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The history of Vijayanagara has always been a fascinating subject to ...

The history of Vijayanagara has always been a fascinating subject to ...

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inherited byfrom the early Tamil Bhakti compositions. North Indian poets likeKabir preferred <strong>to</strong> express his voice in the third person. It is said that the Bhakti poets used whatthey knew and what they observed <strong>to</strong> supplement their poetry, but it <strong>has</strong> <strong>to</strong> be taken in<strong>to</strong>consideration that they composed from 500 <strong>to</strong> 1200 years ago. <strong>The</strong>ir hymns may vary in style,but the poems shed light in<strong>to</strong> their his<strong>to</strong>rical contexts.Bhakti found in poems are in a sense , the bhakt ’s response <strong>to</strong> the world around them.<strong>The</strong>y at times admire the people around them and the society in which they live. At times theyshower criticisms upon the surrounding culture through willfully jerky lyrics. <strong>The</strong> degree <strong>of</strong>criticism represented in their poetry differ from one poet <strong>to</strong> another. Some times they usedsophisticated and graceful language that emp<strong>has</strong>ized the beauty <strong>of</strong> their respective languages.<strong>The</strong> Tamil Saiv s and Vaishnav s belonged <strong>to</strong> this category. But there were other groups whosepoems were strong enough <strong>to</strong> criticize the surrounding culture- the V rasaiv s <strong>of</strong> Karn takabelonged <strong>to</strong> this category.<strong>The</strong> poetry <strong>of</strong> the Bhaktas refashioned in the vernacular languages their imagining <strong>of</strong> thedivine <strong>to</strong>gether with their perceptions <strong>of</strong> god, man, society and the mutual symbiosis betweenthem.Bhakti is the frame within which the Bhakti poets determine appropriate acts <strong>of</strong>participation. <strong>The</strong> Saguna bhak s i.e those who represented the divine in an anthropomorphicform, the tradition <strong>to</strong> which the v rkari poets <strong>of</strong> Mah r shtra belonged framed their acts <strong>of</strong>participation in Bhakti using elements drawn from popular religions, myths, legends andworshipped their gods by <strong>of</strong>fering flowers lamps and singing hymns. 14 <strong>The</strong>y acknowledged theirconnection with these traditional methods by using epic and pur nic images in their poetry. For14Karen Prentiss Pechilis, op.cit, pp 27-2837

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