Shiva, Vishnu, and the conjoined forms of three goddesses representing Shakti: Lakshmi, Parvati, and Saraswati
Shiva, Vishnu, and the conjoined forms of three goddesses representing Shakti: Lakshmi, Parvati, and Saraswati

Bhakti (also spelled Bhakthi, Sanskrit: भक्ति^[1]) in Hinduism and Buddhism is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine. Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Iṣṭa-devatā (also as Svayam Bhagavan in Gaudiya Vaishnavism).

Bhakthi can be used of either tradition of Hindu monotheism, Shaivaism or Vaishnavism.^[2] While bhakti as designating a religious path is already a central concept in the Bhagavad Gita,^[3] it rises to importance in the medieval history of Hinduism, where the Bhakti movement saw a rapid growth of bhakti beginning in Southern India with the Vaisnava Alvars (6th-9th century CE) and Saiva Nayanars (5th-10th century CE), who spread bhakti poetry and devotion throughout India by the 12th-18th century CE.^[4][5] The Bhagavata Purana is text associated with the Bhakti movement which elaborates the concept of bhakti as found in the Bhagavad Gita.^[6]

The Bhakti movement reached North India in the Delhi Sultanate and throughout the Mughal era contributed significantly to the characteristics of Hinduism as the religion of the general population under the rule of a Muslim elite. Its influence also spread to other religions during this period,^{[clarification needed][7][8][9][10]} and became an integral aspect of Hindu culture and society in the modern era.^[5]

Terminology[link]

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The Sanskrit and old hindi noun bhakti is derived from the verb root bhaj, whose meanings include "to share in", "to belong to", and "to worship".^[11] It also occurs in compounds where it means "being a part of" and "that which belongs to or is contained in anything else."^[12] Bhajan, or devotional singing to God, is also derived from the same root.^[13] "Devotion" as an English translation for bhakti doesn't fully convey two important aspects of bhakti—the sense of participation that is central to the relationship between the devotee and God, and the intense feeling that is more typically associated with the word "love".^[11] An advaitic interpretation of bhakti goes beyond "devotion" to the realization of union with the essential nature of reality as ananda, or divine bliss.^[12] Bhakti is sometimes used in the broader sense of reverence toward a deity or teacher. Bhaktimarga is usually used to describe a bhakti path with complete dedication to one form of God.^[11]

A more literal translation of bhakti would be "participation";^[14] The sage Narada defines Bhakti as "intense love" for God.^[15] Similarly Sage Shandilya defines Bhakti as "intense attraction" for God.^[16] One who practices bhakti is called a bhakta,^[17] while bhakti as a spiritual path is referred to as bhakti marga, or the bhakti way.^[18][19] Bhakti is an important component of many branches of Hinduism, defined differently by various sects and schools.^[11]

Bhakti emphasises religious devotion and sentiment above ritual and orthopraxy. In this sense it parallels the early 20th century movement of Pentecostalism in Christian history, where direct personal experience of God was also emphasized over liturgy or ritual.

The Classical Sanskrit term bhakti has a general meaning of "attachment, devotion, fondness for, devotion to" etc. also in terms of human relationships, most often as beloved-lover, friend-friend, parent-child, and master-servant.^[6] It may refer to devotion to a spiritual teacher (Guru) as guru-bhakti,^[20][21] to a personal form of God,^[22] or to divinity without form (nirguna).^[23]

History[link]

Scholarly consensus sees bhakti as a post-Vedic movement that developed primarily during the era of Indian epic poetry.^[24][25] The Bhagavad Gita is the first text to explicitly use the word "bhakti" to designate a religious path, using it as a term for one of three possible religious approaches.^[26] The Bhagavata Purana develops the idea more elaborately,^[6] while the Shvetashvatara Upanishad evidences a fully developed Shiva-bhakti (devotion to Shiva)^[18] and signs of guru-bhakti.^[27] An early sutra by Pāṇini (c. 5th century BCE) is considered by some scholars as the first appearance of the concept of bhakti, where the word "vun" may refer to bhakti toward "Vasudevarjunabhya" (with implied reference to Krishna Vasudeva).^[28] Other scholars question this interpretation.^[29][30]

