Sant Ravidas

Context: Sant Ravidas birth anniversary

About Sant Ravidas:

• Ravidas, or Raidas, was an Indian mystic poet-saint of the bhakti movement and founder of the Ravidassia religion during the 15th to 16th century CE.
• He is venerated as a guru (teacher) in the modern regions of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.
• He was a poet, social reformer and spiritual figure.
• The life details of Ravidas are uncertain and contested. He was born in Varanasi into untouchable leather-working Chamar caste.
• He valued the worship of a formless God.
• Ravidas’s devotional Verses were included in the Sikh scriptures known as Guru Granth Sahib.
• The Panch Vani text of the Dadupanthi tradition within Hinduism also includes numerous poems of Ravidas.
• He taught removal of social divisions of caste and gender, and promoted unity in the pursuit of personal spiritual freedom.
• Along with Kabir, he was one of the most noted disciples of Bhagat Ramanand.
• 41 verses of Bhakta Ravidas are incorporated into Sikh’s religious book, Adi Granth.
• He was vocal against the varna (caste) system
• He imagined an egalitarian society called Begumpura, means “land without sorrow”
• His disciples came to be known as Ravidas-panthis and followers came to be known as Ravidassias.
• He also mentioned ‘Sahaj’, a mystical state where there is a union of the truths of the many and the one.

About Ravidassias:

• The Ravidassias are a Dalit community of whom the bulk — nearly 12 lakhs — live in the Doaba region.
• The Dera Sachkhand Ballan, their largest dera with 20 lakh followers worldwide, was founded in the early 20th century by Baba Sant Pipal Das.
• Once closely connected with Sikhism, the dera severed these decades-old ties in 2010, and announced they would follow the Ravidassia religion.
• The announcement was made on Guru Ravidas Jayanti in Varanasi.
• From 2010, the Dera Sachkhand Ballan started replacing the Guru Granth Sahib with its own Granth, Amritbani, carrying 200 hymns of Guru Ravidas, in Ravidassia temples and gurdwaras.

Source:   NewsOnAir

Previous Year Questions

Q.1) With reference to Indian history, consider the following texts:

1. Nettipakarana
2. Parishishtaparvan
3. Avadanashataka
4. Trishashtilakshana Mahapurana

Which of the above are Jaina texts  (2022)

1. 1,2 and 3
2. 2 and 4 only
3. 1,3 and 4
4. 2, 3 and 4

Q.2) With reference to the cultural history of India, consider the following pairs:

1. Parivrajaka — Renunciant and Wanderer
2. Shramana — Priest with a high status
3. Upasaka — Lay follower of Buddhism

Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched? (2020)

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 1 and 3 only
3. 2 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3