Chapter 8 - Devotional Paths To The Divine. highlight the major religious ideas and practices that began during this period understand how Kabir challenged.

Chapter 8 - Devotional Paths To The Divine

highlight the major religious ideas and practices that began during this period understand how Kabir challenged formal religions illustrate how traditions preserved in texts and oral traditions are used to reconstruct history Described about the Lesson in short

Ideas of a bhakti (devotion to a single god) developed between the eighth and seventeenth centuries. The Nayanars and the Alvars were saint-poets and were prominent in southern India. Shankara, Ramanuja, and Basavanna were prominent thinkers of southern India who shaped the idea of bhakti in the south. Many saints who preached the bhakti of Vitthala, a form of lord Vishnu, emerged from Maharashtra. Overview Nathapanthis, Siddhas, and Yogis were people that renounced the world and meditated to attain salvation. Sufis were Islamic mystics that preached love and devotion to God and rejected the Shariat of Muslim scholars. Sant Kabir was a poet and writer whose ideals and compositions shaped religious ideologies in northern India in the seventeenth century. Guru Nanak established Sikhism to preach worship to one god and love for fellow humans. And his successors turned Sikhism into a huge religion that has millions of followers today

The things which we learn’t from the Described a story on the chapter is all about the conpects given in the chapter. For example:- Ideas of Bhakti (Devotion to thier God and Godesses. What did we learn’t from Overview

The Ideas of Supreme God

Before the 7th century, Buddhist, Jain, and other faiths in the Indian sub- continent believed that all are equal and all have the right to live and to become free. Before the formation of empires, people worshipped different gods and goddesses, but as kingdoms grew into empires, the idea that all living things pass through cycles of birth, rebirth, and karma became widely accepted. One of the beliefs that developed from the 7th century onwards was that human beings are not equal, not even at birth, and social privileges are for those who are born in a higher caste. Many people did not believe in this idea and turned to Buddhism or Jainism, where the path to salvation lay through personal effort. Other people followed the idea of a supreme god, where salvation (nirvana, moksha, freedom from birth and death) could be achieved through devotion to one God (bhakti), and this is advised in the Bhagavadgita. Shiva, Vishnu, and Durga became supreme deities, and their myths and legends became a part of Puranic stories. The Puranas introduced methods of worship in local cults, and said that all devotees could get the blessings of the gods, regardless of their caste.

Between the 7th and the 9th centuries, there was an emergence of new religious movements led by Nayanars (saints devoted to Shiva) and Alvars (saints devoted to Vishnu), who came from all castes, including those considered 'untouchables', such as the Pulaiyar and the Panars. They detested Buddhists and Jains and preached that love for Shiva and Vishnu was the path to salvation. They believed in the ideals of love and heroism from the Sangam literature and mixed them with values of bhakti. Nayanars and Alvars wandered from place to place and composed unique poems and music in praise of their deities. Between the tenth and the twelfth centuries, the Chola and Pandya kings built splendid temples around the shrines visited by these saint-poets. Their poems were compiled and their hagiographies (religious biographies) were composed, and even today, they are sources of history for modern researchers.

Shankara, born in Kerala in the eighth century, was a very influential thinker of India. He was an advocate of Advaita or the doctrine of the oneness of the human soul and the Supreme Soul which is formless and is the Ultimate Reality. He advised people to give up worldly things because they are an illusion or maya, and to follow the path of knowledge because it is the true path of salvation. Ramanuja He was born in Tamil Nadu in the eleventh century, and he was highly influenced by the philosophy of the Alvars. He thought that the path to salvation was through intense devotion to Lord Vishnu because the grace of the Lord helps devotees attain permanent bliss (freedom and happiness). He also suggested the theory of Vishishadvaita or qualified oneness which says that even if a soul unites with the Supreme Soul, it remains distinct and under the blessing of the Supreme Soul. This ideology inspired a new form of bhakti in northern Indi

Basavanna's Virashaivism The Tamil bhakti movement and temple worship came together to create the Virashaiva movement that began in Karnataka in the mid-twelfth century. It was initiated by Basavanna and other virashaivas such as Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi. They fought for the equality of all human beings and against the Brahmanical ideas of caste and poor treatment of women. They were also against religious rituals and idol worship

Between the thirteenth and the seventeenth centuries, many saint-poets such as Janeshwar, Namdev. Eknath, and Tukaram, women such as Sakkubai, and the family of Chokhamela from Maharashtra inspired people to follow the bhakti of the Vitthala temple in Pandharpur as well as that of the god that lives in the people's hearts. They rejected all kinds of rituals, unnecessary display of piety, and discrimination on the basis of caste. They rejected the concept of renouncing the world and preferred to stay with their families and serve fellow humans. This was a new form of bhakti where happiness was in sharing the pain of others

Nathpanthis, Siddhas, and Yogis Nathpanthis, Siddhacharas, and Yogis preached renunciation (self-sacrifice), and taught that the path to salvation was through meditation on the formless Ultimate Reality and the oneness of the human soul with it. They preached intense training of the mind and body through yogasanas, breathing excercises, and meditation. These groups were popular among the 'low' castes and their criticism for the common Vedic religion created a base for a new religion to become a common power in the north