The Bhakti Movement was a rapid growth of bhakti beginning in Tamil Nadu in Southern India with the Saiva Nayanars (4th-10th century CE)^[5] and the Vaisnava Alvars (3rd-9th century CE) who spread bhakti poetry and devotion throughout India by the 12th-18th century CE.^[4][5] The Alvars ("those immersed in God") were Vaishnava poet-saints who wandered from temple to temple singing the praises of Vishnu. They established temple sites (Srirangam is one) and converted many people to Vaishnavism. Their poems were collected in the 10th century as the Four Thousand Divine Compositions also referred to as Dravida Veda or Alwar Arulicheyalgal or Divya Prabhandham, which became an influential scripture for the Vaishnavas. The Alwars and Nayanmars were instrumental in propagating the Bakti tradition and played probably the most important role of reviving Hinduism from the dying embers. For the first time, Bagwan or God reached the masses and the masses were able to associate themselves with the religion. Another significant thing was that the Alwars and Naynmars came from various background and castes including that of the Sudras (working class). The Bhagavata Purana's references to the South Indian Alvar saints, along with its emphasis on a more emotional bhakti, have led many scholars to give it South Indian origins, though there is no definitive evidence of this.^[31][32]

Like the Alvars the Saiva Nayanar poets softened the distinctions of caste and gender. The Tirumurai, a compilation of hymns by sixty-three Nayanar poets, is still of great importance in South India. Hymns by three of the most prominent poets, Appar (7th century CE), Campantar (7th century) and Cuntarar (9th century), were compiled into the Tevaram, the first volumes of the Tirumurai. The poets' itinerant lifestyle helped create temple and pilgrimage sites and spread devotion to Shiva.^[33] Early Tamil-Siva bhakti poets quoted the Black Yajurveda specifically.^[34]

By the 12th to 18th centuries, the bhakti movement had spread to all regions and languages of India. Bhakti poetry and attitudes began to color many aspects of Hindu culture, religious and secular, and became an integral part of Indian society.^[5] Prominent bhakti poets such as Ravidas and Kabir wrote against the hierarchy of caste.^[35] It extended its influence to Sufism,^[36] Sikhism,^[8] Christianity,^[9] and Jainism.^[10] Bhakti offered the possibility of religious experience by anyone, anywhere, at any time.^[37]

[edit] Bhakti Yoga

The Bhagavad Gita introduces bhakti yoga in combination with karma yoga and jnana yoga,^[38][39] while the Bhagavata Purana expands on bhakti yoga, offering nine specific activities for the bhakti yogi.^[40] Bhakti in the Bhagavad Gita offered an alternative to two dominant practices of religion at the time: the isolation of the sannyasin and the practice of religious ritual.^[37] Bhakti Yoga is described by Swami Vivekananda as "the path of systematized devotion for the attainment of union with the Absolute".^[41] In the twelfth chapter of the Gita Krishna describes bhakti yoga as a path to the highest spiritual attainments.^[42] In the ninth chapter, he says,

Fill thy mind with Me, be My devotee, sacrifice unto Me, bow down to Me; thus having made thy heart steadfast in Me, taking Me as the Supreme Goal, thou shalt come to Me. (B-Gita 9.34)^[43]

Shandilya and Narada produced two important Bhakti texts, the Shandilya Bhakti Sutra and Narada Bhakti Sutra.^[44][45] They define devotion, emphasize its importance and superiority, and classify its forms.^[46]

Types and classifications[link]

In Valmiki's Ramayana, Rama describes the path as ninefold (nava-vidha bhakti):

Such pure devotion is expressed in nine ways, . First is satsang or association with love-intoxicated devotees. The second is to develop a taste for hearing my nectar-like stories. The third is service to the guru (...) Fourth is to sing my kirtan (communal chorus) (...) Japa or repetition of my Holy name and chanting my bhajans are the fifth expression (...) To follow scriptural injunctions always, to practice control of the senses, nobility of character and selfless service, these are expressions of the sixth mode of bhakti. Seeing me manifested everywhere in this world and worshipping my saints more than myself is the seventh mode of bhakti. To find no fault with anyone and to be contented with one's lot is the eighth mode of bhakti. Unreserved surrender with total faith in my strength is the ninth and highest stage. Shabari, anyone who practices one of these nine modes of my bhakti pleases me most and reaches me without fail.^[47]

