Bhakti Yoga: Tales and Teachings from the Bhagavata Purana

Description

Bhakti Yoga explores one of the eight 'limbs' of yoga. In the simplest terms, bhakti yoga is the practice of devotion, which is the essential heart of yoga and of Hinduism in general. In recent times, the term has come to be used in a rather simplistic way to refer to the increasingly popular practice of kirtan, or chanting in a group or at large gatherings. But bhakti yoga is far more complex and ancient than today's growing kirtan audiences are aware, and embraces many strands and practices. Edwin F. Bryant focuses on one famous and important school of bhakti and explores it in depth to show what bhakti is and how it is expressed. And he supplies his own renderings of central texts from that tradition in the form of 'tales and teachings' from an important work called the Bhagavata Purana, or 'The Beautiful Legend of God.' This clarifying work establishes a baseline for understanding, and will be welcomed by all serious students of the spiritual heritage of India.

Edwin F. Bryant studied at Manchester University and University of London and received his PhD from Columbia University. He has taught in the religion departments at Harvard University and Columbia University, and since 2001 has been an assistant professor of religion at Rutgers University. Bryant has written numerous scholarly articles and reviews and has written, edited, or translated six books, including a translation of the four thousand verses of the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana called Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God.

"Bryant is an accomplished, helpful, and humble guide to this intriguing tradition, which is still largely unexplored in the West." --Publishers Weekly