Islam and Sufism Sufis were Muslim mystics who rejected hypocrisy in religion and emphasised love and devotion to God and compassion for fellow human beings. Islam is a strictly monotheistic religion which believes in submission to one God, rejects idol worship, and preaches collective worship of God. Muslim scholars developed a holy law called the Shariat which the sufis rejected because they wanted union with God just like a lover seeks unity with his beloved. Sufis composed expressive poems and music, and also rich prose that included fables and anecdotes. Great sufi saints include Ghazali, Rumi, and Sa'adi who believed that the heart can be trained to look at the world with a different perspective. They used zikr (chanting of a name or formula), contemplation, sama (singing), raqs (dancing), discussion of parables, breath control, etc., under the guidance of a master called a pir. Genealogies of sufis were known as silsilas, and each followed a different method of ritual practice and instruction. After the establishment of the Delhi Sultanante, major sufi centres developed in India, of which the Chishti silsila was one of the most influential. This order has had many thinkers, such as Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer, Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki of Delhi, Baba Farid of Punjab, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, and Bandanawaz Gisudaraz of Gulbarga. Sufi masters held assemblies in their khanqahs or hospices where all kinds of devotees came to discuss spiritual matters, solve their worldly problems, or attend music and dance sessions. People mostly associated sufis with magical powers. So their tombs or dargahs became places of pilgrimage for people of all ages and castes to visit and pay their respects

New Religious Movements in the North Many different kinds of movements influenced each other in North India, and people from different religions and castes thronged to holy places to listen to preachers of new religions. People such as Kabir and Guru Nanak rejected all orthodox religions but people such as Tulsidas and Surdas accepted existing beliefs and made them accessible to all. Tulsidas accepted God in the form of Rama and composed the Ramcharitramanas in Awadhi. This work is important both as a religious book and a literary work. Surdas was a devotee of Krishna, and he expresses his devotion with compositions such as the Sursagara, Surasaravali, and Sahitya Lahari. Shankaradeva of Assam was a devotee of Vishnu, composed poems and plays in Assamese, and set up namghars or houses of recitation and prayer. Mirabai was a Rajput princess married into the royal family of Mewar before she became a disciple of Ravidas who was a saint from the 'untouchable' caste. She was a devotee of Krishna and composed many bhajans which became popular among the people of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Kabir Kabir was brought up in a family of Muslim julahas (weavers) in the city of Benaras. He wrote many verses called sakhis and pads which were sung by wandering bhajan singers. Many of his writings were later compiled in the Guru Granth Sahib, Panch Vani, and Bijak. His teachings rejected major religious traditions and ridiculed external worship in Brahmanism and Islam, the special position of the priestly class, and the caste system. He mostly wrote in Hindi, but he also used a cryptic language sometimes. He believed in a formless Supreme God and preached that the only path to salvation was through bhakti (devotion).

Guru Nanak was born in Talwandi, but he travelled for years before he found the Dera Baba Nanak in Kartarpur. Irrespective of their creed or caste, his followers ate together in a common kitchen known as a langar. And the sacred place/temple he created for worship and meditation was called a dharmasal (now known as a Gurudwara). Before he died in 1539, he appointed a follower called Lena (known later as Guru Angad) as his successor. Guru Angad compiled the work of Guru Nanak and added to it his own script known as Gurmukhi. The next three Gurus also wrote under Nanak's name, and their work was compiled by Guru Arjan in 1604. Works of Shaikh Farid, Sant Kabir, Bhagat Namdev, and Guru Tegh Bahadur were also added to these compilations. Finally, in 1706, Guru Gobind Singh authenticated the compilation and created the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Nanak's followers increased in the sixteenth century as people from all castes and occupations joined the community.

By the seventeenth century, the town of Ramdaspur developed around a Gurudwara called the Harmandar Sahib and became a self-governing society. The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan saw them as a potential threat, and in 1606 he ordered the execution of Guru Arjan. By the seventeenth century, Guru Gobind Singh organised the Khalsa Movement, and the community of Sikhs became a political organisation called the Khalsa Panth. Guru Nanak emphasised the worship of one God and insisted that caste, creed, and gender were irrelevant to attaining salvation. According to him, pursuit of an active life would liberate humans, and he also used the terms nam, dan, and isnan to mean right worship, welfare, and purity of conduct. His ideas today are called nam-japna, kirt-karna, and vand-chhakna, which mean right belief and worship, honest living, and helping others

Archana prays every morning and sings bhajans (songs of worship) in the temple. She also meditates on the name of her favourite god. What is such devotional worship, directed towards one supreme deity, known as? a) Shakti b) Bhakti c) ramti d) gamti

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Chapter 8 - Devotional Paths To The Divine. highlight the major religious ideas and practices that began during this period understand how Kabir challenged.

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Chapter 8 - Devotional Paths To The Divine. highlight the major religious ideas and practices that began during this period understand how Kabir challenged.

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Presentation on theme: "Chapter 8 - Devotional Paths To The Divine. highlight the major religious ideas and practices that began during this period understand how Kabir challenged."— Presentation transcript:

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