Longing and Union as Devotional Ontologies in the Works of Meera Bai, Raidas and Tagore

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Autor principal: Bhattacharjee, Swagata
Formato: Recurso digital
Lenguaje:inglés
Publicado: Zenodo 2025
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author Bhattacharjee, Swagata
author_facet Bhattacharjee, Swagata
contents <p>Introduction<br>Bhakti poetry, in its myriad forms, is animated by the paradoxical idea<br>that the divine is simultaneously near and distant, present and<br>transcendent. Meera Bai (1498–1546), known for her devotion to<br>Krishna, exemplifies in her songs the voice of longing that defines one<br>set of relationships with the divine in the Bhakti tradition. Her poems<br>carry a deeply personal relationship with God. The relationship is<br>characterised by surrender and unrelenting love. Sant Raidas (mid-15th<br>to late 16th century) extends this devotional consciousness by<br>emphasizing the metaphors of merging intimacy and egalitarian devotion<br>that transcend caste and social divisions. Centuries later, Rabindranath<br>Tagore (1861–1941) rearticulates the same philosophy of relationship<br>with the divine in a modern idiom of ‘Brahmo’ humanism and<br>universalism. Despite differences in historical context, linguistic<br>medium, and sensibility, the works of Meera Bai, Raidas, and Tagore<br>converge on a central ontological insight, i.e., longing is not absence<br>but the very medium that enables union with the Divine.<br>This study interprets their devotional poetics as ontologies of longing<br>and union by exploring how separation, interdependence, and unity<br>function as modes of divine realization. The comparative framework<br>draws upon Pye’s (1980) notion of ‘comparative hermeneutics’<br>toemphasize how religious interpretation operates through social and<br>cultural interaction. By bringing together Bhakti and Brahmo traditions,<br>the paper examines how devotional experience transforms into a<br>philosophy of being.</p>
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spellingShingle Longing and Union as Devotional Ontologies in the Works of Meera Bai, Raidas and Tagore
Bhattacharjee, Swagata
Philosophy and Music
Comparative Philosophy
Comparative Hermeneutics
Bhakti Movement and Music
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
<p>Introduction<br>Bhakti poetry, in its myriad forms, is animated by the paradoxical idea<br>that the divine is simultaneously near and distant, present and<br>transcendent. Meera Bai (1498–1546), known for her devotion to<br>Krishna, exemplifies in her songs the voice of longing that defines one<br>set of relationships with the divine in the Bhakti tradition. Her poems<br>carry a deeply personal relationship with God. The relationship is<br>characterised by surrender and unrelenting love. Sant Raidas (mid-15th<br>to late 16th century) extends this devotional consciousness by<br>emphasizing the metaphors of merging intimacy and egalitarian devotion<br>that transcend caste and social divisions. Centuries later, Rabindranath<br>Tagore (1861–1941) rearticulates the same philosophy of relationship<br>with the divine in a modern idiom of ‘Brahmo’ humanism and<br>universalism. Despite differences in historical context, linguistic<br>medium, and sensibility, the works of Meera Bai, Raidas, and Tagore<br>converge on a central ontological insight, i.e., longing is not absence<br>but the very medium that enables union with the Divine.<br>This study interprets their devotional poetics as ontologies of longing<br>and union by exploring how separation, interdependence, and unity<br>function as modes of divine realization. The comparative framework<br>draws upon Pye’s (1980) notion of ‘comparative hermeneutics’<br>toemphasize how religious interpretation operates through social and<br>cultural interaction. By bringing together Bhakti and Brahmo traditions,<br>the paper examines how devotional experience transforms into a<br>philosophy of being.</p>
title Longing and Union as Devotional Ontologies in the Works of Meera Bai, Raidas and Tagore
topic Philosophy and Music
Comparative Philosophy
Comparative Hermeneutics
Bhakti Movement and Music
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
url https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17519172