Context: Magh Purnima marks the observance of Sant Guru Ravidas Jayanti (February 24). To commemorate the 647th birth anniversary of Sant Guru Ravidas, the Prime Minister unveiled a statue in Varanasi.
About Guru Ravidas:
- Born: 1377 CE in Govardhanpur near (Varanasi) Uttar Pradesh.
- His place of birth is now known as Shri Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan.
- Revered as a guru in regions such as Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.
Early life:
- Parents: Mata Kalsi and Santokh Das, belonged to an untouchable caste and were engaged in leatherworking.
- At the age of 12, he married Lona Devi, and together they had a son named Vijay Dass.
- Ravidas redirected his focus towards spiritual pursuits along the banks of the Ganga.
- Took extensive pilgrimage travels to Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and the Himalayas.
- He became a disciple of the bhakti saint-poet Ramananda.
- Contributions to Bhakti movement:
- He adhered to the Nirguna sampradaya and rejected the Saguna form of Bhakti.
Historians of religion classify bhakti traditions into two broad categories:
- Saguna (with attributes): Focused on the worship of specific deities such as Shiva, Vishnu and his avatars (incarnations) and forms of the goddess or Devi, all often conceptualised in anthropomorphic forms.
- Nirguna (without attributes): Nirguna bhakti on the other hand was worship of an abstract form of God.
- Ravidas’s teachings symbolized resistance against untouchability, confronting discrimination by higher-caste individuals against those from lower castes.
- His egalitarian teachings are adhered by various scheduled classes, now known as Dalits, influencing social-reform movements in the 20th century.
- He engaged with Sufi saints, sadhus, and ascetics, fostering a diverse spiritual understanding.
In Literary works/traditions:
His devotional verses have found a significant place in Sikh scriptures:
- Scholars suggest that Ravidas had interactions with Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.
- 41 of his poems are included in the Adi Granth, signifying his status as one of the 36 contributors to this central scripture of Sikhism.
- Premambodha, a Sikh hagiography written over 170 years after his death, portrays him as one of the seventeen saints in the Indian religious tradition.
- Dadu Panthi tradition within Hinduism incorporates numerous poems attributed to Ravidas in the Panch Vani text.
- Anantadas Parcai, considered one of the earliest surviving biographies of poets from the Bhakti movement, narrates the birth of Ravidas.
- Bhaktamal, proposes that he was a disciple of the Brahmin bhakti-poet Ramananda (1400-1480 A.D), and thus, it is believed that Ravidas was the contemporary of Sant Kabir.
- Although Ravidas's hagiographies were penned long after his demise, they shed light on social dynamics during the period he lived:
- Illustrate a clash between heterodox communities and the orthodox Brahminical traditions as well as an inter-communal and inter-religious struggle for social unity
- Present various legends, including Ravidas's interactions with Hindu Brahmins and the Delhi Sultanate ruler Sikander Lodi (1458-1517).
Guru Ravidas and Meera Bai:
- In Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, adjacent to Mirabai’s temple, a chhatri (pavilion) with the engraved footprints of Ravidas is found.
- This signifies the spiritual and poetic connection between Ravidas and Mirabai.
- As per the legends, Ravidas was a guru to Mirabai.
- Mirabai, as a respect to her Guru, wrote: ‘Guru Miliya Ravidasji’.
Philosophy:
- A recurring term in his verses is ‘Sahaj,’ representing a mystical state characterized by the union of diverse truths into a singular reality.
- Manuscripts originating from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (18th and 19th centuries), feature a debate between Ravidas and Kabir on the nature of the ‘Absolute’.
- Kabir advocates for a monistic Oneness, while Ravidas argues from the premise that the Brahman can be both a monistic Oneness and a separate anthropomorphic incarnation.
- According to the Bhaktamal text, Ravidas's teachings aligned with Vedic and ancient scriptures, embracing ‘non-dualism’.
- However, conflicting beliefs within the Dalit community suggest that Ravidas rejected the Hindu Vedas and faced opposition from Brahmins and caste Hindus, as reflected in certain hymns present in the Guru Granth Sahib.
His concept of Beghumpura:
- Signifies a ‘city without sorrow.’
- His vision encompassed a utopian world free from discrimination and inequality.
- Aiming to eradicate the evil of untouchability.
- Emphasizing the significance of labor (Kirat).
- Ravidas followed Ananya bhakti, which emphasises on the devotion that transcends the sense of duality between the worshipper and the object of worship.
- Rejected formal devotion and advocated for personal bhakti through meditative meditation.
- Disapproved of rituals, pilgrimages, and penances as the optimal paths to realize God.
Ravidassia Religion:
- Originating in the 21st century, it emerged as a distinct faith separate from Sikhism, shaped by the followers of Guru Ravidas’s teachings.
- It was established following an event in 2009, when Sikh militants attacked a Ravidas temple, in Vienna, Austria.
- Ravidassia religion formulated a new sacred text, the ‘Amritbani Guru Ravidas ji’, exclusively based on teachings and writings of Guru Ravidas and comprises 240 hymns.
