Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Foreword
- Preface
- Introduction: Locating Devotion in Dissent and Dissent in Devotion A Thematic Overview
- Introduction
- 1 Parsing of Devotion and Dissent
- 2 Dissent and Protest in Early Indian Buddhism with Special Reference to Devadatta
- 3 Devotion and Dissent in Hunter's Bhakti
- 4 Devotion and Dissent
- 5 Dissent Within
- 6 Women in Love
- 7 Dissenting Voices
- 8 Dissent in Kabir and the Kabir Panth
- 9 Devotion and Dissent of Punjabi Dalit Sant Poets
- 10 Protest and Counter-protest
- 11 Fakirs of Bengal
- 12 Music in Chishti Sufism
- 13 Dissenting the Dominant
- 14 Devotion and Dissent within the Catholic Church in Late Colonial Bengal
- 15 Narratives of Travel, Voices of Dissent and Attacks on the Colonial Church Fabric of the European Missionaries
- 16 Devotion and Dissent in Narayana Guru
- 17 Sree Narayana Guru's Idioms of the Spiritual and the Worldly
- Contributors
- Index
6 - Women in Love
from Introduction: Locating Devotion in Dissent and Dissent in Devotion A Thematic Overview
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Foreword
- Preface
- Introduction: Locating Devotion in Dissent and Dissent in Devotion A Thematic Overview
- Introduction
- 1 Parsing of Devotion and Dissent
- 2 Dissent and Protest in Early Indian Buddhism with Special Reference to Devadatta
- 3 Devotion and Dissent in Hunter's Bhakti
- 4 Devotion and Dissent
- 5 Dissent Within
- 6 Women in Love
- 7 Dissenting Voices
- 8 Dissent in Kabir and the Kabir Panth
- 9 Devotion and Dissent of Punjabi Dalit Sant Poets
- 10 Protest and Counter-protest
- 11 Fakirs of Bengal
- 12 Music in Chishti Sufism
- 13 Dissenting the Dominant
- 14 Devotion and Dissent within the Catholic Church in Late Colonial Bengal
- 15 Narratives of Travel, Voices of Dissent and Attacks on the Colonial Church Fabric of the European Missionaries
- 16 Devotion and Dissent in Narayana Guru
- 17 Sree Narayana Guru's Idioms of the Spiritual and the Worldly
- Contributors
- Index
Summary
The fragrance mingling in the breeze
Like pleasure in intercourse given freely where there is love;
This is the path of bhakti,
Is it not, Nastinatha?
Love is central to the path of devotion. In striking contrast to sectarian and communal schisms and conflicts which are hate driven, the path of devotion has been marked by love that is intensely physical and at the same time, transcendental. Humanism and universal compassion are often the most pronounced features of the devotional way of religion. The chief moods of bhakti are union (sayujyam) and separation (viraha). This, on the one hand, results in love poetry that is often characterized by viraha or separation and unrequited love. On the other hand, devotional poems in the love mode can be passionately sensual and filled with the ecstasy of union. Scholars of religion and spirituality term the intense love of the devotee for God as ‘bridal mysticism’, although bridal mysticism is only one, albeit the most sensual, of the many ways in which the devotees relate to the Supreme. Karaikkal Ammaiyar, whose love for Shiva is expressed in praise of his cosmic dance on the cremation grounds of Tiruvalangadu, is a striking example of love that is couched in the metaphor of the terrible with the saint herself as the ghoulish figure presiding over the cremation ground. Here, love is passionate but horrific and awe inspiring rather than sensual.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Devotion and Dissent in Indian History , pp. 122 - 144Publisher: Foundation BooksPrint publication year: 2014