Bagat Ramananda Ji

Ramananda (1400?-1470?), also referred to as Saint Ramanand or Swami Ramanand, was a Vaishnava sant, a Ramayat (devotee of Rama). He is considered to be the founder of the Ramanandi Sampradaya religious system. He lived in the Indian holy city of Varanasi, and was a pioneer of the Bhakti movement, as well as a social reformer in Northern India. He was known for communicating in vernacular Hindi, and accepting disciples of all castes. His most famous disciples were Dhanna Bhagat, Kabirdas, Nabhadas, Pipa, Ravidas, Sain, and Tulsidas.

Early life

Ramananda is generally considered to have been born around AD 1400, although there is disagreement on the exact date and place of birth, due to the few texts regarding his early life. Birthplaces have been suggested as triveni sangam Allahabad, Prayaga, ]].
He was born to an upper-caste Brahmin family, and his parents were probably named Sushila and Punyasadan sharma, with roots in Southern India.
When Ramananda was a child, he studied scriptures and showed great interest in spiritual thoughts. He probably received his early education in Kasi under a sant who was a member of Sankara’s order. From a young age,Ramananda learned from Swami Raghavananda, an ascetic of the new Sri Vaishnava order, expounded by Ramanuja, a renowned philosopher and the prophet of the new Vaishnava religion, known for his downplaying the role of caste.swami Ramanand went to SRIMATHKashi,to learn Vedic literature. Ramanuja was a Brahman of Southern India whose campaign was teaching monotheism through sri vaishnavism. Ramananda embraced many of Ramanuja's teachings, such as adoration of Vishnu, Krishna and Rama; also their respective wives, Lakshmi, Rukmini, and Sita. Ramananda was particularly known for worshiping Rama and his wife Sita. Ramanuja and Ramananda both believed that the human soul is distinct from the Supreme Spirit and retains its identity and separate consciousness. As an early follower of Ramanuja, Ramananda affirmed that his prophet was an incarnation of the divine serpent Sesha.
Ramananda became a famous teacher of the Ramanuja order, spending a large period of time on Mt. Abu where he practiced yoga and succeeded in obtaining siddhis. His footprints are visible at SRIMATH, Panchganga ghat,KASHI. . Ramananda visited many places of pilgrimage, including Jagganath Puri ,still has a memorial in his honour.

Adult life

When Ramananda was a young man, he left home and became a sannyasi (ascetic) before he lived at Benares (Varanasi). The success of the spread of Sri Vaishnava doctrines in Southern India led to circulation of the doctrines in the Gangetic valley, where the spread of the doctrines is attributed to the preaching and teaching of Ramananda. Being one of the first members of the Sri Vaishnavas, Ramananda was called to worship Sri or Lakshmi, as the spouse of Vishnu. The sect was most marked by the peculiarity of their regard to food, a fact that, in Ramananda’s mature life, led to his separation from the sect. Sri Vaishnavas were not permitted to eat anything that had not been prepared by the member themselves and in absolute privacy. If a Ramanujite is eating, the householder of his sect must be clad either in woolen or silk, yet no cotton garments.] However, of fundamental importance to present-day Ramanandi identities are the first four decades of the twentieth century\emdash and in particular the years 1918\endash 1921, when \ldblquote radical\rdblquote Ramanandis decided to reject any institutional monastic connection between Ramananda and Ramanuja, the twelfth-century theologian of south India who had long been regarded as the originator of Vaishnava bhakti and, hence, a prominent figure in the Ramanandi tradition. Needless to say, the Ramanandi conception of Ramananda would undergo fundamental, and controversial, change as a result of this decision.
Ramananda traveled in South India for a large part of his life, and on his return, his brother sants refused to admit him into their fold, arguing that Ramananda had not upheld the sect’s regard to food, saying that he had not maintained proper eating habits on his travels. He was therefore required to eat his meals away from the rest of his brethren, and because of this exclusion, Ramananda founded a new sect. To show his contempt for caste distinctions, he freely admitted men of all castes, even the lowest. His new order was called the Ramavat Sampradaya, otherwise known as the Ramanandi sect. Ramananda’s views were very liberal, he wrote lessons in vernacular Hindi, and he taught his views in the language of the common people. All his sisyas wrote in Hindi. Ramananda believed that in spiritual pursuit, the caste system of India is redundant. He believed that to truly devote yourself to the Lord Ram, you must forget your caste identity and social status. Ramananda is quoted as saying, “Let no one ask a man’s caste or with whom he eats. If a man is devoted to Hari, he becomes Hari’s own.” Ramananda had disciples of all castes, including Muslims.
Ramananda’s most famous disciples were Anantananda, Bhavananda, Dhanna Bhagat, Kabir, Nabha, Naraharyanda, Pipa, Ravidas, Sain, Sukhanada, and Tulsidas. His two most famous disciples were Pipa and Kabir, who each grew to be great prophets that were even more famous than Ramananda himself. We know that Ravidas, a famous Hindu prophet, was one of Ramananda’s disciples from the Parichai of Anantdas and Satik Bhaktamal of Priyadas. Ramananda adopted the ritual of always sharing meals with his disciples, proving that he did not believe in classic caste rules. It is said that in his original tewlve disciples was at least one woman, which was very rare.
From the story of Kabir, a famous Hindu philosopher and disciple of Ramananda, it is said that Kabir was initiated into Ramananda’s sect by accident. Ramananda stayed indoors all day and only left his quarters at about two o’clock in the morning to go down to the Ganges River to have a bath and perform his devotions. Because Kabir held this knowledge of Ramananda’s daily habits, Kabir waited one night for Ramananda by lying on the steps of a Panchganga ghat in Ganga. When Ramananda accidentally stepped on Kabir on his way to bathe, he uttered “Ooth! Ram ko Ram bolo!” (Rise up! Say Ram to Ram!). This became, for Kabir, the sacred mantra. Ramananda later embraced Kabir when he understood the depth of Kabir’s sincerity. Because of Ramananda, Kabir grew among the ranks of important religious reformers in India.

