DEVOTIONAL PATH OF THE DIVINE

Key Words

1.

Virashaivism:

It was popular in Karnataka during the mid-twelfth century. Its followers argued strongly for the equality of all human beings and against Brahmanical ideas about caste and the treatment of women.

2.

Hagiography:

Writing of saint’s lives.

3.

Vilthala:

A form of Vishnu.

4.

Hospice:

House of rest for travellers, especially one kept by a religious order.

5.

Khanqah:

It literarily means hospice.

6.

Dargah:

It is a tomb of a religious saint in Muslim community recognised as a pilgrimage.

7.

Langer:

A common kitchen where people of all backgrounds eat together.

8.

Bhakti:

It means devotion to God.

9.

Sufi:

The Muslim mystic.

10.

Silsila:

A genealogy of Sufi teachers.

Questions and Answers

1. Describe the beliefs and practices of the Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis.

Most of the religious groups that emerged during this period criticised the rituals, conventional religion and the social order, using simple, logical arguments.

2. Among them were the Nathpanthis, Siddhacharas and Yogis who advocated renunciation of the world. They believed that the path to salvation lies in meditation.

3. Therefore, they advocated intense training of the mind and body through practices like Yogasanas, breathing exercises and meditation.

4. The Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis became popular among “low” castes and their criticism of conventional religion created the ground for devotional religion to become a popular force in Northern India.

2. What were the major ideas expressed by Kabir? How did he express these?

Kabir, who probably lived in the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries, was one of the most influential saints whose teachings were based on a complete, indeed vehement, rejection of the major religious traditions.

2. Kabir believed in a formless Supreme God and believed that the only path to salvation was through bhakti or devotion.

3. His teachings openly ridiculed all forms of external worship in both Brahmanical Hinduism and Islam.

4. He also ridiculed the pre-eminence of the priestly classes and the caste system. The language of his poetry was a form of spoken Hindi widely understood by ordinary people.

5. He sometimes used cryptic language, which is difficult to follow.

6. We get to know of his ideas from a vast collection of verses called sakhis and pads which are composed by him and sung by wandering bhajan singers.

7. Some of these were later collected and preserved in the Guru Granth Sahib, Panch Vani and Bijak.