Bhakti
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Bhakti is a Tamil or Sanskrit term from Hinduism that means devotion to god. A person who practices bhakti is called bhakta.
Hindu writers, theologians and philosophers have distinguished nine forms of bhakti, for example in the Bhagavatha-Purana. The booklet Narada bhakti sutra written by an unknown author distinguishes eleven forms based on the different relationship to God that the devotee can assume.
Although some element of Bhakti was present even in the Vedic times, it is over the last 500 years or so that Bhakti has been developed fully. The Bhakti movement started in Tamil Nadu and spread slowly northwards, becoming eventually a pervasive feature of Hinduism. The Alvars and Nayanars initiated the concept of Bhakti as a means of attaining salvation. Bhakti is considered the easiest and the fastest spiritual path in Kali Yuga.
See:
- bhakti yoga The Philosophy and practice of Bhakti
- bhakti movement