Dr. H. S. Sivaprakash represents the Jawaharlal Nehru University , New Delhi . The paper presented by him in Prof. M. B. Emeneau Centenary International Conference on South Asian Linguistics, is titled, "Transmutations of Desire and Power in Bhakti Expressions". This paper focuses on the socio-historical and at times philosophical aspects of Bhakti.

            Dr. Shivaprakash asserts that the Bhakti mode of expressions dominated Indian creative psyche for well over a millennium and the studies on bhakti could go a long way in helping to understand India as a literary and cultural space. Regarding the achievements of Bhakti movements, he believes that a judicious mixture of synchronic and diachronic approaches is necessary to arrive at a comprehensive view, but there are many obstacles in this path.

           Quoting examples from Jayadeva, Andal, Basavanna, Akkamahadevi, Appar, Periya Azhwar and other poets of the Bhakti paradigm in the South, he emphasized that the Bhakti Movement had more influence in the south than north of India.

           In the discussion that followed this session, Anjali Gera Roy raised a question on the origin of Bhakti. In reply, Dr. Shivaprakash gave two points of view regarding its origin-the North Indian and the South Indian views. He mentioned Sufi movement, which gave a fillip to North Indian Bhakti Movement; and the South Indian view that was shaped by Tamil cultural history. Replying to Dr. Venkat Rao's query as to the phenomenon of Bhakti originating from Shankara, Dr. Shivaprakash asserted that one couldn't say that Bhakti originated from Vedas but even though Shankara has written devotional poems it cannot be assumed that Shankara influenced Bhakti.