Bhakti Movement: The Southern Roots
NCERT Class 7 - Our Pasts II • NCERT Class 12 - Themes in Indian History Part II, Chapter 6
Bhakti Movement: The Southern Roots
The Bhakti movement began in the Tamil country between the sixth and ninth centuries with poet-saints who sang of a personal god in the local language. From there it moved through philosophy in the south and reached the north several centuries later.
Alvars and Nayanars
- The Alvars were devotees of Vishnu, traditionally twelve in number; the Nayanars were devotees of Shiva, traditionally sixty-three.
- They travelled from shrine to shrine singing in Tamil, and their songs were later collected - the Alvar hymns as the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the Nayanar hymns in the Tevaram and the wider Tirumurai.
- They came from all castes, including artisans and cultivators, and some from communities considered untouchable.
- Andal, a woman Alvar, and Karaikkal Ammaiyar, a woman Nayanar, show that women found a place in this tradition.
- Their opposition was directed both at ritual formalism and at Buddhism and Jainism, which lost ground in the Tamil country as a result.
The philosophers
| Philosopher | School | Core idea |
|---|---|---|
| Shankaracharya | Advaita | Brahman alone is real; the world as perceived is maya |
| Ramanuja | Vishishtadvaita | Qualified non-dualism; the soul is real but part of God |
| Madhva | Dvaita | God and soul are permanently distinct |
| Nimbarka | Dvaitadvaita | Difference and non-difference together |
| Vallabha | Shuddhadvaita | Pure non-dualism; the Pushtimarg path of grace |
- Shankaracharya came from Kerala, argued for knowledge as the path to liberation, and founded monasteries in four corners of India.
- Ramanuja gave devotion an intellectual defence by holding that the soul is real and distinct even while depending on God - this became the philosophical base of most later Bhakti.
- Ramananda, in the tradition of Ramanuja, carried devotion to north India and accepted disciples across castes, which is the bridge between the southern and northern movements.
Virashaiva and Maharashtra
- The Virashaiva or Lingayat movement began in twelfth century Karnataka under Basavanna.
- Its followers wore the linga on the body, rejected temple ritual and brahmanical authority, and denied caste distinctions and the idea of rebirth.
- They opposed child marriage and supported widow remarriage, a strikingly early position.
- Their writings are the vachanas, short prose-poems in Kannada; Akka Mahadevi is the most famous woman among them.
- In Maharashtra the Varkari tradition centred on Vithoba of Pandharpur produced Jnaneshwar, whose Jnaneshwari is a Marathi commentary on the Gita, and Namdev, Eknath, Chokhamela and Tukaram, whose abhangas are still sung.
- Chokhamela came from the Mahar community, and his songs directly address exclusion.
हिंदी संकेत: आलवार विष्णु के भक्त थे और नयनार शिव के। यह जोड़ी सबसे अधिक पूछी जाती है - आलवार का 'व' विष्णु से जोड़कर याद रखिए।
Exam me kaise aata hai
Match-the-following on philosopher and school is almost certain, as is Alvar-Vishnu and Nayanar-Shiva. Factual questions ask the number of Alvars and Nayanars, the name of their collections, and who founded the Lingayat movement. Statement-based questions test Virashaiva positions on caste and widow remarriage.
UPSC / State PSC ke liye
Note the social composition - Bhakti saints frequently came from artisan and cultivating groups, and they sang in regional languages, which is why the movement is treated as evidence of the growth of regional vernaculars as much as of religious change. Ramanuja's philosophy is the hinge between southern devotion and northern Bhakti.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ Alvars worshipped Shiva | ✓ Alvars worshipped Vishnu; Nayanars worshipped Shiva
✗ Shankaracharya founded the Vishishtadvaita school | ✓ Shankara founded Advaita; Ramanuja founded Vishishtadvaita
✗ Vachanas were written in Marathi | ✓ Vachanas are in Kannada; abhangas are in Marathi
Ek nazar me
- Bhakti began in Tamil Nadu with twelve Alvars of Vishnu and sixty-three Nayanars of Shiva.
- Their collections are the Nalayira Divya Prabandham and the Tevaram.
- Shankara - Advaita; Ramanuja - Vishishtadvaita; Madhva - Dvaita; Vallabha - Shuddhadvaita.
- Ramananda carried devotion north and accepted disciples of all castes.
- Basavanna's Virashaiva movement rejected caste and supported widow remarriage; vachanas in Kannada.
- Maharashtra's Varkari saints - Jnaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath, Chokhamela and Tukaram.