bhakti
भक्ति
Devotion; participation; sharing.
Technical Meaning
Loving devotion to a personal God, above all Krishna and Rama in the Hindu traditions: the path of the Bhagavad Gita's later chapters and of the Tamil and Hindi poet-saints, open to all regardless of caste.
More Sanskrit Terms
- atman — Self.
- brahman — The expansive; the great.
- dharma — That which is upheld; order; duty.
- karma — Action; deed.
- maya — Illusion; measure; magic.
- moksha — Release; liberation.
- samsara — Wandering; the flowing-on.
Related Across the Site
- karma Glossary Term — Action; deed.
- samsara Glossary Term — Wandering; the flowing-on.
- St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology Library — An open-access, multi-author theological reference with advanced articles on Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
- Gayatri Mantra Prayer or Creed — The most revered mantra of the Rig Veda, a meditation on the divine light that illumines the mind.
- Mahavakyas Prayer or Creed — The four "great sayings" of the Upanishads declaring the identity of the self (atman) and ultimate reality (Brahman).
- Nitnem Prayer or Creed — The daily banis (hymns) prescribed for Sikh devotion: morning, evening, and night prayers from the Sikh scriptures.
- Hinduism World View — Hinduism gathers many traditions around one conviction: the soul is bound to rebirth by karma, and liberation comes when it realizes its oneness with the divine.
- Sikhism World View — Sikhism confesses one God, revealed through Guru Nanak and the ten Gurus; honest work, shared wealth, and remembrance of God lead to liberation.