Discuss briefly on early tradition of …

The early traditions of Bhakti had the following features:

1. The poet-saints emerged as leaders having a large number of devotees. They initiated the tradition of the Bhakti movement.
2. They broke the orthodox Brahmanical framework by accommodating and acknowledging women and the people belonging to the lower castes.
3. The Bhakti tradition also had a lot of diversity.
4. The Bhakti tradition is classified into two categories: Saguna and Nirguna. Saguna means the worship of specific deities such as Vishnu, Shiva and their incarnational forms like the goddess or Devi. It emphasised the attributes of deities. On the other hand, the Nirguna Bhakti was the worship of an abstract form of God. It was worship with attributes.
5. Preaching through local or regional language and travelling from place to place for spreading the religious message.

6. If a devotee worships the chosen deity with a pure heart, the deity will appear in the form in which he or she may desire.