MEDIEVAL RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT (BHAKTHI)

RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS AND PHILOSOPHY

The age of Bhakti, or devotion and self-surrender to God, was ushered in. It gave birth to many mystic saints who devoted their lives in the search of God.

        The Bhakti cult cut across distinctions of high and low birth, the learned and the unlettered, and opened the gateway of spiritual realization to one and all. The mystics and saints of the age, both in the North and the South, were unconventional and anti-ritualistic and ignored the age-old restrictions of caste and creed or attached little importance to them.

SAINTS OF NORTH INDIA.

The Bhakti movement may be said to have originated in the South in the teachings of the Tamilian mystic saints of the 7th-9th centuries A.D.  It was systematized by Ramanuja in the 12th century A.D.  and propagated throughout India. It was spread in the North by Ramananda, who was greatly influenced by the teachings of Ramanuja. He gave his teachings through Hindi, the language of the common people. He ignored the traditional barriers of caste and creed and had among his disciples-

1. Raidasa – The Cobbler.
2. Kabir – The Weaver.
3. Dhanna – The Jat Farmer.
4. Sena      – The Barber
5. Pipa       – The Rajput.

KABIR (A.D. 1398-1518)

    He was the most important of the disciples of Ramananda, and perhaps the most outstanding mystic of the times. He was a foundling brought up by a Muslim weaver at Varanasi. He lived the life of a householder, earning his living by weaving. His songs are noted for their literary excellence, besides conveying a great spiritual and moral message to the world. There is in them a denunciation of worldliness, the life of sense-pleasure, sectarianism, formal religious practices and unrighteous conduct.

The God, he worshipped was formless one; he called Him by many names, both Rama and Rahim.

IDEOLOGY:

 “…. He sharply condemned caste and religious distinctions and taught the brotherhood of man. He appealed to the conscience, the inner voice of man, and not to scriptures, Hindu or Muslim. He believed that the ultimate goal of the human soul was unity with God. He had both Hindus and Muslims as his followers, and when he died both claimed him as their own for performing the last rites…”

RAIDASA

He is contemporary of Kabir and a fellow-disciple of Ramananda, was a cobbler of Varanasi. He was a householder like Kabir, a mystic of the Nirguna school, and his fame spread far and wide. Rani Jhali of Chittoor became his disciple. He composed songs brimming with love and devotion, and unlike Kabir Respected others’ beliefs. Some of them are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred text of the Sikhs. After him, his followers formed the Raidasa Panth.

DADU DAYALA (A.D 1544-1603).

A native of Ahmadabad (Gujarat) and of in certain parentage and social status, he was spiritually inclined from his boyhood. He left home in search of God when he was only twelve. Later, he settled down at Narama, earning his livelihood by carding cotton.

IDEOLOGY:

     “…He practiced the teachings of Kabir, discarded the limitations of caste and creed, and exhorted his followers not to distinguish between Hindus and Muslims…”

SUNDARADASA (A.D. 1596-1689)

   It was a Great Disciple of Dadu, having joined him at the tender age of 6 or 7. He was a Vaisya, who hailed from Deosa near Jaipur but spent most of his days at Varanasi. Dadu had also a number of Muslim mystics who spread his message far and wide.                       

RAJJAB OF SANGANER (A.D. 1567-1683)

He was so devoted to his master that on the latter’s passing away he closed his eyes, never to open again. His songs are in Rajasthani mixed with Sanskrit, and number over five thousand.