Bhakti

Bhakti

Bhakti is a name used for more than one being and idea in the Purāṇas and Itihāsas. Each is listed below with where it is told; choose the one you are looking for.

Devatās

Things and ideas

  • Bhakti: Bhakti is loving devotion to Bhagavān Vishṇu. A short account of each teaching on bhakti in the Purāṇas, from Kapila‘s teaching to Devahūti to Prahlāda‘s to Bali. Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapters 2, 5, 7; Skandha 2, Chapters 1–4, 9; Skandha 3, Chapters 2, 7, 9, 25–29, 32–33; Skandha 4, Chapters 8, 11, 24, 29; Skandha 5, Chapters 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 19; Skandha 6, Chapters 1–2, 9
  • Kapila’s Teaching on Bhakti: Bhagavān Kapila teaches his mother Devahūti that bhakti is both the path to moksha and moksha itself: the company of sādhus, four kinds of bhakti, and its fruit. Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapters 25, 29, 33
  • Bhakti in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa: The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa teaches that bhakti for Śrī Hari, Śrī Kṛshṇa, is the highest vara, greater than every mukti, and never perishes. Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapters 8, 12, 17; Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 32, 34, 46, 62–63; Gaṇeśa Khaṇḍa, Chapters 6, 8, 24; Śrī Kṛshṇa Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapters 93–94, 96–97
  • Bhakti in the Agni Purāṇa: At the close of the Agni Purāṇa, Agni Deva tells Vasishṭha Maharshi that worship of Śrī Kṛshṇa with bhakti frees from pāpa, and that Vishṇu-bhakti is the daiva mārga. Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 383
  • Bhakti in the Vāmana Purāṇa: In the Vāmana Purāṇa, Prahlāda teaches his grandson Bali in Sutala that Bhagavān Vishṇu is the one boat across saṃsāra, and how he is pleased by dāna, pūjā and temples. Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 67–68