By Duncan Greenleese
Nanak began the work by ridiculing superstitious and other show, by tearing caste prejudices to pieces, by teaching and living a life of absolute brotherhood with his Sikhs and so leading them to extend that relationship in a wider field; he set out, in short, to awaken the demoralized people from their superstitious dreams and to give them new hope, bringing religion into daily life, filling the home itself with the constant thought and service of God as a personal Friend and thus giving them ‘a motive for clinging to their own faith instead of falling into Islam out of sheer cowardice and worldly ambition. By persuasion and personal attractiveness new also did all that he could to win the fanatical Muslims into a more human, a more Muslim, way of life. Like Kabir he was dead against idolatry and formalism in religion, and he was even more uncompromising his total rejection of caste and all its implications, of all feeling that woman is inferior to man, and of all timed retreat from the world to the easy “security” of sannyasa, fleeing from the dangers of society to the quiet forest.
Other reformers, other prophets and saints, strove elsewhere, each in his own way as taught by his Master, but in the Punjab Guru Nanak through the ten lives he devoted to his labors built a nation, brave and proud and strong, and taught men and women how to love God as a Friend, as a most beloved Intimate, upright and self-respecting instead of prostrate on the ground. That was the spirit he infused into the Sikhs, and it transformed the whole picture of society in the North of India.
When Guru Arjan compiled the Holy Book for all Sikhs, he included in it certain of the hymns and poems of Gods lovers who had preceded Guru Nanak or were even then singing to God in India. Muslims and Hindus alike were thus honored, provided their songs did not offend against the fundamentals of the Guru’s doctrine, and the hymns of Kabir, Farid and Namdev were especially drawn upon to enrich the Guru Granth Sahib. Asin our own “Gospel” we have included passages from nearly all the bhagats who were thus represented in the Guru Granth, it will be of interest to see a little who each of these was and something of what he did.
- Kabir, (14401518, through Sher Singh almost alone holds the earlier date 13981443), was born near Banaras of uncertain parentage and brought up by a Muslim weaver, whose craft he practiced throughout life. His life is full of miraculous stories, but what is known to be historical is a miracle enough for us. He, a weaver, a Muslim, lived at Banaras, became the personal disciple of the Brahmin saint Ramananda, preached to Muslims and Brahmins alike, was uncompromising in his teachings, became the Guru of many distinguished disciples, and left behind him a sect now numbering more than a million adherents, This, in such an age, was indeed a wonderful thing.
While he worked at the loom, Kabir sang his songs, which friends must have written down for us. They are homely, simple, direct and penetrating in their style, in easy Hindi of the age but inspired with the deepest vision of spiritual truth. He never retired from the world, but lived a normal married life and is said to have had a son and a daughter; he too made fun of formalism in religion and the absurdities of the yogis of his day. He taught God as the Lover, the Player, the Musician, impersonal and yet truly personal, “ever distinct and yet ever united,” with the soul. It is natural that at last in 1495 complaints against him as a hectic led to the Emperor Sikander Lodi banishing him from Banaras; he took to wandering here and there among the cities of the Gangetic plain until he died at Maghar near Gorakhpur. The same story is told of him as of the Guru how after his death Muslims and Hindus both claimed him as their own and nothing was found of his body save a heap of flowers, of which each took a share and burned or buried it. His songs still aspired devotees of God today wherever the Hindi language can be understood.
- Sheikh Farid, Fariduddin Masud, son of Jama luddin Sulaiman (eldest son of Sheikh Shuib) and Bibi Mariam, was born in 1173 near Dipalpur and by the age of five knew the whole Quran by heart. At 16 he made the pilgrimage to Mecca and had a vision of the Prophet, who promised to spend at his tomb nine hours every 5th day of Muharram. He then studied Theology at Kabul under the saint Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiar, after which he went with friends as far as Bukhara to meet saints and so came in touch with Shahabuddin Suhrawadi. He returned to his Guru where he was a disciple of the Sultan Shamsuddin Altamish, himself a former disciple of the famous Sufi saint Hasan Chishti. When his Guru died, Farid himself became a famous saint, his great disciple being Nizamuddin Auliya, He married the daughter of Emperor Nasiruddin, and after him Faridkot is named; he had six sons and two daughters, and the eldest son Sheikh Badruddin Sul aiman succeeded him when he died of pneumonia in 1266 at the great age of 93. His tomb at Pakapattan, where he lived after his Guru died in 1235, is a great place of Muslim pilgrimage.
A little later “Sheikh Farid” reigned as Pir in the eleventh generation after the founder from 1510 to 1552. He was a scholar of Persian and Arabic, and a saintly man of true realization; in his company the Guru spent delightful hours. He was remote descendant of the Khalif “Umar and of Farrukh Shah, the King of Kabul. He had a collection of the hymns by the original Sheikh Farid. His burial place was at Sarhind; his personal name was Ibrahim.
