Discuss the Bhakti and Sufi saints in Medieval India and their impact on the life of the people in context to the following: · Kabir
· Nanak
· Mirabai
· Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
· The impact they had on the minds of the people of that time
Answers
The Sufi Movement:
The Sufi movement was a socio-religious movement of fourteenth to sixteenth century. The exponents of this movement were unorthodox Muslim saints who had a deep study of vedantic philosophy and Buddhism of India. They had gone through various religious text of India and had come in contact with great sages and seers of India. They could see the Indian religion from very near and realized its inner values. Accordingly they developed Islamic Philosophy which at last gave birth to the Sufi Movement.Accordingly Prithvi Raj sent the chief priest of Ajmer, Rama Deo, with an order to Muinuddin to leave his state. But Rama Deo was so much impressed and fascinated with the personality of Chisti that he became his disciple and remained with him. In this way he attracted everyone who came in contact with him. He had a large number of followers.By leading a very simple ascetic way of life and spreading the message of love and equality, he had tried to wipe out ill- feelings from the minds of the people of two communities i.e. Hindus and Muslims. Of course no authentic record of his activities is available. He did not write any book but his fame rose with the fame of his successors. However living for a long period of more than ninety years and spreading the message of love and universal brotherhood he breathed his last in 1234 A.D.
The Bhakti Movement:
The Bhakti movement was another glorious religious movement in the history of India. It was purely based on devotion to God and nothing else. Devotion means Bhakti through which one can realize God. The chief exponents of this cult were Ramanuja, Nimbarka, Ramananda, Vallabhacharya, Kabir, Nanak and Sri Chaityana. They preached the doctrine of love and devotion to realize God. Therefore the movement came to be known as Bhakti Movement.
The concept of Bhakti or devotion to God was not new to Indians. It is very much present in the Vedas, but it was not emphasized during the early period. Much later during the Gupta period, when the worship of Lord Vishnu developed, many holy books including the Ramayan and the Mahabharata were composed depicting the love and mystical union of the individual with God. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, though written earlier were re-written during the Gupta times. Therefore Bhakti was accepted, along with Jnana and Karma, as one of the recognized roads to salvation. But this way (Marga) was not popularized till the end of fourteenth century in India.
It was mainly due to the fact that Shaiva Nayanars and the Vaishnavite alvars preached in the Local Languages. And use of Sanskrit language was still less. However the ideas of Bhakti were carried to the north by scholars as well as by saints. Among these mention may be made of Namadeva, Ramananda, Ramanuja, Nimbarka, Vallabhacharya etc.
Namadeva:
Namadeva was a Maharashtrian Saint who flourished in the first part of the fourteenth century. He was a tailor who had taken to banditry before he became a saint. His poetry which was written in Marathi breathes a spirit of intense love and devotion to God. Namadeva is said to have travelled far and wide and engaged in discussions with the Sufi Saints in Delhi.
Ramananda:
Ramananda was also a Maharashtra Saint who belonged to the period between the second half of the fourteenth and the first quarter of the fifteenth century. He was a follower of Ramanuja. He was born at prayag (Allahabad) and lived there at Banaras. He was a great devotee of Lord Ram and therefore he substituted the worship of Ram in place of Vishnu. He was dead against caste system in India.
Ramanuja:
Ramanuja was a great preacher of Bhakti cult. He flourished in the early part of the twelfth century. He belonged to South India. He was a follower of Vaishnavism. His great disciple was Ramananda. He preached that devotion to God was the only way to attain Salvation. He disregarded caste system and lined to be entertained by the low caste people.
Nimbarka:
Nimbarka was another great preacher of Bhakti Cult. He belonged to the South, but spent most of his life in Mathura. He was a great devotee of Lord Krishna and Radha. He preached the doctrine of Self Surrender. Vallabhacharya was another distinguished preacher of the Bhakti Cult. He was born in a telugu Brahman family in Banaras in 1479.
Kabir:
Among those who was most critical of the existing social order and made a strong plea for Hindu-Muslim Unity, the name of Kabir stands out. Kabir was a Champion of the Bhakti Cult. Of course there is a good deal of uncertainty about the dates and early life of Kabir. According to a legend, Kabir was the son of a brahmana widow who due to certain reasons left him after his birth in a helpless condition on the bank of a tank at Banaras in 1440 A.D.
And this Bhakti movement has ever lasting influence on the people of India and outside. Even Akbar the great, was greatly influenced by the Bhakti and Sufi Philosophers, which made him to follow a secular stand in the field of religion.