Sacred Freedom: Reimagining Existentialism Through Bhakti

Author(s)	Ms. Sayantika Sen, Dr. Debraj Chakraborty
Country	India
Abstract	This study looks at how Bhakti and existential philosophy interact, suggesting that in Bengal Vaiṣṇavism, Bhakti represents both deep love and complete freedom which could be an existential choice that is basically contradictory but ultimately transformative. Bengal Vaiṣṇavism gives an alternative answer to existential questions: surrender as freedom and love as transcendence. This contrasts with Western existentialism, which emphasizes autonomy, anguish, and authenticity, and its resultant anxiety, alienation and despairespecially as expressed by Kierkegaard, Sartre, and Camus. This essay advocates the case that Bhakti could be a poignant and fruitful alternative tothese existential crises because, contrary commonplace idea, this paper argue that bhaktiis an active reclamation of identity through a divine relationship rather than a passive act. This research reconstructs Bhakti as an existential commitment to meaning, integrity, and profound freedom by interpreting important texts like the BhāgavataPurāṇa, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, and Chaitanya Charitāmṛta through the prism of widely overlapping philosophies.
Keywords	freedom, bhakti, existential meaning, absurd, līlā, rupa-swarupa, alienation
Field	Arts
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 6, November-December 2025
Published On	2025-12-23
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.64366

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