From Devotion to Development: Aligning Hindu Bhakti Practices with the Sustainable Development Goals

Problematizing the global failure to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Bhakti mārga is offered as an alternative way to meet these goals—emphasizing interconnectedness, humility, service, and joyful devotion to all living beings. Bhakti mārga, with its capacity to unite and heal, possibly holds the key to stitching together conflicting stakeholder interests by paving the way for a shift from an ego-centric, anthropocentric worldview to an all-inclusive, community-centered approach based on care, fraternal bonding, service, and joy - thus fostering an ecologically sensitive mindset and stakeholder unity. Drawing on Bhakti mārga, a unique conceptual model is presented in this paper that displays transcending the ‘I’ to a more pro-social ‘we’, leading to respect for all living beings, and for the planet, which is reeling under the weight of seemingly insurmountable sustainability challenges.