The paper deals with the problem of the functional role of formulae in the early bhakti lyrics of the Northern India. The lyric theme characteristic to the poetry of the Kṛṣṇa-bhakti (in particular, Mīrā̃ Bāī (1499–1547), Sūradās (1483–1563) and others), is represented also in the distiches and padas of some poets-sants, preachers of the nirguṇa-bhakti (Kabīr (1440‒1518), Dharmadās (first half of the XVI c.) etc). The formulaic language in the early author’s poetry is generally considered to be the mere “remnant” of the folk oral technics of the poetic composition, according to the M. Parry — A. Lord theory. At the same time some loans from the folk or literary sources that can be distinguished in the lyric sakhis of Kabīr, the padas of Mīrā̃ Bāī and Dharamadās and the versification of the folk songs in the lyrics by Sūradās, Mīrā̃ Bāī, Kabīr etc. should be regarded as stylistic means. The loans played the role of the patterns (may be, the famous patterns) or the markers of the lyric style as it was, thus deepening the expressiveness of the lyric emotion. The main goal of the paper is to show that the folk formulae in the early author’s texts also can be regarded as a “stylistic code” of the bhakti lyrics of the period (XV–XVI cc.).