how did the saints of the mediaeval period view the concept of attainment of Salvation
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He initiated the process of breaking the shell of orthodoxy which covered the Hindu society, to withstand the threat posed by Islam. His movement embraced the generous recognition to the spiritual as well as social needs and aspirations of the common people. He also attempted at the relaxation of the caste rules in respect of religious and social matters. He accepted the members of all castes as his disciples and allowed them to eat and drink together.
He designated his disciples as ‘Avadhutas’ meaning the persons who had liberated themselves from old prejudices. He encouraged the use of vernaculars for popularizing his religion so as to reach the masses. Thus his preaching could reach all castes and all people. He said, “Let no man ask a man’s caste or sect. Whoever adores God, he is God’s own.” He believes that God dwells in man’s heart and is revealed in everything. That is why he avoided both Jeevan marga and Maana marga and laid emphasis on Bhakti. Some of RamananJa’s disciples were cobblers, weavers, barbers and peasants Ramanuja also accorded sanctity to family life and enhanced the position of women.
Ramananda introduced the act of Rama and Sita as the objects of worship due to their familiarits to the people of the upper Gangetic valley. The spread of Ram worship reached its climax in the hands of Tulsidas who lived in the 16th century. Ramananda’s ideas brought tremendous changes in the India society. In this regard Prof. R.K. Mukherjee writes, “From the South he imbibed the musical devotion of the Tamil Saints and the Visitadvaita doctrine of absolute self-surrender and reliance upon God’s redemptive love and goodness, but he protested against caste orthodoxy which would not admit the sudras to religious education, let alone religious equality and brotherhood. He also repudiated the barren ceremonialism of the Mimansh school and the Vedic way of life which he found to be anachronism in the fourteenth century.”
Kabir followed the trail of Ramananda because of his wide variety of religious experience and cosmopolitan outlook, Kabir made the Bhakti Movement more meaningful and responsive to the needs of the people. Although he spoke of himself as a Sudra, he was brought up in the family of a Muslim weaver. He had his association with the saints of different religions and saints. Regarding his association with various saints and particularly with Ramananda, Mohsin Fani writes in the Dabistan, “At the time when he was in search of a spiritual guide, he visited the best of the Musalmans and Hindus, but he did not find what he sought; at least somebody gave him direction to an oldman of bright genius, the Brahman Ramananda”.
Kabir believed in the unity of God and rejected both the Vedas and Quran and the supremacy of the Brahmans and Mullas. He repudiated the rituals of Hinduism and rites and practices of Islam. He was also against the practice of image worship and prevalence of caste system. Kabir vehemently criticized the Muslim form of prayer or fasts. Like his spiritual guide Ramananda, Kabir laid emphasis on monotheism and the path of love and devotion. He believed that Ram and Rahim, Krishna and Karim, Mecca and Kashi were the manifestation of the same God.
Kabir composed many poems which contain his teaching.
He designated his disciples as ‘Avadhutas’ meaning the persons who had liberated themselves from old prejudices. He encouraged the use of vernaculars for popularizing his religion so as to reach the masses. Thus his preaching could reach all castes and all people. He said, “Let no man ask a man’s caste or sect. Whoever adores God, he is God’s own.” He believes that God dwells in man’s heart and is revealed in everything. That is why he avoided both Jeevan marga and Maana marga and laid emphasis on Bhakti. Some of RamananJa’s disciples were cobblers, weavers, barbers and peasants Ramanuja also accorded sanctity to family life and enhanced the position of women.
Ramananda introduced the act of Rama and Sita as the objects of worship due to their familiarits to the people of the upper Gangetic valley. The spread of Ram worship reached its climax in the hands of Tulsidas who lived in the 16th century. Ramananda’s ideas brought tremendous changes in the India society. In this regard Prof. R.K. Mukherjee writes, “From the South he imbibed the musical devotion of the Tamil Saints and the Visitadvaita doctrine of absolute self-surrender and reliance upon God’s redemptive love and goodness, but he protested against caste orthodoxy which would not admit the sudras to religious education, let alone religious equality and brotherhood. He also repudiated the barren ceremonialism of the Mimansh school and the Vedic way of life which he found to be anachronism in the fourteenth century.”
Kabir followed the trail of Ramananda because of his wide variety of religious experience and cosmopolitan outlook, Kabir made the Bhakti Movement more meaningful and responsive to the needs of the people. Although he spoke of himself as a Sudra, he was brought up in the family of a Muslim weaver. He had his association with the saints of different religions and saints. Regarding his association with various saints and particularly with Ramananda, Mohsin Fani writes in the Dabistan, “At the time when he was in search of a spiritual guide, he visited the best of the Musalmans and Hindus, but he did not find what he sought; at least somebody gave him direction to an oldman of bright genius, the Brahman Ramananda”.
Kabir believed in the unity of God and rejected both the Vedas and Quran and the supremacy of the Brahmans and Mullas. He repudiated the rituals of Hinduism and rites and practices of Islam. He was also against the practice of image worship and prevalence of caste system. Kabir vehemently criticized the Muslim form of prayer or fasts. Like his spiritual guide Ramananda, Kabir laid emphasis on monotheism and the path of love and devotion. He believed that Ram and Rahim, Krishna and Karim, Mecca and Kashi were the manifestation of the same God.
Kabir composed many poems which contain his teaching.
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During the medieval period, the saints emphasize Bhakti or devotion with the God as the means to attain salvation.
These saints were against the complicated and useless rituals, vedas, castes system and proposed devotion with the God as the only way to attain the salvation. This was the reason these saints became more and more popular among the common masses.
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