Bhakti Movement . The bhakti reformers preached the principles of monotheism (oneness of God) . They believed in freedom from the cycle of life and death. They advocated that the salvation could be attained only by deep devotion and faith in God.
. They emphasized the self-surrender for obtaining the bliss and grace of God. . Gurus could act as guides and preceptors.
XI History - Lesson - - Cultural Syncretism: Bhakti Movement in India the teachings of its other gurus, incorporates the writings of many Bhakti poets and Sufi saints such as Ramananda, Namadeva, Kabir and Sheikh Farid. Chaitanya ( – ) Chaitanya of Bengal represents an aspect of the bhakti movement that is very different from that seen in the lives and teachings of Kabir and his successors. Chaitanya’s concern, unlike that of Kabir, was not with bringing people to an understanding of a God, beyond all creeds and formulations; it was to exalt the superiority of Krishna over all other deities. It was, in other words, a revivalist, not a syncretic movement, a return to a worship of Vishnu under one of his most appealing forms, the loving ecstatic Krishna.
The Bengal Vaishnavites did not try to reform Hinduism. Instead, they emphasized devotion to Krishna. Chaitanya, however, made disciples from all classes. He popularised the practice of group devotional singing accompanied by ecstatic dancing.
His movement became popular in Bengal and Orissa. Namadeva Namadeva, a son of a tailor and an inhabitant of the village of Naras- Vamani in Satara district of Maharashtra, under the influence of Saint Janadeva, was converted to the path of bhakti. A staunch devotee of Vithala (avatar of Vishnu) of Pandarpur, Namdeva spent much of his time in worship along with his followers, chanting mostly in his own verses. He wrote many abhangs (songs composed and sung by saints in Maharashtra in praise of God’s glory) in Marathi and Hindi.
He travelled as far as Punjab where his teachings became so popular that they were later absorbed Chaitanya Namadeva passionate conviction that he had found the pathway to God, a pathway