The main features and Effect of Bhakti Panth::Bhakti panth reformers

The main features and Effect of Bhakti Panth::Bhakti panth reformers

The emergence of Bhakthi movement is an important feature of medieval India. The concept of Mukthi (Salvation) has found an important place in the tradition of Indian religious and spiritual thoughts. In the tradition of Indian spiritual thought, various paths of attaining Moksha have been advocated. As a result, Jnana Marga, Bhakthi marga, Karma marga, yagna marga have been considered as important paths. Various philosophers and social reformers advocate liberal ‘Bhakthi panth’ . Bhakthi means pure faith in the God. Surrender oneself to the God and pure faith in the God was emphasised. They tried to inculcate sense of brotherhood among the people and also advocated equality of all religions. They never engaged in any rituals. They worshiped the God who had names like Rama, Krishna and Allah. They advocated Bhakthi marga as the path of attaining Mukthi . Absolute belief in the God and total surrendrance to the God were the basic tenents of the Bhakthi panth. Sufism grew as a parallel development to Bhakthi panth in Islam. Mutual influences can be found in both the movements.

The Bhakthi panth reached people of all the sections of the society due to its pro people stance. The saints who emerged during this period, expressed their Bhakthi in their native language and reached people successfully. Among them Ramananda, Namadeva, Kabir, Gurunank, Meerabai, Chaitanya, Ravidas, Surdas are important in North India. Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa and Shishunala Sharifa are important Bhakthi saints in Karnataka.

Ramanand

Ramanand was born in a Brahmin family in Allahabad. He was a follower of Ramanuja’s philosophy. He established a Vaishnava religious school based on love and devotion. He travelled to several places in North India and popularized the worship of Rama and Sita. Varanasi was his centre of activities. He condemned caste system and allowed people from every caste to join his sect. Kabir was one such follower. He preached in Hindi.

Do you know this?

     Ramanand gave this unique message to people:

         Do not question caste or creed

     Think of the Lord and become one with Him.

         God will never question one’s caste. Whoever believes in the God, would be

                       blessed by the God.

Kabir (1440-1510 C.E) : Kabir was another saint who lived in North India during this time. He was born in a family engaged in weaving work called as ‘Julas’ in Varanasi. He was a student of Ramanand, and spent most of his time at Varanasi. He began to preach his new philosophy. He condemned caste system and multiple idol worship, and declared that God is one, and he is the same for both Hindus and Muslims. He tried to bring about harmony and tolerance between the two communities. He preached in Hindi, the common man’s language like his Guru. He reached more people.

Kabir composed couplets known as dohas. Hindus and Muslims recite these dohas even today in North India. The followers of Kabir are known as Kabirpanthis, meaning travellers who go on the path of Kabir. Kabir preached the greateness of humourness that goes beyond caste and religion boundaries. Kabir was the main religious and social reformer of India.

Chaitanya (1486-1533 C.E) : Chaitanya was one of the famous saints of the Bhakti movement. He was born in a Brahmin family in Nadia of Bengal. He took Deeksha at the age of twenty five and become disciple of SriKrishna panth. He lived in Mathura and Brindavan for many years. He preached that differences of caste can be removed by discipline, and man becomes pure through devotion. He popularized worship of Krishna. He composed many devotional songs in praise of Krishna. He opposed caste system and attempted to bring about a sense of brotherhood among the people. His philosophical thoughts and teachings are collected in the book called “Chaitanya Charitamruta”.

Guru Nanak (1469-1539 C.E): Another advocate of the Bhakti movement was Guru Nanak who had religious leanings right from childhood. He was born in ‘Talawandi’ which is in Pakistan now. After traveling around for many years, he established a religious center in Kartharpur on river Ravi banks. He made his followers to sit and eat together irrespective of caste and creed. He started ‘Langar’ a community kitchen where food is prepared and catered to all. This became the sacred place for the followers. it was later called as ‘Gurudwara’. He preached that God is one and opposed idol worship. He emphasized Good deed and moral life. He had followers from Hindu as well as Muslim communities. His followers were called as ‘Sikhs’. His preachings are compiled in ‘Guru Granth Sahib’. It is called as ‘Adi Granth’ by Sikhs. It is kept in Gurudwaras and worshiped by them.

Meerabai: The other name for the Bhakti movement is Meerabai who was the princess of Mewad. She renounced a life of luxury and became the most devoted follower of Lord Krishna. Though she was married to Rajput prince, she left all the worldly things and became the disciple of Ravidas, a saint, who was born in an untouchable caste. She composed songs of devotion towards Krishna. These are called ‘Bhajans’. She criticized the claim of superior status of high caste people in her Bhajans. These Bhajans are very popular even today in Rajastan and Gujarat States. Like this, many reformers tried to bridge the gap between religious and castes in different parts of India.

Vitthoba temple at Pandharapur on the banks of the river Bhima in Maharashtra, was the centre of the Bhakti movement. Gnaneshwar and Namdev, Eknath, Tukaram and Ramdas were the famous saints of the new sect. Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa were foremost among the Bhakti movement in Karnataka. Their path is known as ‘Dasa Parampare’.

