The impact of the Bhakti movement under the given heads is explained as under:
(a). Ensuring Harmony between Hindus and Muslims: The Bhakti movement became popular in the whole of India. The saints and reformers offered the people a simple religion devoid of complicated rituals a religion, which required only sincere devotion to . They tried to reform Hinduism so that it could successfully withstand the challenges of Islam and they also tried to ensure harmony between the two communities—Hindus and Muslims in an atmosphere of toleration and co-operation. The message of religious toleration made a profound impression on Several *** rulers. They attracted many devotes from both the communities and exercised a stabilizing influence on society.
(b). Preaching the fundamental Equality of all human beings: They tried to evolve a new social order by following the principle of equality and by denouncing caste distinctions. They exposed the futility of external rituals and set free the minds of the people from the domination of the priests. Thus, the movement brought in not only religious reforms, but also social changes.
(c). Promoting regional languages and Devotional Literature: The Bhakti reformers preached to the people in their mother-** and it provided an impetus for the development of regional languages such as Hindi Bengali,Marathi, Maithili, Gujarati etc. Their compositions rank very high in the devotional literature of the world.
