THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
DR.Ramjilal,
Social Scientist and Former Principal,
Dyal Singh College ,Karnal (Haryana – India)
email:drramjilal1947@ gmail.com
Brief:
Sant Ravidas holds a prominent place among the leading saints, poets, social reformers, and literary figures of the Nirguna tradition. The important principles of his philosophy are recorded in the couplets of his famous and revered work, Amrit Bani. The couplets of this text emphasize spirituality, devotion, the formless nature of God, social equality and justice, the importance of labor, and the dignity of the individual. He strongly condemned the caste-based social system, its hierarchy, and untouchability. The Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhism compiled by the fifth Guru of the Sikh religion, Guru Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji , includes 41 Amrit Banis (Nectarine sayings).
Detailed
Sant Ravidas (born 1377 AD – died 1528 AD – total age 151 years) was born in the village of Seer Govardhanpur (Manduadih area, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh) near Varanasi, to his father Baba Santokh Das and mother Smt. Kalsa Devi. He was named Ravidas because he was born on a Sunday (Ravi means Sunday).Ravidas Jayanti is celebrated on Magh Purnima because he was born on the full moon day of the month of Magh. However, Ravi means not only Sunday but also the Sun—the god of light. He was born into the Chamar caste, whose main occupation was leatherwork and who were considered untouchables in society. Given this background, no one could have imagined that one day this Ravidas would illuminate the world like the Sun, dispelling the darkness of ignorance that had prevailed in society for centuries, and that he would have millions of followers—from kings to commoners, from the rich to the poor—, and that he would become the founder of the Ravidassia religion
The Contemporary Impact of Sant Ravidas’s Teachings
The influence of Sant Ravidas’s teachings extended not only to the common Hindu and Muslim people but also to Indian Muslim emperors, Nawabs, and Kings. For example, while Muslim rulers like Sikandar Lodi, Babur, and Humayun were influenced by him, Hindu empress ‘Jhala Rani’, the wife of Maharana Sanga, and the great devotee Mirabai were also influenced by his teachings. Mirabai was Sant Ravidas’s most devoted disciple. Mirabai acknowledged this, writing:
“I met my Guru Ravidas, who gave me the essence of knowledge,
The impact of the divine name of Hari struck my heart.”
(“गुरु मिलीया रविदास जी, दीनी ज्ञान की गुटकी,
चोट लगी निजनाम हरी की, महारे हिवरे खटकी”।)
The foundation stone of the Shri Guru Ravidas birthplace temple was laid by Saint Haridas Ji on June 14, 1965. The magnificent structure was completed by 1994, and the main dome, adorned with a golden finial, was completed in 2009. Because it is adorned with gold the Saint Ravidas temple is also known as the second ‘Golden Temple’ of Kashi, after the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Every year, on the day of Magh Purnima, millions of people from around the world visit the Saint Ravidas temple Begampura(Varanasi) to celebrate Saint Ravidas Jayanti.Establishment of the Ravidassia Religion in 2010: The religious book “Amritbani Guru Ravidas Ji”
He was a mystic and spiritual poet, social reformer, and spiritual guru. Based on Sant Ravidas’s philosophy, the Ravidassia religious movement is continuously growing in various states and regions of India and in other countries outside India. In the Ravidassia or Ravidas sect, Sant Ravidas is considered the Guru. However, in the deras and temples of the Ravidassia sect, living saints are considered Gurus. In 2009, in an attack by extremists in Vienna (the capital of Austria) on Guru Sant Niranjan Das and Sant Ramanand Das, Guru Niranjan Das was killed. As a result, in 2010, the followers of Sant Ravidas started the Ravidassia religion or Ravidas sect.
Dera Sachkhand Ballan is located in a village 7 kilometers from Jalandhar in Punjab. It has been on a path of continuous development since the 1980s and is considered the most important and revered religious “Mecca” for the Ravidassia community. The new holy book of the Ravidassia religion is ‘Amritbani Guru Ravidas Ji’. This religious book contains 240 pages of Ravidas’s teachings. Previously, the Guru Granth Sahib was continuously recited at Dera Sachkhand. However, since 2010, the ‘Amritbani Guru Ravidas Ji’ is recited at Dera Sachkhand. A continuous community kitchen (langar) operates at Dera Sachkhand, and in addition to running schools and hospitals, the Dera also undertakes numerous social welfare activities. Ravidassia temples exist not only in India but also in countries such as Australia, Austria, the USA, Canada, France, England, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Scotland, New Zealand, Spain, Greece, and Fiji.
This religion is considered the Ravidassia religion or Ravidass sect. Saint Ravidas is its ‘Satguru’ (spiritual master) and is worshipped. His followers are known as Ravidassia or Ravidasis in India and abroad. The Ravidassia greeting uses “Jai Gurudev,” which means “Hail the teacher, who is like God.”
