Bhakti Poetry of India: an Anthology

Publisher Marketing: BHAKTI POETRY OF INDIA An Anthology Translations & Introductions Paul Smith Bhakti is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God. While bhakti as designating a religious path is already a central concept in the Bhagavad Gita, 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) and Saiva Nayanars (5th-10th century), who spread bhakti poetry and devotion throughout India by the 12th-18th century. The Bhakti movement reached North India in the Delhi Sultanate. After their encounter with the expanding religion of Islam and especially Sufism, bhakti proponents, who were traditionally called 'saints, ' encouraged individuals to seek personal union with the divine. Its influence also spread to other religions. THE POETS: Appar, Andal, Jayadeva, Janabai, Namdev, Dnaneshwar, Lalla Ded, Vidyapati, Chandidas, Kabir, Nanak, Surdas, Mira Bai, Tulsidas, Eknath, Dadu, Rasakhan, Tukaram, Ramdas, Bahina Bai. Introduction on Bhakti & the Bhakti Poets of India & The Main Forms in the Bhakti Poetry of India. The correct rhyme-structure and meaning is here in these poems. Pages 236. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'. "It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished. " Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator from English into Persian, knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. "Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author). Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Omar Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Mahsati, Lalla Ded, Bulleh Shah, Shah Latif, Makhfi and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooksbookheaven.com Contributor Bio:  Smith, Paul Paul H. Smith, a retired Army intelligence officer and Operation Desert Storm veteran, spent seven years in the Department of Defense's remote-viewing program, serving as operational remote viewer, theory instructor and trainer, security officer, and unit historian. Smith has a B. A. in Middle Eastern studies from Brigham Young University, and an M. S. in Strategic Intelligence (Middle East emphasis) from the Defense Intelligence College, and is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. He is president of Remote Viewing Instructional Services, Inc., and vice president of the nonprofit International Remote Viewing Association.