BHAKTI MOVEMENT: IMPORTANCE, NAYANARS, ALVARS & FEATURE

The details of the lives and of the saints are described in the work ‘Tevaram’ which is also called the Dravida Veda.

• Tiru Neelakanta,
• Meiporul,
• Viral Minda,
• Amaraneedi,
• Karaikkal Ammaiyar (woman)

• Andal (only female Alwar saint who is referred to as the ‘Meera of the South’)
• Thirumazhisai Alvar
• Thiruppaan Alvar
• Nammalwar
• Kulasekara

• Believe invisible formless god, without attributes.
• Nirguna bhakta’s poetry was Jnana-shrayi or had roots in knowledge.
• Nirgun Saints:

1. Guru Nanak
2. Ravidas
3. Kabir

• Believe God with form & attributes.
• Saguna bhakta’s poetry was Prema-shrayi, or with roots in love.[
• Saguna Saints:

1. Tulsidas
2. Surdas
3. Meerabai

Shankaracharya (788 – 820 AD

• Birth- Kelara, Death- Uttarakhand (Kedarnath)
• Guru – Govinda Bhagavath pada
• Integrated the essence of Buddhism in Hindu thought and interpreted the ancient Vedic religion
• Consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedant (Non-Dualism)- God & created world is one and The individual soul is not different from Brahman.
• Organizer of the Dashanami monastic order and unified the Shanmata tradition of worship.
• Brhat-Sankara-Vijaya by Citsukha is the oldest biography of Adi Shankara

• Birth – Tamilandu
• Guru – yadav preksha
• Propagator of Vishishtadvaita Vedanta or qualified monism – There exists a plurality and distinction between Ātman (soul) & Brahman (metaphysical, ultimate reality).
• Exponents of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism
• Literary works: Vedartha Sangraham, Sri Bhashyam, Gita Bhashyam

• He was the contemporary of Ramanuja.
• He propounded the philosophy of ‘bheda-bheda’ -the God, the soul and the world were identical yet distinct

• He was a critic of Adi Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta and Ramanuja’s Vishishtadvaita Vedanta teachings.
• He preached “Dvaita” or dualism, where divinity was separate from the human conscience/soul.
• Liberation- only through the grace of God
• Book – Anuvyakhyana.

• Criticized the ritual and other aspects of conventional religion and the social order, using simple, logical arguments.
• They advocated renunciation of the world.
• To them, the path to salvation lay in meditation on the formless god.
• To achieve this they advocated intense training of the mind and body through practices like yoga asanas, breathing exercises and meditation.
• These groups became particularly popular among “low” castes.

(14-15th century)

• He was a follower of the Bhakti movement, particularly under the influence of Ramanuja.
• Founder of Sant-parampara (literally, the tradition of Bhakti movement saints) in north India.
• Substitute the worship of Rama in place of Krishna.
• He has 12 disciples – “Avadhutas”.
• Disciple(s): Kabir, Ravidas, Bhagat Pipa, Sukhanand, sena & sadhana.
• Literary works: Gyan-lila and Yog-cintamani (Hindi), Vaisnava Mata Bhajan Bhaskara and Ramarcanapaddhati (Sanskrit).
• His verse is mentioned in Guru Granth Sahib.

(1440-1510 AD)

• Disciple of the Bhakti movement, Ramananda
• He was the first to reconcile Hinduism and Islam.
• He was a Nirguna saint within the Bhakti movement and openly criticized the orthodox ideas of major religions like Hinduism and Islam.
• Denounced idol-worship, fastings, pilgrimages and religious superstitious beliefs, bathing in holy rivers, formal worship like nama.
• His poems are called “Banis” (utterances) or ‘Dohe’. His works are compiled in the famous book “Bijak”.
• Kabir says: “Ram Rahim are the same”.

(1469-1538 AD)

• Birth – Talwandi Village & Death Kartarpur ( Both are in Pakistan)
• Founder of Sikh religion & the first Guru of ten Sikh Gurus. Initially worked as an Accountant.
• Preached middle path & need of Guru for liberation.
• He composed hymnes and sang along with the help of an instrument called ”Rabab” played by his attendant “Mardana”.
• Traveled across Asia including Mecca & Baghdad and spread the message of “Ik Onkar” – One God.
• Opposes idol worship, pilgrimage and caste system, and emphasized purity of character and conduct.
• Called God as “Waheguru” that is shapeless, timeless, omnipresent & invisible (Nirgun Bhakti movement)
• He started Guru-Ka-langer (Community Kitchen)
• He promoted “Tauhid-e-wazidi”

