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Bhakti signifies a religious trend within Hinduism, which main features are a very intense, emotional and loving devotion towards god. This devotion exists in many
religious currents of the Hinduism, but its strongest appearance can be found in Vishnuism (the worship of Vishnu).
The concept of bhakti has a very long tradition within the religious history of India. First references can be traced back to the Rigveda (Svetasvatara
Up.5.5.), the Mahabharata and inscriptions from the centuries preceding the Christian era.
In south-India the popularity of bhakti mainly was due to the Alvars, a group of wandering ascetics, who wandered from one temple to another, singing,
dancing and praising the name of god.
The Bhagavata Purana (1000 AD), especially the description of the love games between Krishna and the cowgirls (gopis), played an important role
for the further development of bhakti. It was mainly in Vishnuism, that this concept became a central subject of a very rich religious, philosophic and erotic literature and architecture.
It became also a central subject of the doctrine of many religious leaders all over India, who interpreted this concept in their own way and put much
effort in spreading it in their regions. One of the most important characteristics of this development was probably the establishment of the vernacular language in the religious literature. Due to this, the bhakti
belief became open to all social stratas.
In Maharashtra this specific process was closely linked to Jnaneshvara, who made bhakti a popular movement in the 13th century.
The author of this article, Chihiro Koiso (Tanaka), delivers on the basis of religious sources an outline of the philosophy of bhakti, his main concern
being Jnaneshvara´s particular interpretation of bhakti. Furthermore he tries to demonstrate, in which way Jnaneshvara´s concept differs from other prevalent interpretations.
Koiso takes up a very difficult and complex subject. It’s hardly comprehensible, which effort he puts in the analysis of the religious sources. But it
should definitely be mentioned here, that this analysis, even if the article seems to be from time to time difficult to understand, is in fact its outstanding achievement. In that way the author links the reader
directly with the religious sources. Besides this he gives a profound overview of the religious phenomenon of bhakti.
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