The Bhagavata Purana teaches nine similar facets of bhakti, as explained by Prahlada:^[48]

(1) śravaṇa ("listening" to the scriptural stories of Kṛṣṇa and his companions), (2) kīrtana ("praising", usually refers to ecstatic group singing), (3) smaraṇa ("remembering" or fixing the mind on Viṣṇu), (4) pāda-sevana (rendering service), (5) arcana (worshiping an image), (6) vandana (paying homage), (7) dāsya (servitude), (8) sākhya (friendship), and (9) ātma-nivedana (self-surrender). (from Bhagata Purana, 7.5.23-24)

[edit] Bhavas

Traditional Hinduism speaks of five different bhāvas or "affective essences".^[49] In this sense, bhāvas are different attitudes that a devotee takes according to his individual temperament to express his devotion towards God in some form.^[50] The different bhāvas are: śānta, placid love for God; dāsya, the attitude of a servant; sakhya, the attitude of a friend; vātsalya, the attitude of a mother towards her child; and madhura, the attitude of a woman towards her lover.^[50] Several saints are known to have practiced these bhavas. The nineteenth century mystic, Ramakrishna is said to have practiced these five bhavas.^[51] The attitude of Hanuman towards lord Rama is considered to be of dasya bhava.^[52] The attitude of Arjuna and the shepherd boys of Vrindavan towards Krishna is regarded as sakhya bhava.^[51][53] The attitude of Radha towards Krishna is regarded as madhura bhava.^[51] The attitude of Yashoda, who looked after Krishna during his childhood is regarded as vatsalya bhava.^[54] Caitanya-caritamrta mentions that Mahaprabhu came to distribute the four spiritual sentiments of Vraja loka: dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, and sringara. Sringara is the relationship of the intimate love.

Name[link]

As a name, Bhakthi is a unisex name. It's in use by both males and females.

[edit] Notable proponents of bhakti

• Krishna
• Narada
• Nayanars 3rd to 10th century CE
• Alvars approx. 6th to 9th century CE
• Adi Shankara 788 CE to 820 CE
• Ramanuja 1017 CE 1137 CE
• Madhvacharya 1238 CE to 1317 CE
• Dnyaneshwar 1275 CE to 1296 CE
• Jayadeva 12th century CE
• Nimbarka 13th century CE
• Kabīr 1398 CE to 1518 CE
• Annamacharya 1408 CE to 1503 CE
• Vallabha Acharya 1479 CE to 1531 CE
• Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 1486 CE to 1533 CE
• Tulsidas 1497 CE to 1623 CE
• Poonthanam 16th century CE
• Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri 1559 CE to 1632 CE
• Kancherla Gopanna 1620 CE - 1680 CE
• Tyāgarāja died 1847 CE
• Ramakrishna Paramahamsa 1836 CE to 1886 CE
• Shirdi Sai Baba 19th Century CE
• Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 1896 CE to 1977 CE
• Pandurang Shastri Athavale 1920 CE to 2003 CE
• Jagadguru Kripalu Maharaj 1922 CE
• Mata Amritanandamayi born 1953

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Swami Chinmayananda, Love Divine – Narada Bhakti Sutra, Chinmaya Publications Trust, Madras, 1970
• Swami Tapasyananda, Bhakti Schools of Vedanta, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras, 1990
• A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam (12 Cantos), The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust,2004
• Steven J. Rosen, The Yoga of Kirtan: conversations on the Sacred Art of Chanting (New York: FOLK Books, 2008)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bhakti

Find more about Bhakti on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
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	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• Bhakti Poets: A History of Bhakti by Doris Jakobsh
• The full text of the Bhagavata Purana (Srimad-Bhagavatam)
• English Translation of Narada Bhakti Sutra
• Bhakti Live Channel
• Bhaktivedanta College's online study of bhakti books

Vanraj Bhatia is an Indian music composer, who is best known for providing music for most of Shyam Benegal's films, and for his private albums with Music Today.

