This volume unites studies on Indian devotional literature. It brings into focus New Indo-Aryan vernacular poetry of the so-called Bhakti type which gained prominence during the second third of this millennium and has continued to flourish and to be handed down to the present time. The papers mainly highlight the following aspects: sects and individual authors; Muslim contribution to Indian devotional literature; links between South and North Indian Bhakti; progress in critical edition projects; music and performance of devotional literature. All contributions reflect research in progress during the years 1979 to 1982. They form the results of the Second International Conference on Early Devotional Literature in New Indo-Aryan Languages, St. Augustin, Federal Republic of Germany, 1982.