Saint Ravidas: A Saint, Philosopher, Poet, and Social Reformer
He was a great saint, philosopher, poet, and social reformer of the 15th century. Through his spiritual discourses, he gave the world the message and knowledge of self-realization, humanity, unity, and brotherhood. Saint Ravidas’s philosophy was against the social evils prevalent in society at that time, such as casteism, idol worship, animal sacrifice, and hypocrisy. Not only this, but he also opposed these hypocrisies and pretenses in his practical life and never used rosaries, tilak (forehead markings), etc. Just like today, casteism was an obstacle to the development of society at that time. Saint Ravidas opposed casteism and propagated mutual brotherhood, social harmony, and social goodwill on the basis of spiritualism.
He was one of the most famous and prominent saints of the Nirguna Bhakti tradition and led the North Indian Bhakti movement. He gave spiritual and social messages to his lovers, followers, and society through poetry and writings. In fact, he was a pioneer and messenger of spiritual self-realisation, unity, and brotherhood among the Nirguna saints.
The creator of all is one, like a potter, not many:
To eradicate social discrimination, Saint Ravidas started the community meal (Langar system). In this, Hindus and Muslims, young and old, men and women, rich and poor, all ate together because he believed that the creator of all is one, not many. According to his important testimony:
All vessels are made of the same clay, all have one creator,
One spirit pervades all, Ravidas says, one potter has molded all.
(एकै माटी के सभ भांडे, सभ का एकै सिरजनहारा ,
एकौ घट व्यापै रैदासा,सभ को एकै घड़ौ कुम्हारा.)
Saint Ravidas: Against Casteism and Social Hierarchy:
Like present-day society, the society of that time was also divided into various castes based on the caste system. Even then, society was divided into upper and lower castes. The behavior of the upper castes towards the lower castes was neither humane nor cordial. He believed that the division of castes based on hierarchy destroys humanity and is harmful to society. This is evident from the following couplet by Saint Ravidas:
“Caste within caste exists, like the layers of a banana peel.
Ravidas says, humanity cannot unite until caste is gone.”
(जाति-जाति में जाति हैं, जो केतन के पात।
रैदास मनुष ना जुड़ सके जब तक जाति न जात॥)
The meaning of this couplet is that just as when you peel the layers of a banana, eventually nothing remains, similarly, due to caste, society becomes divided, and humanity ceases to exist. The saint believed that until castes are abolished, humanity cannot unite. Saint Ravidas said that as long as caste exists, one human being will not connect with another, and society will remain divided, and brotherhood will not be established. Because of his opposition to casteism and social hierarchy, he worked as a social reformer for the abolition of the caste system. Saint Ravidas declared that the feelings of superiority and inferiority, and the disputes carried out in the name of devotion to God, as meaningless and futile, and preached that everyone should live together in love and harmony.
Saint Ravidas’s views against social hierarchy are clear from the following couplet:
“Ravidas says, no one is born low because of their birth.
It is the mud of low deeds that makes a person low.”
(रविदास जन्म के कारनै, होत न कोउ नीच।
नर कूँ नीच करि डारि है, ओछे करम की कीच।1)
According to Saint Ravidas, no human being is born superior or inferior. It is a person’s “lowly deeds” (karma) that make them inferior.Saint Ravidas recognized the importance of labor and equated labor with God. This is why he is considered a pioneer of social revolution and a harbinger of labor consciousness.
It is caste, which never goes away: The greatest impact on the Scheduled Castes
According to the latest figures, India has 6743 castes, 5013 backward castes, and more than 1100 Scheduled Castes. After the implementation of the Indian Constitution, it was hoped that casteism would diminish in a democratic system, but the opposite has actually happened. Casteism has become like a ladder on which a person can climb to the pinnacle of politics. From Panchayat to Parliament elections, casteism is so dominant that approximately 55% of voters cast their votes on the basis of caste. Casteism leads to conflict among different castes. The famous English scholar Thomas Hobbes, in his book ‘Social Contract’, described the state of nature as a state where every man was at war with every other man. This same situation, due to casteism and religion, has been continuously prevailing in India for centuries. Its elimination does not seem possible in the future. In other words, it is caste, which never goes away.
The conflict among different castes has the greatest impact on the Scheduled Castes. Despite laws, the constitution, and judicial decisions, men, women, and children belonging to the Scheduled Castes face humiliation, violence, torture, and exploitation. Incidents of violence and crime against Scheduled Castes due to casteism make headlines in newspapers. Guru Ravidas’s philosophy remains highly relevant in this context because he opposed casteism and the concept of high and low status through his couplets. A large section of the Scheduled Castes suffers from fear, hunger, poverty, and malnutrition.
Saint Ravidas: Views on Hunger
Saint Ravidas emphasized that the political system should be such that no one is poor and no one goes hungry without food. This is evident from his couplet:
I desire such a kingdom where everyone gets food,
Where small and big all live equally, and Ravidas remains happy.
