Lehal Library

22 The Punjab and the Birth of Sjkh_ism The Bhakti movement owes its influence to the Alvar and Adyar saints, the exponents of their creed (Madhva, Vishnu Swami, Vallabha, aud others), and, above all, to Ramanuja. The main points of the teaching of the Bhaktas were that God was one, and though He was indescribable He was the onJy reality; the rest was maya (illusion). The best way to serve God was by absolute submission to His will. The way to approach Him was through meditation and through the chanting of mantras and the singing of hymns. This could best be achieved under the guidance of a spirin1al mentor, a guru. 3 The cult of Bhakti wa.c; popularized in northem India by Ramananda. He allowed Hindus of lower castes and Muslims to join him in worship and become his followers. It was his disciple Kabir' (AD 1440-1518) who, more than any ocher, spread the message of Bbakti across the lndo-Gangetic Plain. The spirit ofreligious ferment was at work all over the country; people who knew little or nothing of each other felt the pull of the zeitgeist and were saying the same so11 of thing in their own languages in distant pa1ts of India. There was Chaitanya in Bengal; Ramananda and Kabir in Uttar Pradesh; Mira Bai in Rajasthan; Tukaram, Nam Dev, Trilochan, and Pannanand in Maharashtra; Vallabha Swami in Telegana; Sadhana in Sindh. By the end oftbe 15th century, the influence of the Bhakta orders was far greater than that of orthodox Brahmankal Hinduism. What was more important, many of. the Bhaktas had taken positive steps towards a rapprochement with Islam. The chief protagonist of an understanding between Hindus and Muslims was Kabir, who described himself as 'the child of 3 The house of the Bhakta was said lO rest on four pillars: bhaJ..1.i, bhakta, bhagvalita. and the gum-worship. che worshipper. God, and the teacher. 4 A Hinrli couplet sums up the history of the spread of the Bhakti mo,•ement Bhakti drlirmr iip]i uttnr Riimanandn pt17Kal kiyo lwflir 11e .m/11 tfvip nm, khn1i(j. (Bhakti was born in t11c Dnwida co11ntry-Tamilnad-brough1 to the north by Ramananda; Kabir spread ic over che seven seas and nine continents.} Hrmns of Ramauanda's disciples Dhanna. Pipa. Sain. and Ravi Das are found in che Acli Granth.