You are here: SriPedia - Ramanuja - Archives - Aug 2005

Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00114 Aug 2005

 
Aug 2005 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


The Ramanandis 
 
RENUKA NARAYANAN          
 
This is not about upholding agendas but about our right to know. 
Thus, when Swami Nritya Gopal, who succeeded Swami Paramahans as 
head of the Ramanandi sect in Ayodhya, says, "Hindus and Muslims 
will build the temple together", it may not necessarily be a "Hindu 
extremist" remark. Over five centuries of composite Bhakti culture 
back it. The mahant heads one of the largest sampradayas, the 
Ramanandis. Their history has ramifications that leave you 
breathless. Ramananda (1360?-1470) of Prayag, was a devotee of the 
12th century Srivaishnava philosopher Ramanuja of Sriperumbudur, 
conceiver of `vishishtadvaita' philosophy. (Among his followers in 
South India are the Iyengars. Sri Ramanuja was the first to coin the 
term `Harijan' later picked up by Bapu). 

After his studies in South India, Ramananda settled in Kashi. Kabir 
lay on the steps of the ghat that Ramananda descended daily to the 
Ganga. Unseeingly, he trod on Kabir and said "Ram Ram", which Kabir 
took as his initiation before he undertook reconciling Islam 
and `Hinduism'. 

Ramananda eventually founded the `Srisampradaya' and his 12 
disciples founded sub-sects called `dvara'. The umbrella sect of 
Ramanandis thumbed its nose at orthodoxy by accepting women and 
members of all castes and religions. Their core principle was love 
for "Sitaram", reflecting Srivaishnavism, where Sri stands for 
Mahalakshmi. 

Ramananda's disciples led the reformist Bhakti phase in North India: 
Kabir the weaver, Meerabai the princess, Tulsidas the priest (whose 
Ramcharitmanas changed the face of Hinduism forever in the Ganga 
basin), Malukdas the basket-maker and Nabhaji the merchant's son, 
all of whose bhajans are still recorded on CD and taught in graduate 
programs of music at universities. 

Now look at the outreach. Kabir, who founded the `Santmat' or 
tradition of teachers who reconcile sagun (avatar) and nirgun 
(formless God) bhakti and uphold the salvatory concepts of Satnam 
and Sadguru, is known to have inspired Guru Nanak. Guru Gobind 
Singh, the tenth Sikh guru, who died in Nanded in 1708, initiated a 
runaway Peshwa. He thus re-linked an older Bhakti chain that began 
with Oriya poet Jayadev, author of the Gita Govinda (whose writ runs 
from Meghalaya to Kerala in 16 languages). This chain, I'm told, 
included both Sant Sadna, an early 14th century butcher of Sindh and 
Sant Namdeo, the calico printer who is one of the five great saints 
of Maharashtra. In a wild loop, the late `Aftab-e-Mausiqi' (Sun of 
Music) Ustad Faiyyaz Khan of the Agra gharana was of descent from 
Malukdas, while the powerful Radhasoami sect is in spiritual lineage 
from both Guru Nanak and Tulsidas. Given that only a religious 
solution might work for Ayodhya, why can't our "intellectuals" tell 
us these important nuances? 
 
source http://www.indianexpress.com/archive_full_story.php?
content_id=30220






------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page
http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/.itolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

azhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyAr thiruvadigalE saranam
 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ramanuja/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    ramanuja-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 




[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
ramanuja-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list