During the 1970s and 1980s he worked with many art film makers in India. In the 1990s he composed the music of Vijay Singh's international film Jaya Ganga. He won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for Tamas in 1988, and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1989.^[1] Padmashree for 2012 has been conferred upon him in field of Art - Music.

Biography[link]

Early life and education[link]

Born in 1927 in Bombay, Vanraj Bhatia trained in Western classical music while studying at the Elphinstone College in Mumbai for M.A. (English Honours); after graduating in 1949 he left for the Royal Academy of Music, London, to study music composition, which he passed with a Royal Academy Gold Medal in 1954.

Thereafter he entered the Paris Conservatory where he studied with Nadia Boulanger and Howard Ferguson between 1954 and 1959. During his studies abroad he received various scholarships, including the Sir Michael Costa Scholarship (1951-4), a Rockefeller Fellowship (1954-8), and a French Government Scholarship (1957-8).^[2]

Career[link]

In 1960, he started his career as Reader in Musicology in charge of Western Music, at the Faculty of Music Delhi University, where he stayed until 1965.

Meanwhile, in 1959, he created his first advertising jingle for Shakti Silk Sarees. From that point on he became one of the pioneering ad jingle makers in India, and also one of the most successful, later moving to Mumbai and working for the advertising industry. In all he has created over 7000 scores for advertising jingles, corporate and business films.

His first film as a music composer was Ankur (1974), and he soon became a regular composer for Shyam Benegal and other art film makers of the time. His most noted works in this period are Manthan (1976), Bhumika(1977), Junoon (1978), 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), Trikal (1985) and Mandi (1983) and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983).

He has also created music for Indian theatre productions such as “Tughlak” and “Andha Yug” ^[3]

In the following decade, his work was heard constantly ^[4] on Indian television with the title scores for TV series like Khandaan, Yatra, Lifeline, Discovery Of India, Wagle Ki Duniya, and the made-for-TV film Tamas (1987), for which he received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1988.

In the 1990s, he worked in many commercial Hindi films as well as providing background scores for many other films, working on over 40 films during his career. His most noted works were for Shyam Benegal's film Sardari Begum in 1996 and for Vijay Singh's international film Jaya Ganga.

In 2012, the first act of his opera Agni Varsha was premiered in Queens, New York.

Non-film albums[link]

• Sangit Raat (Night Music)
• The Elements - EARTH (1999)
• Indian Meditation Music (1999)
• Anant - The Endless (2001)
• The Bhagavad Gita (2002)
• The Spirit of Upanishads (2007)

Awards & recognition[link]

• Bengal Film Journalists Association Award for Music: Bhumika (1976), Manthan (1977)
• Sur Singar Samsad Awards: Best Classical Score /Song: 1986, 1987
• National Film Award for Best Music Direction: Tamas: 1988
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award: 1989 ^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Vanraj Bhatia at the Internet Movie Database
• Private albums of Vanraj Bhatia
• Vanraj Bhatia filmography at NY Times

Manoj Tiwari
Born	1 February 1971 Atarwalia, Bihar, India
Other names	Mridul[1]
Occupation	Actor, singer, director, television presenter
Years active	1983 – present
Spouse	Rani Tiwari[2][clarification needed]
Children	One daughter[3]

Manoj Kumar Tiwari (born 1 February 1971)^[3] is a singer, actor, television presenter and music director^{[clarification needed]} from Bihar, India. He has acted in the Bhojpuri genre of the Indian film industry and in 2005 was reported to be one of the two leading male stars of that genre.

Early life[link]

Manoj Tiwari was born on 1 February 1971, one of the six children of Chandra Deo Tiwari and Lalita Devi.^[3] His birthplace was Atarwalia, a small village in Kaimur district of Bihar.^[4]

Career[link]

Prior to Tiwari's involvement in cinema, he had spent ten years working as a singer.^[5]

In 2003, he took a role in the film Sasura Bada Paise Wala. The BBC reported that the production costs of US$ 65,000 were turned into takings of US$ 3 million, while The Hindu reported a 35,000–40,000 lakh cost resulting in takings of 4.5 crore. Indian Express reported a figure of 6.5 crore as the takings. The Bihar Jharkhand Motion Picture Association saw this production as being a turning point for Bhojpuri cinema.^[6][7] He followed this with the successful films Daroga Babu I Love You and Bandhan Toote Na.^[5] Tiwari is reported to have said in 2005 that although the Bhojpuri genre had generally kept to its traditional storylines, "Gone are the double entendres, thin story lines and poor technical quality. Films have been slick and producers are willing to put in close to Rs 80 lakh in a film because the returns are not bad,"^[5]

