8 Rise of Religious ldeas

Snelegyeti
VaLhe ka

My Learning Aim! Bhakti Movement

Sufism
Sikhism

Medieval period was the period of various

changes not only in the political structure of
India but also the social and religious arenas
witnessed new developments. New religious
ideas emerged which were based on the
ideal of devotion to God rather than the
rituals and practices involved in Hinduism. In
this chapter, we will read about these new
religious beliefs.
Bhakti Movement
The word bhakti in popular religious beliefs
means 'devotion towards God'. This
movement culminated in Hinduism just
like Jainism and Buddhism in ancient India.
The emphasis in the bhakti on the love
is
and affection of the God which is generated
by his adorable attributes. The devotion is
expressed in the form of music and songs.
The whole focus is on creating a personal
relationship with the divine. This movement
aimed at removing the ills of the caste system
Hindu
andunnecessary rituals prevalent the
in
society.
-
Social Studies 7
70
Pragmnatic
Treasure! Bhakti: Bhakti is derived from bhakta
which means to 'serve, honour, love and
adore'.
The idea of bhakti is also found in ancient
Hindu texts like Bhagavadgita, Upanishads
and Vedas, but it got popularized only in
medieval India, when Islam was gaining
foothold. At this time, the preachers of the
bhakti tradition tried to bring harmony not
only among unequal castes of Hinduism but
also with other religions.
Features of Bhakti Movement
The belief of bhaktiwas based on the selfless
love of devotee towards God. The features
and teachings of the movement are the
following:
The movement believed in the unity o
God as one Supreme Being and devotion
to Him willleadto salvation. This devotion
could be achieved by honesty of heart
and purity of mind.
 It preached equality and universal of Brahman (Supreme God) with man.
brotherhood among human beings. Human beings
There was no caste division in Hinduism should strive to
and people from allreligions weretreated achieve this vision of
equally.E oneness. He was the
Image worship was not practised. Hindu first religious leader
customs and ritualswere challenged. to include women
Instead, a bondwas shared with a in his sangha. He
Suru (teacher) to gain right knowiedge became ascetic and
towards the attainment of devotion. travelled across the
cOuntry to preach
Bhakti Saints his teachings. He Adi Shankaracharya
Bhakti Movement became popular in the established his four monastic centers
seventh and eighth centuries in South tndia. (mutts) across India, assigned four of
The Alvars and Nayanar saints popularized his disciples to head them and issued
it during the reign of the Cholas. It spread one Veda to one mutt. These mutts are
,Jyothir Mutt at Badrinath (Uttarakhand)
towards the north gradualiy and impacted
not only men but women as well. There were igit with Atharva Veda:sarada Mutt at
many women bhakti saints. Sringeri (TN) with Yajur Veda; Govardhan

