Voice of Bhakti Meerabai and Akka Mahadevi

Abstract

The Sanskrit word bhakti denotes everything of the human mind related to devotion and fondness, care and worship, and the inevitable ingredient, piety, particularly in matters related to the higher aspects of single-minded attachment to one s personal god. Further, bhakti in Sanatan Dharma is to be understood as a dominant theistic devotional trend that emerged with the dawn of Indian civilization eons ago and has existed in every era evenly, surfacing from time to time in great surges through the length and breadth of the vast expanse of the then Bharath. There is a great similarity between the lives and poems of Akka Mahadevi and Meerabai, despite belonging to different eras and cultures. They give validity to the popular adage Love speaks the same language. Their intense love for their chosen deity that culminated into the acme of spiritual realization is the inspiration behind the present study. The thesis also endeavours to understand their contemporary social relevance and their significance to a world of modernity in the context of their lives, poems and devotion. newline