ABSTRACT
The role of bhakti (religious devotion) in the lives of ascetics belonging to the Daśanāmī Order is an important example of the pervasive influence of bhakti in the history of Indian religions from the medieval period to the present. 1 The Daśanāmī Order, a Hindu monastic federation which traces its inception to the famous scriptural commentator and philosopher Śaṅkara, bases its way of life on Śaṅkara’s well known philosophy of Advaita Vedānta. The practice of bhakti in the lives of Advaita monks is intriguing, for there is an apparent contradiction between their professed philosophy on the one hand and their common expression of conventional religious devotion on the other. Śaṅkara’s Advaita philosophy is noted among Hindu religious systems for proclaiming that salvation (mokṣa) is attained through spiritual knowledge (jñāna) alone, not through good works or ritual action. Yet many Daśanāmā monks, including most visibly the leaders of the order, carry on routines of regular Hindu prayer and worship, implying that expressions of bhakti in prayer and worship are somehow efficacious.