Saints of South India devta Jeckare Mutt at Puri (Odisha) with Rig Veda and
Kalika Mutt at Dwarka (Gujarat) with
In South, Nayanars were Sama Veda.
theShaivite devotees
who preached selfiess love of Shiva. Around Ramanuja: He preached the philosophy,
sixty-three Nayanars and twelve Alvars, of Vishitadvaita i.e., >
who were devotees of Vishnu organized personal devotion
themselves to preach about this movement. to God. According to duelis
They belonged to upper, and lower castes him, salvation could
and included women also. order to preach
In be achieved by unity
about the Bhakti Movement they wrote in of God and soul, but
local ianguage rather than Sanskrit. Following Soul still retaining
are some of the important saints of South
ts own identity. His
india: devotion was marked
Ramanuja
Info towards Vishnu. He
The Bhakti Movement was popularized in gave more importance to bhakti than
Bell
the eleventh and the twelfth centuries, knowledge. He travelled to almost whole
by collectionof
Shiva cnd Vishnu hymns
(religious songs in praise of God) byy of India, in order to preach his teachings
Nathamuni and Nambiander Nambirespectively. of devotion.
Madhavacharya: Born
Adi Shankaracharya: He was the first in Udupi (Karnataka), he
Hinduwho practicedandpreached Bhakti. preached the philosophy
Bom to a poor Brahmin family of Kerala, of dvaitavedantasi. e.,
he propounded the Advaitavedanta the existence of worid
which believed in monotheism, oneness
is realand in order to Madhavecharya
meons men -dud witthot
Rise of Religious Ideas 71
 find devotion to God, it isnotnecessary .
abhangswitten by him in Marathi,
todeny the existence of the world, Tihis abhangsfocused on God Pandurang.
philosoplhy challenged the monotheism
preached by Shankaracharya. Santsof North hdia
established eight rmutts in and around fromthe thiiteenth century onwards, Bhaky
Udupl Movement reached North India. Sorne of the
The Virashaivas: The Virashaivism was a prominent bhakti saintsof iorth are:
movement started by Basavanna and bis Ramananda:HefollowedtheVaishnavism
companions Akkamahadevi and Alama andfoundedanewschoolbypopularizing
Prabhu in Karnatakato fight against the the cult of Rama and
caste inequalities of Sita which preached
Hinduism and to preach love and devotion.
equality of all human IHe preached the
beings. They criticized same teachings like
rituals and idol worship Ramanuja in South
of Hinduism. They India, however with
a sligght
worshiped Shiva in the variation. He
form of linga (a synbol Basavanna did not belicve in caste
of divine energy of Shiva) which is wlhy system so hisdisciples Ramananda
they are alsocalled asLingayats, were from all castes including Ravidas
Saints of andKabir from lower caste.
CentralIndia
Bhakti Movementbecame popular with time Chaitanya: Born in Bengal, Chaitanya
popularized the cuit of Krishna worship
and gave rise to other saints in different parts
of india. In Maharashtra, there were number
through the practice
of bhaktisaints. They were:
of
kirtana which
means singing
Namdev: He was the poet saint and the devotional songs in
first saint to preach the groups accompanied
aspects of devotion by dancing. His
in Marathi, He placed followers were not
importance Onguru only Hindus
was but
who the key source Muslims and people
of attaining devotion. from lower castes as Chaitanya
His guru was Vithal. He well. His bhakti tradition
spread up to
composed poetry hich present day Odisha.
is called as abhanga Namdev
Ravidas: Ravidas was born in UP and
(devotional songs) belonged to lower caste of Hinduism.
Tukaram: He attained Since childhood,
he wasspiritualy
his devotion towards inclined. Being from
Lord Vitthala himself lower caste, he had
without any spiritual to undergo various
guru. He showed his kinds of cruelties
devotion by chanting Tukaram
which forced him to
Ravidas