(1483-1564)

• One of the chief founding-proponents of South Indian classical music (Carnatic Music).
• He is often quoted as Karnataka Sangeeta Pitamaha

(1544-1603 AD)

• Disciple of Kabir
• He was a supporter of Hindu-Muslim unity
• His followers were called Dadu Panthis

(1486-1533 AD)

• Founder of modern Vaishnavism in Bengal.
• He was a Saguna and popularized “Kirtans” (religious songs) as a form of worshiping God.
• Popularized the chanting of “Hare Rama, Hare Krishna”.
• He made famous the practice of worshiping Radha and Krishna together. He gave the “Achintya Bheda-Abheda” philosophy.
• Didn’t reject scriptures or idol worship called god as Hari.
• He wrote “Siksastakam”, a text in Sanskrit, where he elaborated his philosophy.
• He is the inspiration behind the world renowned ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) that was founded in the 20th century.

(1499-1569 AD)

• Spread the Bhakti movement cult in Assam
• Translated Ramayana & Mahabharata into Assamese
• He started the Bhakti movement (Neo-Vaishnavite movement). He believed in the worship of ‘Ekasarana’ (One God) in the form of Krishna.
• He is also called Krishna by different names like Hari, Narayan and Rama.
• His most famous work is “Kirtana Ghosha”, written in a simple language understood by the masses.
• He wrote in Assamese and Brajavali (mixture of Maithili and Assamese).

(1479-1531 AD)

• Exponent of Krishna cult
• Founded philosophy of “Shuddhadvaita” (Pure Non dualism) and his philosophy is known as ‘Pushti Marg’.
• He worshiped Krishna under the title “Srinathji“

(1756-1836 AD)

• He was a famous saint from Chhattisgarh and he established the “Satnami Community” there.
• He strongly believed in equality and criticized the oppressive caste system.
• He was a monotheist and was against idol worship.

(1483-1563 AD)

• Disciple of Vallabhacharya
• He wrote “Sursagar” and “Sursurvali”.
• Showed intense devotion to Radha and Krishna
• Regarded as the outstanding devotional poet in Brajbhasha

(1498-1546 AD)

• Staunch devotee of Lord Krishna
• Composed number of songs and poems in honour of Krishna.
• She composed ‘bhajans’ (short religious songs) which are sung even today.

(1478-1573 AD)

• A great musician saint who sang the glories of Lord Vishnu

(1532-1623 AD)

• Depicted Rama as the incarnation
• Wrote “Ramcharitmanas”
• He was Varkari

(1270-1350AD)

• Disciple of Visoba Khechar
• He was a devotee of Vittoba (Vishnu)
• Opposed Caste system
• Only Nirguna saint in Maharashtra.
• He belongs to Varkari tradition.

(1275-1296 AD)

• He was the founder of the Bhakti Movement in Maharashtra in the 13th century.
• Wrote “Dnyaneshwari“, a commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita.
• His other work is “Amrutanubhav “ on Yoga and philosophy.
• He was a worshiper of Vithoba (Vitthala) who is considered a manifestation of Vishnu.
• He was a follower of Nath Yogi Tradition. He also drew inspiration from the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita.

(1533-1599)

• Wrote commentary on verses of the Bhagavad-Gita
• Devotee of Vithoba. He criticized the Caste distinctions.

(1598-1650)

• Contemporary of Maratha king Shivaji
• Devotee of Vithal
• He founded the Varkari sect
• His teachings are contained in Abhangas.

(1608-1681)

• Author of “Dasbodh”
• His teachings inspired Shivaji to establish an independent kingdom in Maharashtra.

• Founder -Kwaja Abdul Chisti.
• Originated in Persia and Central Asia.
• Moinuddin Chishti introduced the Chisti order in India.
• Baba Farid (Farīduddīn Ganjshakar) was a disciple of Moinuddin & his poems included in Guru granth sahib.
• Nizamuddin Auliya was called sidh/perfect due to yogi breathing exercises.
• Sama was mostly associated with Chisti.
• Belong to Ba sharia.

• Founder – Shaikh Shihabuddin Surhavardi.
• Main centre was Multan.
• Saints of this order were also rich and held important government positions.
• Associated with Delhi Sultanate.
• A famous saint is Bahauddin Zachariah.
• Belong to Ba-sharia

• Founder – Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari
• Khwaja pir mohammad introduced Nakshabadi order in India during Akbar reign.
• Orthodox Sect.
• Mujaddid opposed Shia, philosophy of Wahadat-ul-Shahdud , wrote ‘Red-i-Khafid’ arrested by Jhangir