ties who took iconic shape in stone in temples
the length and breadth of the country. Devotees
yearned to see the deity and to have audience
with him or her. This audience is referred to as
DARSHAN, or “viewing,” and is the most special and
intimate aspect of the temple visit.Further reading: Stephen P. Huyler, Meeting God: Ele-
ments of Hindu Devotion (New Haven, Conn.: Yale Uni-
versity Press, 1999); Klaus K. Klostermaier, A Survey of
Hinduism (Albany: State University of New York Press,
1989); Donald S. Lopez, Religions of India in Practice
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1995);
Donald N. Lorenzen, ed., Bhakti Religion in North India:
Community, Identity and Political Action (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1995); A. C. Bhaktive-
danta Swami Prabhupada, The Nectar of Devotion: The
Complete Science of Bhakti (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta
Book Trust, 1982); Karine Schomer and W. H. McLeod,
ed., Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India
(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987); Karel Werner, Love
Divine: Studies in Bhakti and Devotional Mysticism (Rich-
mond, England: Curzon Press, 1993).Bhaktivedanta, Swami A. C. Prabhupada
(1896–1977) Vaishnavite guru and founder of the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Bhaktivedanta Swami played a major role in inter-
preting Vedanta for modern Western readers and
in spreading the worship of Krishna outside India.
For several decades his followers’ chanting of the
Hare Krishna mantra and their public distribution
of literature became the face of Hinduism in the
West.
Abhay Charan De was born in Calcutta on Sep-
tember 1, 1896, the son of a pious cloth merchant
who would visit the Radha-Govinda Temple every
day. When Abhay was four, his father gave him a
small image of KRISHNA and taught him to worshipBhaktivedanta, Swami A. C. Prabhupada 77 J