The BBC reported in 2005 that Tiwari and Ravi Kishan were the biggest male stars in the flourishing Bhojpuri cinema market and that Tiwari was able to charge US$ 90,000 per film.^[6]

In 2010, Tiwari was a contestant in the fourth season of reality television show Bigg Boss.^[8] He was reported by Rediff to say that his wife, Rani, "is angry with me" because she suspected him of having an affair with a fellow contestant, Shweta Tiwari, and that "Arbaaz Khan tweeted and asked people to vote for Ashmit [Patel]. I felt little bad about this because his brother is the host of the show and he is asking people to vote. I somehow didn't understand that angle." When asked whether he thought that the votes were manipulated, he said "I am bound by my contract so I can't comment on this. But it is little hard to believe that I got lesser votes than Ashmit. I guess viewers enjoy watching Veena Malik and Ashmit's fake romance. I really don't understand why the channel is still keeping them inside the house."^[9] NDTV reported a similar story, adding that he had been separated from his wife and child for some months.^[10] Tiwari had previously worked with Shweta Tiwari in two films, Kab Aibu Anganwa Hamaar and Ae Bahuji ke Sister.^[2] By mid-2011 he and his wife, were involved in divorce proceedings regarding their eleven year marriage.^[2]

Tiwari continues to record music and release new albums. He performs around the world in concert.^[11] He released an album, Hey Mahadev, in 2009 that fused traditional music with contemporary genres.^[12] He is listed as being music director for numerous releases.^[13]

Politics[link]

In 2009, Tiwari contested elections for the 15th Lok Sabha as a candidate for the Samajwadi Party in the Gorakhpur constituency. He had been offered a choice of three constituencies and Zeenews reported him as saying that he was not "a political person but was concerned for the development of Poorvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh." His interest was in developing that region and he had "submitted my development proposals to industrialist Anil Ambani".^[14] He lost to Adityanath Yogi.^[15]

His house in Mumbai was allegedly attacked in November 2009 by a group of people angry with remarks that they claimed he had made about Shiv Sena. Tiwari denied having made any comment on the matter, which revolved around a dispute between the Shiv Sena leader, Bal Thackeray, and the Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.^[16]

In January 2011 Mid-Day reported that the BJP might invite him to join their party and that the association with him would assist their electoral efforts among North Indians. Tiwari dismissed the story as being hypothetical, although he would consider his options should an invitation emerge. He had been seen with BJP leaders at an event and had expressed admiration for Shatrughan Sinha, the BJP MP for Patna.^[17]

Tiwari was among the first celebrities to make an appearance in support of Ramdev's hunger strike at the Ramlila Ground protests on 4 June 2011. He sang various patriotic songs to the gathered protestors and claimed that he had ceased filming for a month in order to join the protest.^[18] In August of that year he was involved in protests surrounding the arrest of Anna Hazare, of whose popular anti-corruption movement he approved.^[19]

Support for cricket[link]

Tiwari is a keen supporter of cricket and played the sport at Benares Hindu University. He has tried to buy the franchise for an Indian Premier League team in order to boost the sport in his home region and is also involved with Kirti Azad's Association of Bihar Cricket, a body that is campaigning to be recognised by the BCCI as the official organisation for Bihar cricket.^[1]

In July 2011, Tiwari announced that he was going to build a 3 crore "temple" to the Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni on land owned by him in his home village. The "temple" would recognise the India cricket team that had won the 2011 Cricket World Cup and would be named after it. He intends to incorporate training facilities to assist in the development of young cricketers from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, as well as a "world-class" cricket stadium.^[1][4] The "temple" is expected to open in January 2012 and at that time discussions were under way regarding staging international matches at the 40 acres (16 ha) site that he had bought for construction of the stadium.^[20]

Selected filmography[link]

Actor[link]