Namdev (12691295), one of the greatest of Maha rashtra saints and the personal friend and companion of Jnaneswara, being about five years his senior. He was born at Pandharpur and as a tiny child spent his time in the temple of Vitthal there; from 7 he delighted in singing to God to the music of his cymbals, dancing, and treating God as his playmate and friend. He neglected his studies, food, sleep, for this blessed occupation, and had many wonderful adventures showing him God’s loving care of him at all times, even when his neglect of business must have led him into great trouble with him father. He met Jnandev when about twenty, and was persuaded by him to go on pilgrimage round India for about five years; this helped to widen his view of God beyond the limits of Vitthal’s form and shrine at Pandharpur. The story is told how he was driven to find a Guru and was taught by Visoba Khechar that God is everywhere. It is he who, seeing God in that form, once ran after a dog that had stolen his chapatti to give it some butter also. He was present when Jnanadev took samadhi at Alandi. We have still about 4000 poems believed to be from his pen. His servant maid, Janabai, was almost as famous a saint as himself. Namdev too was a householder; his wife was Rajabai, and he had four sons and a daughter. There is a tale that as a youth he once joined a party of dacoits, but this does not cohere with the rest. Macauliffe says he was born in 1270 to Damasheti and Gona Bai at Narsi bamani near Satara; he also gives the date of his death as. 1350, being buried at the door of Vitthal’s temple opposite the Harijan saint Chokamela.
Ravidas, or Raidas (15 century), another of eaenanda’s disciples, was tanner cobbler who used to give away shoes to all God’s lovers and once made an image of God out of hide. One saint gave him the 3 “philosopher’s stone”, which he carelessly left in the thatch of his hut for over a year, explaining that he wanted only Gold’s Name and not such useless wealth. One day he found five gold pieces and spent away the whole in building a temple and hostel for the poor. He used to cure lepers, and even Brahmins came to him. Others harassed him when a Queen of Chitor became his disciple; God showed a cobbler sitting next to each caste proud Brahmin at their feast. It is said he lived to 120; he left many poems of devotion and there is a sect of Vaishnavas called by his name the Raidasis even today. Fayadeva (12th century) was poet at the court of Lakshman Sen. He tells us his father was Bhoideva, his mother Bamadevi; he was born at Kenduli near Birbhum. For a long time he would not even write the lovely songs in Sanskrit which flowed from his mouth with music. Nor would he at first agree to marry Pdamavati when his God bade him do so, and he persisted in his life as an ascentic, He put up a hut with a shrine in it; here he wrote his second great book, the immortal “Gita Govindam”; his two other great books were “Rasana Raghava” and “Chandraloka” on the graces of literary style. But neither of these came up to the “Gita govindam”, which in lovely words tells of the divine love of Radha and Krishna, the soul and God, and is, as Macauliffe says, the world’s one great popular poem in what was already a dead language. It won immediate fame, and Muslims too delighted in it. Jayadeva went to Brindavan; at Jaipur he was attacked by thugs and mutilated. Karaunch, King of Utkala, saved him and when the thugs came disguised as Sannyaisis Jayadeva called them his brothers and defended them from all suspicion. When Padmavati was falsely told of Jayadev’s death, she herself died at once illustrating what the Guru was to tell us later is the only real sati; the story goes that Jayadeva raised her to life and they both retuned to Kenduli, where they served saints and adored the One God.
Ramananda (c. 13601450), a follower of the sect of Ramanujacharya (10171137), was born at Mailkot, son of Punyasadan and Susila. Sent to Banaras for education, he there met Swami Raghavananda who initiated him and, at the destined hour of death, saved his life by putting him in a trance. He went on a long pilgrimage and on his return defended himself by showing the impossibility of keeping all the customary rules of Vaishnavas for taking food, etc. This led to a breach; Ramananda broke away and formed his own sect, abandoning caste exclusiveness and recognizing human equality; his verse shows his teaching: Fan panthi pucchai nahi koi Hari ko bhaje, So hari ka hoi (Let no one ask of caste or sect; if he worships god, then is he God’s). He had twelve disciples: two were women, one a barber, one a cobbler, one a weaver, one a soldier and Muslim, one a peasant. He became famous for his love for god and kindness to man, opening the way to God for all through the use of the Name. He died in Banaras, and his disciples transformed the face of Hindu religion.
Dhuan (early 16th century), a Jat farmer’s son born at Dhuan in the State of Tonk near Deoli. He was illiterate and could not read the scriptures but was full of love for God even from childhood, thanks to the sadhus who used to visit his father.
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Article extracted from this publication >> December 8, 1989
Article extracted from this publication >>
