Editing Bhakti (section)

== Terminology ==
The Sanskrit word ''bhakti'' is derived from the verb root ''bhaj-'', which means "to worship, have recourse to, betake onself to"  or ''bhañj-,'' which means "to break."<ref name="Cutler" /><ref name="Prentiss">{{cite book|last=Pechilis Prentiss|first=Karen|title=The Embodiment of Bhakti|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=US|year=1999|page=24|isbn=978-0-19-512813-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vu95WgeUBfEC&pg=PA24}}</ref><ref name="Werner">{{cite book|last=Werner|first=Karel|title=Love Divine: studies in bhakti and devotional mysticism|publisher= Routledge|year= 1993|pages= 168|isbn= 978-0-7007-0235-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYahlaJCLnYC&pg=PA168}}</ref><ref>John Bowker "Bhakti ." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Encyclopedia.com. 16 Oct. 2020 https://www.encyclopedia.com .</ref> The word also means "attachment, devotion to, fondness for, homage, faith or love, worship, piety to something as a spiritual, religious principle or means of salvation".<ref name=monier /><ref>[http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?tinput=bhakti&direction=SE&script=HK&link=yes&beginning=0 bhakti] Sanskrit English Dictionary, University of Koeln, Germany</ref>

The meaning of the term ''Bhakti'' is analogous to but different from [[Kama]]. Kama connotes emotional connection, sometimes with sensual devotion and erotic love. Bhakti, in contrast, is spiritual, a love and devotion to religious concepts or principles, that engages both emotion and intellection.<ref name=karen20>Karen Pechelis (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 19-21</ref> Karen Pechelis states that the word Bhakti should not be understood as uncritical emotion, but as committed engagement.<ref name=karen20 /> She adds that, in the concept of ''bhakti'' in Hinduism, the engagement involves a simultaneous tension between emotion  and intellection, "emotion to reaffirm the social context and temporal freedom, intellection to ground the experience in a thoughtful, conscious approach".<ref name=karen20 /> One who practices ''bhakti'' is called a ''bhakta''.<ref>Karen Pechelis (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, page 3</ref>

The term bhakti, in [[Vedas|Vedic]] Sanskrit literature, has a general meaning of "mutual attachment, devotion, fondness for, devotion to" such as in human relationships, most often between beloved-lover, friend-friend, king-subject, parent-child.<ref name="Cutler">{{cite book|last=Cutler|first=Norman|title=Songs of Experience|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=1987|pages=1|isbn=978-0-253-35334-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=veSItWingx8C&pg=PA1}}</ref> It may refer to devotion towards a spiritual teacher ([[Guru]]) as ''guru-bhakti'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Sivananda|first=Swami|title=Guru Bhakti Yoga|publisher=Divine Life Society|year=2004|isbn=978-81-7052-168-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Vivekananda|first=Swami|title=The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda|publisher=Advaita Ashrama|year=1970| url =http://www.dlshq.org/download/gurubhaktiyoga.htm | pages=62}}</ref> or to a personal God,<ref name="Cutler" /><ref>{{cite book|author=Neusner, Jacob|title=World religions in America: an introduction|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=2003|pages=128|isbn=978-0-664-22475-2}}</ref> or for spirituality without form ([[nirguna]]).<ref>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, page 21</ref>

According to the Sri Lankan Buddhist scholar Sanath Nanayakkara, there is no single term in English that adequately translates or represents the concept of ''bhakti'' in Indian religions.{{sfn| Nanayakkara|1966|pp=678–80}} Terms such as "devotion, faith, devotional faith" represent certain aspects of ''bhakti'', but it means much more. The concept includes a sense of deep affection, attachment, but not wish because "wish is selfish, affection is unselfish". Some scholars, states Nanayakkara, associate it with ''saddha'' (Sanskrit: ''Sraddha'') which means "faith, trust or confidence". However, ''bhakti'' can connote an end in itself, or a path to spiritual wisdom.{{sfn| Nanayakkara|1966|pp=678–80}}