• Daroga Babu I Love You^[5]
• Bandhan Toote Na^[5]
• Kab Aibu Anganwa Hamaar^[2]
• Ae Bahuji ke Sister^[2]
• Deshdrohi^[21]
• 2006 – Ganga
• 2008 – Bhole Shankar
• 2010 – Hello Darling (Hindi)
• 2011 – Insaaf^[22]
• 2012 – Hello (Hindi)

Television[link]

• Bigg Boss 4 (2010) – Himself
• Sur Sangram (season 1 & 2) – Host^[12]
• Nehle pe Dehla – Host

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Manoj Tiwari at the Internet Movie Database

Sacinandana Swami
Religion	Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Hinduism
Other name(s)	Thorsten Pettersson[1]
Personal
Born	1954 Hamburg, Germany
Religious career
Initiation	Diksa–1972, Sannyasa–1989
Post	ISKCON Guru, Sannyasi
Website	http://www.saranagati.net

Sachinandana Swami^[2] (born 1954, Hamburg) is a Gaudiya Vaishnava guru,^[3][4][5] sannyasi,^[3] and one of the religious leaders of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (commonly known as the Hare Krishnas or ISKCON).^[3][4][5] Of German origin,^[3] he joined ISKCON in 1970^[3] and was initiated by the movement's founder, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in 1971.^[5] Sacinandana Swami is well known throughout ISKCON for his kirtana and public speaking. He teaches and writes prolifically on Vaishnavism and the Hare Krishna movement and has translated the Bhagavad Gita into German.^[5] His publications include The Nectarean Ocean of the Holy Name, The Gayatri Book, The Way of the Great Departure, The Art of Transformation, and Spiritual Tonic.^[6]

Sacinandana Swami first came in contact with Gaudiya Vaishnavism after seeing Hare Krishna devotees on German TV in the late 1960s.^[5] "One day, I remember it was in television. I was a fan of the Rolling Stones. One of the members, the guitarist, had died from an overdose of drugs. I cried tears - my model had died. After this, an exciting new group, the Radha Krishna Temple, came on and sang the Hare Krishna mantra. I immediately felt deep solace."^[5]

In 1970, a 16-year-old boy at the time, Sacinandana Swami "set off to introduce himself to the Hare Krishna community in Germany and began the life of learning, teaching and traveling that he continues to this day".^[5] In 1987 he became an initiating guru in ISKCON, and in 1989 took sannyasa.^[3] Sacinandana Swami has made a number pilgrimages to holy places in India, often traveling to Vrindavan for intensive 'japa' retreats.^[6] He also visited Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Mount Kailash, Ahobilam, Srirangam, Melukote, and Tirupati throughout his travels.^[6]

In terms of educational development within ISKCON, Sacinandana Swami has conducted classes at the Vaisnava Institute for Higher Education and the Bhaktivedanta College project at Radhadesh.^[6][7] He also serves as the spiritual director of the Veda Academy,^[8] an internationally recognized university of Vedic sciences, arts, and philosophy active in eight countries.^[6]

In September 2009 Sacinandana Swami toured Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia with American kirtan artist Krishna Das.^[9] In a TV interview in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Krishna Das said, "You know my friend Sacinandana Swami, we were talking a few years ago and I knew he travels through here often and I just wanted to come. So I said "Let's go! Let's organize a tour." I didn't think about it, you know. I just felt it would be great to come here, it would be a wonderful thing, so here we are.^[10]

Bibliography[link]

English

• Śacīnandana Swami The Gāyatrī Book. — 1st ed. — Vasati Verlag, 2005. — 340 p. — ISBN 978-3-937238-05-0
• Śacīnandana Swami The Art of Transformation. — Śaraṇāgati Publishing, 2005. — 86 p.
• Śacīnandana Swami Spiritual Tonic: Bhakti-rasayana. — Śaraṇāgati Publishing, 2006. — 164 p.
• Śacīnandana Swami The Nectarean Ocean of the Holy Name. — 2nd ed. — Śaraṇāgati Publishing, 2006. — 295 p.
• Śacīnandana Swami Nama Rahasya - The Confidential Secrets of Chanting the Holy Name in Perfection. — Śaraṇāgati Publishing, 2008. — 120 p.