Teachings

Ramananda is today held by Ramanandis to have been an avatar of Ramchandra, the god-king of epic Ayodhya,who returned to earth to rescue Hinduism from the corrupting effects of human divisiveness. The institutional centrality of Ramananda has long been reflected in the 'guru parampara' that connects every Ramanandi through an unbroken succession of gurus with Ramanand himself and, eventually, Ramchandra. Ramananda taught his followers to pay special attention to Rama and his wife Sita. Because of political dangers looming on the horizon, Rama was a natural focus of worship due to his position as the faultless prince. As outlined in the famous Sanskrit epic, the Ramayana, Rama, while an incarnation of deity, was a successful warrior capable of defeating the terrible ten-headed demon-king of the Rakshasas.
Ramananda defined his own studies with his dedication and self-surrender to the Supreme Soul. According to Saint Ramananda, Lord Rama was the Supreme Spirit and the human race was simply one large family. He was a skilled and impressive preacher who drew large crowds wherever he traveled, yet most of Ramananda’s poems and sayings were not preserved. The result is the lack of texts that modern scholars and historians can use to unearth the life of Ramananda. Only one poem is recorded in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs. This poem, called the Raga Basant, describes Ramananda’s profound philosophy: “O my brother, where shall I go, why should I wander? The pleasure I seek is in my very own home. My mind will not stray, for my heart is now steadfast. One day, a yearning arose in my heart, and I went with sandal shavings and essence and so many perfumes, so I could worship Brahma in the temple. But then the guru told me that the Brahma I sought dwelt in my very own heart. Wherever I went I met only water and stone—but You remain all-pervasive and forever unchanging. I read and searched all the Vedas and the Puranas; I go to them if I do not find Him here. O my true guru, I am your handmaid, your living sacrifice, for you have cut away all my hardened doubts, all my great fears. Ramananda’s lord is all-pervasive Brahma—a guru’s word can destroy a million sins.”
This poem, originally written in Hindi, professes Ramananda’s great teaching of the giving up of caste for Lord Rama, or the “true guru” who remains “all-pervasive and forever unchanging.” This poem expresses Ramananda’s belief that Lord Rama is a sturdy foundation for which one should place faith, instead of the caste system. By comparing the “Brahma in the temple” with the Brahma that “dwelt in [his] own heart,” Ramananda compares the highest caste to the highest spiritual figure, Lord Rama. In this poem, Ramananda also uses many themes that appeared in his other works. In this poem is the theme of the heart. Ramananda believed that in the state of deep spiritual communion, when the disturbances of the mind are gone and the attention is not searching for outward distractions, all consciousness settles into the core: the heart. Ramananda believed that if one looks deep into themselves, they are able to find that everything has always been held in the heart. Along with his practices of yoga, Ramananda thought that looking into oneself and into one’s heart will bring the feeling of absolute contentment and interconnection. Another theme that is prevailing in the works of Ramananda and many other Hindu texts is that of perfume. The scent is tantalizing and is sometimes called the Celestial Drink. The blissful scent can be thought of as a tool to awaken sacred ardor upon a spiritual journey. The third theme in the Raga Basant is water. In this poem, water is used as a metaphor to describe each human being on earth as a small drop of water within the Ocean of Lord Rama. This metaphor suggests the insignificance of one man, or an entire caste of humans, in comparison to Lord Ram. The reason why all his teachings were in Hindi is because Sanskrit was only the language of the elite.