Sufi Saints : The Sufi saints arrived from Persia and settled in different parts of India. They are called peer (teacher). Since they wore coarse woolen clothing called suf, these Muslim saints were called ‘Sufis’. They preached that it was possible to reach the God or Allah through love and devotion. They emphasised the importance of respecting people of all classes. They believed that dance and music filled with devotion take us closer to the God. They composed many songs in Urdu and Hindi to proclaim the importance of devotion. The poetic works of ‘Mrigavati’ of Kutuban and ‘Padmavat’ of Mallik Mohammed Jaisi uphold Sufi philosophy. The Sufi cult has presence all over India. There are around twelve different groups among Sufis. Four among them are very important. Bidar, Kalburagi, vijayapura and other places of the North Karnataka are the important places of Sufism. Both the Hindus and Muslims take part in the religious ceremonies called ‘Urus’ that take place in these centers. These rituals are very much alive even today.

Shihsunala Sharifaa (1819-1889 CE)

Imam and Hujuma were his parents. He was born in Shishunala of present Shiggavi taluk of Gadag district in 1819 CE. Imam named his son ‘Muhammed Sharif’ as per the suggestion of a Khaji.

Sharif is a Parsee word. It means a man who has ideal goals or a man of worth and respected by all. Sharif grew up a worthy man just like his name.

Sharif was influenced by Islam, Veerashaiva and Vedic philosophies from a young age. Govindabhat, a knowledgeable person, became his Guru. He opened a school for the children of Shishunala to provide education to them. His education provided a holistic vision of life for his students.

Sharif who was always interested to move around with people, participated in all the fairs, drama shows and various other religious festivals that were arranged around Shishunala. He became the harbinger of Riyawath literature, which is part of Muharram celebration.

Puruandaradasaru (1484-1564 CE)

Purandaradasa was praised by Vysaraya as a ‘Dasa among the Dasas’. He has contributed immensely to the tradition of Bhakti poetry with his Vaishnava influenced Bhakti poems. He is called as the founding father of ‘Carnatic Music’.

Purandara was born in a wealthy family of Purandargadh of present Maharastra. Varadappa Nayaka and Lakshmidevi were his parents. His first name was Seenappa Nayaka. A Gold trader by profession, Seenappa Nayaka was known for his business acumen. Influenced and encouraged by his wife Saraswathi Bai, Seenappa Nayaka treaded the path of spirituality.

Purandaradas preached the Madhwa philosophy with his Keerthanas and traveled many places. He visited Thirupathi, Srirangapatana, Arunagiri, Udupi, Kanchi, Kanakachala, Kashi, Kumbhakona, Kudalipura, Hasthigiri, Kalahasthi, Srisyla, Gatikachala, Gadag, Harihara, Belur, Munnuru, Melukote, Hampi, Harihara and various other sacred places and spread the message of Bhakthi to common people.

Purandaradasa apart from expressing the importance of devotion as per Vaishnava sect, expressed his concern over false worship and philosophies of life. He criticized caste and creed based discrimination. He rejected false Bhakthi and insisted on inner reflections. He declared without inner purity, external purity is of no use. He said ‘What is the use of cleaning the external filth without cleansing the internal filth’. He also said without faith, the mere dipping in a river is of no use. He said ‘One has to stay alive and emerge victorious’, ‘Human birth is great. Never spoil it, oh fools’. Like this, he sowed the seeds of faith in human life and its worthiness and became the beacon for a life of satisfaction. All his considerable knowledge has become the upanishad of purandaradasa and earned the fame ‘‘Dasa means Purandaradasa.’’.

Kanakadasa

The parents of Kanakadasa, Beerappa and Bachamma were Srivaishnavaites by faith. They wanted to name their only child in the name of their family diety’s name and hence named him as ‘Thimappa’. Once this Thimappa came across a huge deposit of gold hidden deep in the Earth. People called him ‘Kanaka’ - Gold. It is said that Kanakadasa built a temple for Adikeshava in Kaginele from this treasure. Kanaka was the local chieftain of Bada and Bankapura and was well versed in war techniques. Once he was mortally wounded in war and this led him to question the very existence of life and its meaning. It is said that this incident made him to follow Dasa path and he became Kanakadasa.

Kanakadasa put efforts to remove discrimination based on caste and creed as Bakthi saint. He criticized mere show off bhakthi. He preached that people could attain moksha through Bhakthi. He broke the belief propagated by the priestly class that in order to attain moksha one has to be born in higher caste through his Keertanas.

Kanakadasa who was a poet, has created literature along with his meaningful Keertanas. He wrote ‘Mohanatharangini’, ‘Nalacharithre’, ‘Ramadhanya Charithre’ and ‘Haribhakthasaara’.

Effects of the Bhakti movement

Reformation of the Hindu practices and bringing about harmony between Hindus and Muslims were the main purposes of the Bhakti movement. The reformers were successful in removing many weaknesses in the Hindu society. The regional languages of India flourished since the reformers wrote in these languages. This enabled development of Indian culture. This movement facilitated the evolution of Indian Culture. It also made India to be identified as a land of multi cultures.

Do you know this?

The saints of the Bhakti movement composed keertans and bhajans in the languages they spoke. As a result, all these Indian languages flourished. In Hindi, Surdas composed ‘Sursagar’ and Tulsidas composed ‘Ramacharitamanas’. Apart from Abhangs in Marathi, Jnanadeva wrote ‘Jnaneshwari’ in Marathi.