1 Bhakti Through Literature: A Study of Poonthanam and Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri’s Literary Works Bhakti Through Literature: A Study of Poonthanam and Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri’s Literary Works S Rukmini* * Assistant Professor, Department of English, GITAM Institute of Technology, GITAM University,Visakhapatnam 530045, Andhra Pradesh, India. E-mail: rukminikrishna123@gmail.com © 2014 IUP. All Rights Reserved. In recent years, there has been a surge in bhakti literature and this is evident from the recent developments in Indian writing in English. Bhakti transcends geographical, sociocultural and literary boundaries and the same can be said about bhakti literature as well. India is known for its spiritual and bhakti culture and tradition. Whenever the balance of the universe is disturbed by external interference from any of its parts, the redeemer, as the power of eternal balancing, appears for the protection of those who are in harmony and the rectification of everything disharmonious. This dharma, i.e., the religion of God, the Sanatana Dharma, the eternal religion, has survived even as Abrahamic religions and atheism spread across the world in the last 1000 years primarily because of its inherent patriotism. It is on this that the whole idea of the religion is based. The religion treats the nation as mother. The roots of nationalism can be traced to its spiritual and bhakti traditions. In this Kaliyuga, the means attaining salvation is bhakti alone. The aim of the present paper is to outline the relevance of bhakti literature and its implications to nationalism. Further, it discusses the contribution of Kerala’s bhakti literature in general and Poonthanam’s and Melpathur’s literary contribution in particular to Indian nationalism. Introduction to Bhakti Movement and Literature The tenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita avers, Sarganam adir antas ca madhyam caivaham arjuna adhyatma-vidya vidyanam vadah pravadatam aham “Of all creations I am the beginning and the end and also the middle, O Arjuna. Of all sciences I am the spiritual science of the self, and among logicians I am the conclusive truth.”