German

• Śacīnandana Swami Der Nektarozean des Heiligen Namens. — Veda Akademy Verlag, 1997. — 248 p. — ISBN 3-932973-02-X
• Śacīnandana Swami Der Weg des großen Abschieds. Aus dem Tagebuch einer Pilgerreise in den Himalaja. — Gayatri Verlag, 1999. — 168 p. — ISBN 3-00-003904-X
• Śacīnandana Swami Der Weg des großen Abschieds. Aus dem Tagebuch einer Pilgerreise in den Himalaja. — 2., überarb. Aufl. — The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 2000. — 206 p. — ISBN 91-7149-431-6
• Śacīnandana Swami & Marcus Schmieke Das große Praxisbuch der Mantras: Nutzen Sie die Kraft spirituellen Klangs. — Freiburg: Nietsch, 2007. — 220 p. — ISBN 3-939570-01-X

Russian

• Шачинандана Свами Путь великих прощаний. Дневник паломника в Гималаи. — М.: Бхактиведанта Бук Траст, 2004. — 221 с. — 5000 экз. — ISBN 5-902284-07-4
• Шачинандана Свами Океан нектара святого имени. — 2-е изд. — М: Философская книга, 2003. — 368 с. — ISBN 5-8205-0039-3

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Saranagati OnLine - by Sacinandana Swami
• Leaving the Noise of the Ten Thousand Little Things

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sacinandana Swami

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan
Vaidyanathan in Kuwait, 2006
Background information
Born	(1935-03-02)2 March 1935 Kunnakudi, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	8 September 2008(2008-09-08) (aged 73) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Instruments	Violin

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan (March 2, 1935 – September 8, 2008) was an Indian classical music violinist.

Early life[link]

He was born to Sri Ramaswamy Sastri and Smt. Meenakshi at Kunnakudi, a temple town of Lord Murugan in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

His father was a scholar in Sanskrit and Tamil, and a composer and exponent of Carnatic Music and Kathakalakshepam. Vaidyanathan started learning South Indian Classical Music from his father at a very young age.

Vibhuti or sacred Ash and a large Vermilion dot smeared prominently on his forehead were his trademark symbols.

Career[link]

The violin was his forte. Known for the dexterity and subtlety in handling the violin, he catered not only to the music scholar but also to the layman. His play reflected his own different moods and the demands of his audience with whom he established and enjoyed a good rapport. He dwelled with ease and competence in the high as well as the low octaves.

At the age of 12, he accompanied great stalwarts like Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Maharajapuram Santhanam in concerts. He also performed with Nadaswaram vidwans like T.N.Rajarathinam Pillai and Thiruvenkadu Subramania Pillai.^[1]

He stopped accompanying vocal artistes in 1976 to concentrate more on solo concerts. He was famous for his fingering techniques on the violin. His interest in new attempts and innovations led him to work with veteran thavil vidwan Valayapatti Subramanian. They performed over 3,000 shows together. Vaidyanathan had deep faith in the therapeutic merits of music.

Film music[link]

He also made a significant contribution to Tamil devotional music. A. P. Nagarajan giving him his first break in the movie Vaa Raja Vaa. He had several hits such as Agathiyar and Raja Raja Chozhan, for which he scored music.

Vaidyanathan made a special appearance in the 2005 Tamil movie Anniyan directed by Shankar, on the Tyagaraja Aradhana festival sequence for the song Iyengaaru Veetu which is a recreation of the real festival. He had guest appearances in many other films.

He tried his hand at film production with a feature film in Tamil Thodi Ragam, with T. N. Seshagopalan in the lead, which failed enthuse the audience.

Awards[link]

He was awarded the prestigious "Padma Shri" title by the Indian government, Kalaimamani award, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1993, and the Karnataka Isaignani award. He has also won Best Music Director awards for his background scores for films.

Other associations[link]

Vaidyanathan, had a long association with the All India Radio. An able administrator, Vaidyanathan served as Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nadaga Mandram. As the Secretary of Thyagabrahma Sabha, Thiruvaiyaru in Thanjavur district, he conducted the Tyagaraja Aradhana for several years. He also served as president of the Raga Research Centre.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Interview with Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan