Sant Ravidas

  • IASbaba
  • February 6, 2023
  • 0
History and Art and Culture
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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

 

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