72 Pragmatic Soclal Studies -7

 devote himself towards God rather than
the world. Mirabai who was the Rajput Karnataka whose devotion was
towards
princess wasimpressed by his teachings, Lord Shiva. She renounced
the world
coshe became his follower. and wandered in search
of God. She
one
expressed her love towards Shiva in
Kabir: Kabir is of
the great poetry. her
saints
of India, whose philosophy teaches
equality of human beings irrespective Janabai: She belonged to
of the religion. According to him, God is caste family of Maharashtra, the lower
but worked
eunreme and one, and in a family of the well
the union with God renowned saint
chould be ultimate aim of human beings. Namdev. She served him both as servant
He strictly prohibited and adevotee. Her poetry collections
idolworship, caste songs which are included in
and
system, and meaningless the works of
Namdev tell us about her love towards
rituals of religions
among his followers. Lord Vitthal.
We get to know about Mirabai: Mirabai was born in a Rajput
his philosophy through family and married to the prince of
his poems and short Chittor (Rajasthan). She was devoted
couplets known as to Lord Krishna since childhood and
dohas which he wrote assumed herself to
in praise of God. These Kabir
be His bride. Facing
dohas passed through oral traditions and non-acceptance from
were ultimately compiled in the book by the family of in-laws,
the name Bijaka. His followers formed a she left for Vrindavan
sect which had people of all religions and after the death of her
were called as Kabirpanthis. husband. There she
spenthertime writing
Know More poems and singing
Mirabai
bhajans (religious
It is believed that Kabir was born to a Hindu widow
who abandoned him by a river side near Banaras songs of praise) of Lord Krishna.
and was later found by a Muslim weaver couple.
Bahinabai, Ratanbai, Gangasati, etc., were
They took the child under their custody and named
him Kabir which meant the Great One' the other women saints who fought against
the prevailing social norms and devoted
Female Bhakti Saints themselves in love of God.
The Bhakti Movement was open to both
men and women which resulted in the large Sufism
number of women bhakti saints. These Sufism is derived from the word suf which
Women challenged the means coarse wool!. It started as a liberal
on
existing social order of the movement in Islam, which emphasized
toleration
society and some left their love, compassion, brotherhood,
progress
families to express
their and free thinking to make spiritual
devotion and love of God. With the invasions
and to serve mankind. establishment of
Delhi and
• Akkamahadevi:
She of Muslims in
Delhi Sultanate and the
Mughal Empire,
was woman saint the
from
Akkamahadevi
Ideas 73
Rise of Religious
many Sufis (Muslim saints) migrated to India
and settled in different parts. Sufism as a
movement started in Central Asia.
Ilam is a
monotheist religion which believes
in one Supreme God (Allah) and in equality
of human beings. Sufism laid a supreme
stress on simple life through which they can
establish the personal relationship with the
divine. Sufi Movement was similar to Bhakti
Movement in India and both were influenced
by each other. Both attracted followers
irrespective of religion. This movement was
patronized by Akbar who adopted various
practices according to Sufi ideals.
Explore More!
Find out the policy adopted by Akbar which was
influenced by Sufism and matched its ideals. Was he
successful in achieving his goal?
Features of Sufism
Sufism put forward many ideals by which
one can devote himself/herself to
the God
and experience a union with Him. Some
of the common characteristics of the Sufi
Movement are:
Sufis detached themselves from
the
religious rituals with which ulema were
occupied, instead they attributequalities
to God and aimed at inner purity to
achieve a union with God.
This union with Allah can be achieved
by constant mediation, zikr
(recitation)
and remembrance of God through sama
(singing).
In toattain devotion of God, love,
order
kindness and affection should be shown
to every creature on the earth which are
considered attributes to the glory of God.
They place importance on the love of the
Prophet and their pir (spiritual masters)
who used to reside in khanqahs (Sufi
hospices) where murids (disciples) would
come to learn the ways of spirituality.
74 Pragmatic Social Studies -7
Some Sufi groups used musical
gatherings called qawwalis
to attain
devotion towards God.
Sufi Orders in India
Sufism was not a homogeneous movement.
were many Sufi orders (silsilahs)
There
presentin the twelfth and thirteenth century
India which followed their own Sufi path
method of instruction called as tariga. Abu
Fazal in his biography mentions about the
existence of fourteen Sufi silsilahs in India
but Chisti and Suhrawardi were
the two
prominent orders of those times.
Chisti Order: This Sufi order was founded
by Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti who it
the most revered Suti saints of India.
He devoted himself to the service of
humanity and was seen as a symbol of
Hindu-Muslim unity. His dargah (centre
of pilgrimage) at Ajmer (Rajasthan) is
visited by his devotees from allreligions
especially at the urs (annual celebration)
of the dargah. His disciples include Qutb
ud-Din Bhaktiyar Kaki whose dargah is in
Shrine of Qutb-ud-Din Bhaktiyari Kaki
Mehrauli. Nizam-ud-Din Auliya is another
prominent Sufi of this order whose
descendant Shaikh Salim Chisti was
followed by Akbar. Musical meetings and
Shrine of Nizam-ud-Din Auliya
 veneration of tombs isgiven prominence
in this order. This Sufi order was
The basicteachings and beliefs of Sikhism are:
patronized by Emperor lltutmish.
Suhrawardi Order: This order started in
Baghdad by Shibab-ud-Din Suhrawardi
and Sheikh Baha-ud-Din Zakariya spread
it inIndia. His shrine in Multan (Pakistan)
attracts large number of followers. He
was not in favour of torturing self, so he
led the comfortable life, and had contacts
with the state and administration. His
teachings influenced the administrators
and upper classes, therefore large
number of people from upper classes are
the followers of this order.
LKLLLL
Shrine of Baha-ud-Din Zakariya
Sikhism
Sikhism was founded by GuruNanak in Punjab
and its followers are called Sikhs. Many
historians trace the lineage of Sikhism to
as
the Bhakti Movement and consider it the
extension of the Bhakti Movement in Punjab.
However, there are differences between the
as the
two and Sikhism is mostly regarded Granth
separate religion of its own. Guru
earlier known as Adi Granth written by fifth
some
Sikh Guru, GuruArjan Dev, recognizes
of the Sufi and bhakti saints like Namdev,
Kabir and Sheikh Farid, and the writings of
these saints are included in the Holy book.
Buzz The word Sikh in Punjabi means
disciple' or "humble follower' and
Sikhs are the disciples of the ten
Sikh Gurus.
Philosophy of Sikhism
Sikhisn believes in the worship of on
God who should be remembered always
through neditation.
Sikhism prohibits the life of renunciation,
instead focuses on living an honest life
through hard work and living truthfuly.
It preaches the ideal of equality between
men and women and teaches equality
of mankind as according to this religion
everyone is equal in the eyes of God.
Itdenounces rituals, such as idolworship,
superstitions,caste system and fasting.
Guru Nanak
Guru Nanak was born in Talvandi presently
known as Nanka in Pakistan in 1469 CE to
a
Hindu family. Since childhood, he was
attracted towards spirituality and wrote
poems which vwere spiritual in nature. His
companion who was a Muslim namely
Mardana deeply influenced him.
The teachings of the
Guru Nanak emphasize
on monotheism
(Ik Onkar), thus,
completely negating
the Hindu philosophy
of idol worship. But his
negation did not mean
criticism; according to Guru Nanak
him every religion should be respected. He
rejected caste system, gender inequality
and rituals associated with religions. His
teachings included meditation by reciting
hymns (naam japo), labouring hard for
livelihood (kirt karo) and sharing with
the deprived (vand chhako). He started
community kitchens (langars) for feeding
poor. His teachings were combined
philosophy of Hinduism and Islam.
Ideas 75
Rise of Religious
Other Sikh Gurus
After Guru Nanak, there were nine moregurus
whopreached the teachings of Guru Nanak.
They were -Guru Angad Dev, Guru Amar
Das, Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan Dev, Guru
Hargobind, Guru Har Rai, Guru Harkrishan,
Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh.
Guru Gobind Singh,the last guru, transformed
Sikhism into a huge movement. He created
the Khalsa Panth which is the community of
Sikhs dedicatedto live with equality andlove.
Sikhism as a religion spread at the same time
when the Mughals were rulingIndia. As
said
earlier, the religion drewfrom the teachings
of both Islam and Hinduism. However, the
relation between the Mughals and the Sikhs
soured when Guru Arjan Dev was tortured
and died during the rule of Jahangir. During
the reign of Aurangzeb, another Sikh guru-
Guru Tegh Bahadur had to face execution