Death

There is much controversy concerning the place and date of Saint Ramananda’s death due to the lack of information available about his life. Many historians believe that Ramananda died around AD 1470-80 yet there is no unanimity regarding the date. Ramananda’s name is read on the list of predecessors during the time of a religious dispute between Sikandar Lodi and his religious teacher, Sheik Taki. From this information Ramananda’s date of death can be fixed as late 15th century. However, there is a story about Ramananda which claims he escaped death altogether by entering a Samadhi stage, a yogic exercise, and remaining is laying as charanpaduka at Srimathin kashi

[edit] Contributions

It is widely believed that Ramananda was an influential social reformer of Northern India. A disciple of Ramanuja, Ramananda broke from his sect and founded the Ramanandi sect, which played a significant role in the development of both Hindu religion and Hindi literature, because Ramananda spoke and wrote in only Hindi. The study of modern Hindi literature as it is taught in the colleges of India today, generally starts with the telling of devotional stories and poems written by people whom the Vaisnavite bards claim were spiritual descendants of Ramananda. These men include the great saints Tulsi Das, Mira Bai, and Kabir. Also, Ramananda played an important role in opening a religious sect that provided a spiritual pathway to all people of all castes. He took a very radical approach to teaching and preaching through the inclusion of the poor and the people of low caste. After Ramananda’s death, the members of the Ramanandi sect led a minor social revolution in the Ganges basin by recruiting women and members of low castes into their sect. In addition, Saint Ramananda was the driving force of the popularization of the devotion of Lord Ram. In modern day society, the present Ramanandi school of religious teaching is the largest Vaishnava monastic order in North India today. It may also be the largest monastic order of a sectarian affiliation in the entire subcontinent of India. Monasteries of the Ramanandi sect are in many states such as Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Maharastra, Bajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh(Shri Hathiramji Mutt at Tirumala and Tirupati) the Nepal Valley, and the Nepalese Tarai. It is estimated that the Ramanandi sect competes with the Dasnami sect for the title of being the largest Hindu ascetic sect.

Historical interpretations

Much about the life of Ramananda and his contributions to India are disputed between scholars. Because of a dearth of information, little is known about the birthplace, life, and death of Ramananda. It is questioned, for instance, whether Ramananda was born in the south or the north. More significantly, while texts written by his disciples indicate that Ramananda was significant in the lives of people in Northern India while he was living, modern scholars argue whether he was in fact as influential as he is described to be. The claim that the Ramanandi sect was founded by Ramananda has been called into question, both by academic scholars and a group of “radical Ramanandis” in the 20th century who disagreed with the Brahman tie with Ramanuja. Given the historical importance of the Ramanandi sect, many scholars find it hard to believe that there is such little information in the sectarian literature on the events which led to its formation. Scholars have tried to reconstruct the early history of the Ramanandi sect, yet there is such a scarcity of information that scholars reach different conclusions. Most scholars assume that Ramananda created the Ramanandi sect because they assume sectarian sources to be accurate or they second-guessed the literature in order to reconstruct the events which led to the founding of the Ramanandi sect. Of the few books written by Ramananda himself, some may have been written by his followers and then accredited to Ramananda in order to give legitimacy to the sect. Some scholars believe that Ramananda truly was a great Hindi saint, yet others feel that from the lack of information provided, that Ramananda was not a historically important enough saint to have caused others to write details of his life. It seems to many scholars, that the life of Ramananda is far inferior to the accounts of the lives of his disciples who have extensive biographies written about them. From much research, many scholars believe that Ramananda did not, in fact, create the Ramanandi sect. They believe that the Ramanandi sect was an act of the imagination initiated by Ramananda’s followers.

