Ravidas: Mystic Poet and Bhakti Saint of North India
Ravidas: Mystic Poet and Bhakti Saint of North India
Ravidas, a mystic and poet flourishing in the 15th or 16th century, stands out as one of the most celebrated saints of the North Indian bhakti movement. His life unfolded in Varanasi, and he belonged to an untouchable leather-working caste, a background that profoundly influenced his poetic expressions.
His verses frequently navigate the theme of his humble social status, challenging the entrenched belief in the caste’s pivotal role in an individual’s connection with the divine. Ravidas, while rejecting the idea of caste as a determinant in one’s relationship with God, juxtaposed his own lowliness with the divine’s exalted nature. According to him, God surpassed him like silk to a worm and exuded a more enchanting fragrance compared to the stinking castor oil plant. In the divine realm, everyone, regardless of caste, became an “untouchable,” and Ravidas proclaimed, “A family that has a true follower of the Lord is neither high caste nor low caste, lordly nor poor.”
Ravidas’s charisma reached such heights that even Brahmans, members of the priestly class, were rumored to have bowed before him. Approximately 40 of Ravidas’s poems found a place in the Adi Granth (“First Volume”), the revered scripture of Sikhism. It is widely acknowledged that Ravidas encountered Nanak, the first Guru and Sikh tradition’s founder. In the 19th and 20th centuries, a religious movement coalesced around Ravidas, with a temple erected in his hometown becoming a center of worship. His hymns echoed every morning and night, and his birthday evolved into a significant religious celebration.
Ravidas’s egalitarian teachings transformed him into a revered figure and a source of pride among various scheduled classes, now known as Dalits. His influence echoed through the social-reform movements of the 20th century, solidifying his legacy as a beacon of spiritual equality and a poetic luminary in the tapestry of North Indian bhakti tradition.
ब्राह्मण मत पूजिए जो होवे गुणहीन, पूजिए चरण चंडाल के जो होने गुण प्रवीन।। कृस्न, करीम, राम, हरि, राघव, जब लग एक न पेखा वेद कतेब कुरान, पुरानन, सहज एक नहिं देखा
रविदास जन्म के कारनै, होत न कोउ नीच नकर कूं नीच करि डारी है, ओछे करम की कीच
मन ही पूजा मन ही धूप, मन ही सेऊं सहज स्वरूप।।
करम बंधन में बन्ध रहियो, फल की ना तज्जियो आस कर्म मानुष का धर्म है, सत् भाखै रविदास
