The concept of divine grace has always been and continues to be fundamental in Hindu devotional religion (bhakti), albeit it is seen differently by different Hindu devotional groups.
The two primary religious groups, the Alvars and the Nayanars, both highlighted the total transcendence of their chosen deity and the chasm between God and human people in the Tamil devotionalism that constituted the first articulation of the bhakti movement.
Grace, in this view, became something that only God could freely offer.
Only God had the capacity to transform human beings and deliver their souls to complete liberation—a concept of grace that was not dissimilar to Christian beliefs.
There was a controversy among the Shrivaishnavas, a later southern Indian religious sect, about whether emancipation was obtained largely via one's faith or by one's labor.
The Tengalai school valued faith and claimed that only God could provide salvation.
The Vadagalai school, on the other hand, praised a person's efforts and argued that individuals must react to divine grace in order for their souls to achieve ultimate liberty.
Tamil devotionalism articulated the significance of divine transcendence and omnipotence, which has remained a vital aspect of Hindu religiosity to this day.
Southern Indian bhakti preferred to use imagery of master and servant to depict the deity-devotee (bhakta) relationship.
Other representations of this connection were emphasized in Northern Indian bhakti, especially those which concentrated on the gods Rama and Krishna: friend and friend, father and child, lover and beloved.
The concept of grace was inevitably affected by these various views, which ranged from the thought of God as other and saving force to the holy aspect that comes from sharing ordinary relationships.
Grace is shown in the latter by the ability to participate in God's divine play (lila), to play with God, and therefore to participate in the divine universe.
God is immanent rather than transcendent in this worldview, and divine action takes the form of participating the mundane activities of human existence.
In current Hindu religious life, all of these types may be found, while some are more closely identified with certain groups or religious communities.
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