[edit] Legacy

Ramananda attained mahasamadhi in about 1470 and Ramananda’s twelve disciples founded sub-sects known as dvaras. All Ramanandis bear the distinguishing Vishnu sect mark, the Trifala, on their foreheads. The Trifala consists of three upright lines. There is a red line in the center and a white or yellow line on either side of the red line. All Ramanandis also wear necklaces and rosaries that are made of wooden tulasi beads. There are four sub-sects of Ramanandis, and all of the sub-sects are celibate. The sub-sects are named the Achari, the Sanyasi, the Khaki, and the Bairagi. The bairagi are by far the largest group of people. The Acharis wear garments made of silk and wool, the Sanyasis wear salmon colored clothes made out of cotton, while the Khakis usually go about without any clothes. The bairagis do not wear colored clothes and they do not cut their hair or nails. None of the sub-sects of the Ramanandis eat meat or drink alcohol, yet many of them are addicted to bhang.
Ramananda’s movement and sect of Ramanandi was created to oppose and rebel from the established and strict caste system which Ramananda had abhorred from a young age.The main acharyapeeth of Ramanandi sampraday is Srimath,panchaganga ghat,kashi. Swami Ramnareshacharya ji maharaj is head of the sect. Ramanadi called him Jagadguru Ramanandacharya swami Ramnareshacharya ji maharaj.
Bhagat Ramanand was a follower of Bhagat Raghavacharya of the Ramanuj Movement. In the later part of his life, Ramanand commanded more respect than even his own Guru and came to be known as an exponent of Bhakti (God worship).

Early life

Born in 1366 CE, Ramanand was the son of Bhoor Karma and Sushila. He was spiritually inclined from his early childhood. He was a Tamilian by birth. Acharya Raghavnand, showed him the path of Yog sadhna. Ramanand also visited places of pilgrimage such as Kashi, where, as a mark of respect, people built a memorial that stands there to this day. After his pilgrimage, Ramanand realised that God can be worshipped by everyone whereas his Guru Archarya Raghavnand, who came from the Sadhu Varna Ashrama believed that not everyone was entitled to perform Puja Bhagati.

Preaching

Hence, he started preaching his gospel in Kashi and imbued many devotees with the spirit of Bhagati. Kabir is the most renowned amongst his disciples. Ravidas, Sain, Dhanna and Pipa are also believed to be his followers even though all of them were not his contemporaries.
Consequently, the spiritual life of those so-called low people got elevated. In the society, which was then bound in the shackles of the caste-system, such utterances had revolutionary effects. As it was, Brahmins were the only community which had the birth right to perform various rituals & observances connected with religion. But the liberal attitude adopted on the part of Ramanand led the Vairagi (a renouncer) tradition to accept him as their prominent Acharya (Hindu religious teacher).
In this way, a new sect among the Vairagis under the name of Ramadatt came into being. This sect stressed celibacy, physical prowess & intense devotion to God. Ramanand had several disciples who guided mankind on the way to bhagati (worshipping). Bhagat Pipa was one of his prominent disciples. Pipa was a king who gave up his ego & came under the patronage to seek spiritual guidance. As a king, he served his subject to their utmost welfare. Bhagat Ramanand also wandered about in Pipa's kingdom for some time. On the basis of his first-hand knowledge, he testified that was as a good a saint as he was a ruler. In his regime, all subjects enjoyed peace, justice and material comforts irrespective of caste or class.
Ramanand was a learned man. Many of the books which are supposed to have been written by him such as Sri Vaishnava, Matanbuj Bhaskar, Sri Ramarachan Padhti are still available. One of his hymns has been included in Guru Granth Sahib under Rag Basant.

Shabad of Ramanand in Guru Granth Sahib

Where should I go?
My home is filled with bliss.
My consciousness does not go out wandering.
My mind has become crippled. || 1 || Pause ||

One day, a desire welled up in my mind.
I ground up sandalwood, along with several fragrant oils.
I went to God’s place, and worshipped Him there.
That God showed me the Guru, within my own mind. || 1 ||

Wherever I go, I find water and stones.
You are totally pervading and permeating in all.
I have searched through all the Vedas and the Puraanas.
I would go there, only if the Lord were not here. || 2 ||

I am a sacrifice to You, O my True Guru.
You have cut through all my confusion and doubt.
Raamanand’s Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.
The Word of the Guru’s Shabad eradicates the karma of millions of past actions. || 3 || 1 ||

(SGGS, 1195)