KEY TERMS!
Divine Connected to God
Monotheism Belief in one God
Cult A particular system of religious belief
Norms Accepted social behaviour

Now You Know

The idea of bhaktiis found in ancient Hindu texts like Bhagavadgita, Upanishads and Vedas.
The BhaktiMovement was open to both men and women.
Sufism emphasized on love, compassion, brotherhood and toleration.
There were many Sufi orders (silsilahs) which followed their own Sufi path or method of
instruction called as tariqa.

Say Aloud!
Answer the following questions oraly:
1. Who started the Bhakti Movement? 2. Name the book of the Kabir.
3. Where did Sufism startfirst?
4. How many Suft orders are mentioned by Abul Fazal?
5. Name the Muslim companion of Guru Nanak.

Exercises
Summative Assessment
A. Tick () the correct answer.
1. Alvarswere the devotees of:
a. Shiva b. Vishu
C. Vitthal d.
Ram

76 Pragmatic Social Studies-7

 ,
Dvaitavedanta was popularized by:
a. Shankaracharya b. Namdev
C.
Tukaram
d. Madhavacharya
3
Short couplets written by Kabir are called as:
a. Kirtana b. Bhajans
C.
Dohas d. Abhangs
Which Sufi saint lived during the reign of Akbar?
4.
Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti b. Shaikh Salim Chisti
C. Baha-ud-Din Zakariya d. None of
these
5. Khalsa Panth vwas started by:

a. Guru Gobind Singh b. Guru Nanak

C. Guru Arjan Dev d. Guru Hargobind

B. Fill in the blanks.

1. worship Shiva in the form of linga.
2. Ramananda popularized the cult of and
3 Sufi order was patronized by Emperor lltutmish.
4. Holy book of Sikhs is known as
C. Match Column A with Column B.
Column A' Column B'
1. Vishitadvaita Adi Shankaracharya

2. Dvaitavedanta Madhavacharya
3. Advaitavedanta Ramananda

4. Vaishnavism Ramanuja

D. Distinguish between the following:

2. Kabirpanth and Khalsa Panth
1. Alvars and Nayanars
3. Chisti and Suhrawardi order
E.
Define the following terms:
1. 2. Dohas
Bhajans
4. Tariqa
3. Kirtana
F Write True' or False'.
Bhakti focused on creatinga personal relationship
with the divine.
2. Shankaracharya established eight mutts.
3• Janabai was born in the Rajput family.
4 1slam is a
monotheist religion.
Adi Granthincludes the writings of Sufi and bhakti saints.
Religious Ideas 77
Rise of