(ऐसा चाहूं राज मैं मिले सबन को अन्न ।
छोट-बड़ो सब सम बसे, रविदास रहे प्रसन्न ॥)
Saint Ravidas’s views on hunger remain relevant today because the problem of hunger in India continues to grow. For example, in 2018, 190 million people were suffering from hunger. In just four years, by 2022, this number had increased to 350 million. As a result, the Indian government is providing free food grains to 810 million people. While this provides some relief, it doesn’t ensure good health. According to the National Crime Records Bureau of the Indian government, 121 laborers commit suicide every day due to hunger-related problems in India. Furthermore, 70% of Indians do not have access to nutritious food necessary for good health. This leads to numerous diseases. Consequently, 1.7 million deaths occur annually due to hunger-related issues. According to a submission filed by the central government in the Supreme Court in 2022, 65 percent of children under the age of five die due to malnutrition.
The Best Proponent of Secularism
India is a land of immense diversity. It is a great nation of diverse communities, religions, cultures, sub-cultures, castes, sub-castes, regions, sub-regions, sects, sub-sects, ethnic groups, and language speakers. Followers of various religions – Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism – live in India.
In contemporary India, where riots occur in the name of Hindu versus Muslim, Hindu versus Christian, and temples versus mosques, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives every year, children becoming orphans, women becoming widows, and property worth crores of rupees being destroyed, and where the main objective of political parties is to incite the religious sentiments of the majority community, thus dividing society instead of uniting it, and where obstacles are created in social unity, socialization, and social development on the basis of religion, and votes are garnered by fanning religious sentiments,
In this context, Guru Ravidas, a great secular thinker and a unifier of all religions, is particularly relevant today. Giving the message of social harmony and goodwill, Saint Ravidas wrote:
Krishna, Karim, Ram, Hari, Raghav, as long as I did not see them as one,
Vedas, scriptures, Quran, Puranas, I did not easily see them as one.
The four Vedas are refuted, but Jan Ravidas bows down to the one.
(कृस्न, करीम, राम, हरि, राघव, जब लग एक न पेखा।
वेद कतेब कुरान, पुरानन, सहज एक नहिं देखा ॥
चारो वेद के करे खंडौती । जन रैदास करे दंडौती।।)
According to Sant Ravidas’s philosophy, there is only one supreme power, known by many names such as Ram, Krishna, Karim, Raghav, etc. According to various religious texts like the Vedas, Quran, and Puranas, God is one, and this one God is glorified in these scriptures.
Devotion to God:
According to Sant Ravidas, virtue, benevolence, and good conduct are essential for devotion to God. He clearly stated that God can only be attained by abandoning ego and cultivating the qualities of respect, humility, and courtesy towards others. Sant Ravidas has clarified this sentiment in the following couplet:
your devotion is far away,
only the fortunate attain it.
Abandon ego, eliminate self-centeredness,
eat by picking up grains like an ant.
(कह रैदास तेरी भगति दूरि है,
भाग बड़े सो पावै।
तजि अभिमान, मेटि आपा पर,
पिपिलक हवै चुनि खावै॥)
Devotion to God is attained through great fortune. A person who works without ego remains successful in life. Although a huge elephant cannot pick up grains of sugar, a small ant (Pipilika) easily picks them up. In other words, only by shedding one’s ego can a person become a true devotee of God.
Teachings of Sant Ravidas in Sri Guru Granth Sahib:
The influence of Guru Ravidas’s philosophy is clearly visible in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the holiest scripture of Sikhism. Sikh devotees, followers, and the community consider Sri Guru Granth Sahib to be the supreme scripture. It was compiled in the 16th century by Guru Arjan Dev Sahib. Influenced by Ravidas’s philosophy, Guru Arjan Dev Ji has given a special place to 41 of his couplets (shlokas) in Sri Guru Granth Sahib: “Ragas – Siri (1), Gauri (5), Asa (6), Gujari (1), Sorath (7), Dhanasari (3), Jaitsri (1), Suhi (3), Bilaval (2), Gond (2), Ramkali (1), Maru (2), Kedara (1), Bhairav (1), Basant (1), and Malhar (3) are mentioned.” This proves that he was indeed a great saint.
How is Sant Ravidas Jayanti celebrated?
Sant Ravidas Jayanti is celebrated every year on the full moon day of the Magh month by his followers. Men, women, youth, and children bathe in rivers and ponds, light lamps, and offer flowers and garlands at the idol of Guru Ravidas in temples, and sing Amritbani and other devotional songs. With great joy and enthusiasm, processions, grand demonstrations, and Nagar Kirtans (religious processions) are taken out in villages and cities, through streets and markets, accompanied by bands and drums. People wear colourful clothes. Amritbani hymns are sung with great rhythm. It is truly a golden sight, as if Sant Ravidas himself has descended to earth. Through these celebrations, the message of spiritual equality, social service, and selfless service to humanity is conveyed. The practice of community meals (langar) started by Guru Ravidas is also followed.
In short, Sant Ravidas holds an important place in the galaxy of saints of the Nirguna tradition of the medieval Bhakti period, alongside saints like Dadu, Dhanna, Ramananda, Kabir, Guru Nanak, and others. The philosophy of Shiromani Sant Ravidas holds a special significance in India for eradicating inequality, poverty, malnutrition, superstition, feelings of superiority, etc. His philosophy is relevant even in the present 21st century for establishing harmony, goodwill, and social unity in society and for the eradication of the caste system and other social evils.