The term ''Bhakti'' refers to one of several alternate spiritual paths to [[moksha]] (spiritual freedom, liberation, salvation) in Hinduism,<ref name=johnmartin /> and it is referred to as ''bhakti marga'' or ''[[bhakti yoga]]''.<ref name="Klostermaier">{{cite book|last=Klostermaier|first=Klaus|author-link=Klaus Klostermaier|title=A survey of Hinduism|publisher=SUNY Press|year=1989|pages=210–212|isbn=978-0-88706-807-2}}</ref><ref>Karen Pechelis (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 14-15, 37-38</ref> The other paths are ''[[Jnana yoga|Jnana marga]]'' (path of knowledge), ''[[Karma marga]]'' (path of works), ''Rāja marga'' (path of contemplation and meditation).<ref name=johnmartin>John Martin Sahajananda (2014), Fully Human Fully Divine, Partridge India, {{ISBN|978-1482819557}}, page 60</ref><ref>KN Tiwari (2009), Comparative Religion, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120802933}}, page 31</ref>

The term ''bhakti'' has been usually translated as "devotion" in [[Orientalism|Orientalist]] literature.<ref>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 15-24</ref> The colonial era authors variously described ''Bhakti'' as a form of mysticism or "primitive" religious devotion of lay people with monotheistic parallels.<ref name=paulcarus>Paul Carus, {{Google books|96sLAAAAIAAJ|The Monist|PA514}}, pages 514-515</ref><ref>DG Mandelbaum (1966), Transcendental and Pragmatic Aspects of Religion, American Anthropologist, 68(5), pages 1174–1191</ref><ref>DC Scott (1980), Hindu and Christian Bhakti: A Common Human Response to the Sacred, Indian Journal of Theology, 29(1), pages 12-32</ref> However, modern scholars state "devotion" is a misleading and incomplete translation of ''bhakti''.<ref name=karen2324 /><ref name="Gale">{{cite book|title=Gale Encyclopedia of Religion|pages=856–857|editor=Lindsay Jones|publisher=Thomson Gale|year=2005|volume=2|isbn=978-0-02-865735-6}}</ref>

Many contemporary scholars have questioned this terminology, and most now trace the term ''bhakti'' as one of the several spiritual perspectives that emerged from reflections on the Vedic context and Hindu way of life. Bhakti in Indian religions is not a ritualistic devotion to a God or to religion, but participation in a path that includes behavior, ethics, mores and spirituality.<ref name=karen2324 /> It involves, among other things, refining one's state of mind, knowing God, participating in God, and internalizing God.<ref name=karen2324 /> Increasingly, instead of "devotion", the term "participation" is appearing in scholarly literature as a gloss for the term ''bhakti''.<ref name=karen2324>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 23-24</ref><ref name="Gale" />{{love sidebar|cultural}}

''Bhakti'' is an important term in Sikhism and Hinduism.{{Sfn|Lorenzen|1995|pp=1-2}} They both share numerous concepts and core spiritual ideas, but ''bhakti'' of ''nirguni'' (devotion to divine without attributes) is particularly significant in Sikhism.{{Sfn|Lorenzen|1995|pp=1-2}}<ref name=hardip>Hardip Syan (2014), in ''The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies'' (Editors: Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech), Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199699308}}, page 178</ref><ref>A Mandair (2011), Time and religion-making in modern Sikhism, in ''Time, History and the Religious Imaginary in South Asia'' (Editor: Anne Murphy), Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415595971}}, page 188-190</ref> In Hinduism, diverse ideas continue, where both ''saguni'' and ''nirguni'' bhakti (devotion to divine with or without attributes) or alternate paths to spirituality are among the options left to the choice of a Hindu.{{Sfn|Lorenzen|1995|pp=1-2}}<ref name=johnmartin />