D R Bhagat
“chauda sau tentees ki magh sudhi pandras,
dukhion ke kalyan hit pargte sri ravi das”
This couplet tells us the day on which the great saint Guru Ravi Das appeared in this world and his purpose of coming in this mortal world which is full of sorrows. As per the above couplet Guru Ravi Das was born on a Magh Purnima Day in 1376-77 AD in a village Seer Goverdhan Pur near Varanasi. His father Santokh Das and mother Kalsa Devi belonged to a caste which was then treated as an untouchable caste but due to his sacred thoughts and spiritual knowledge he became a world Guru. It was a period when the society was completely under the influence of religious dogmas scripted by the pundits and mullas. From his very tender age he became interested in listening the spiritual discourses along with his mother and always preferred to remain in the company of saints. As the financial condition of the family was not good, the parents became anxious and tried to get him attached with the family affairs. He was married with Mata Lona at a very young age and got engaged in family profession of leather work all this against his wishes. He continued to keep himself in the company of saints and took least interest in the family affairs. He had no formal schooling as in those days the lower caste people were not allowed to get education but he had knowledge of common languages like Hindi, Urdu, Persian and some local languages. The source of his knowledge was the company of saints and his own spiritual thoughts.
With his increasing spiritual knowledge, he started delivering discourses to the public and the crowd of the people to listen him increased day by day. The orthodox Brahmins could not digest it. They lodged a complaint with the king of Varanasi stating that Ravi Das despite being born in a low caste is delivering spiritual sermons which is against the Hindu religion. Ravi Das was called in the court of king and was asked why he was talking God in public when he is not allowed to do so as per our religion. Guru Ravi Das replied that caste and sects are the creation of man to divide the society and have nothing to do with God. The king decided to check the spirituality of Guru Ravi Das and of those complainant Brahmins. He called for a deity and placed it in between the Brahmins and Guru Ravi Das and asked them to bring this deity towards your side with your spiritual power without touching the deity. The Brahmins first tried to bring the deity towards their side by chanting of mantras and performing puja but could not do so. Then Guru Ravi Das was asked to do so. Although he was not interested to show the miracles of his divine power but with the insistence of the king he agreed to do so. He remembered God in his own way and everybody was surprised to see the deity in his lap. There are more legends about the miracles of Guru Ravi Das. One about the king Peepa who misunderstood the nectar served by the Guru from his leather wetting pot as polluted water and later came to know about his folly and the other miracle of offering of Damri to Ganga. King Peepa later became a disciple and a staunch follower of Guru Ravi Das.
His following was not limited to common people only but some of his disciples belonged to royal families like Meerabai, Rani Jhali and king Peepa. Meerabai was married to Prince Bhoj Raj of Mewar but leaving all the lusts of princely life she became the disciple of Guru Ravi Das JI and was a well known saint of Bhakti movement. One more disciple of Guru Ravi Das JI was queen of Chittor Rani Jhali. Peepa was a king of Benaras. But Ravi Das never accepted any offering from them and remained committed to his profession for livelihood. He said, “jake ram ji dhani, take kahe ki kami”
He was strictly against the performing of rituals and caste system in the society. His message was that one is distinguished by his actions (karma) and not by his caste and every person has a right to worship God. His spiritual philosophy was as simple as his life. He believed in Nirgun bhagti like Nanak and Kabir. He disapproved false rituals like taking a bath in Ganga, performing Puja by various rituals and going to jungles in search of God. In one of his verses he writes,
” Ban khojan kaya jaye re, ram to aloopa nahin Sarv vayapi ram to ravidas sabhan ke mahi”
He said, just like the jewels are present inside the sea God is present inside us. We have to search him from inside our body. He was against caste discrimination and said that God is inside every person he created, there is no question of caste and no one is big or small. This message is contained in this verse,
” Ravi Das upje sab ek boond te,ka baman ka sood, Moorakh jan na janiye, sab mein ram majood”
His spiritual thoughts have such an effect on the society that some liberal people of upper caste were also in praise of Guru Ravi Das but could not declare it openly for fear of the orthodox society.
Guru Ravi Das visited many places to spread his philosophy. He visited Kurukshetra, Bhopal, Haridwar, Gorakhpur, Punjab and Gujarat. It is said that during his visit to Punjab he met his contemporary saint Guru Nanak Dev Ji at Sultanpur Lodhi where both of them exchanged their views on spirituality and social system. He was also a mystic poet who has written many verses. His poetry is filled with boundless loving devotion to God and social equality. His devotional songs and verses made a lasting effect on the Bhakti movement. Visualizing deep spirituality in his verses, Guru Arjun Dev Ji while compiling the holy Guru Granth Sahib included his 41 verses along with banis of other saints. It is said that during his last days he visited Chittor on the request of Rani Jhali for his blessings where he was given a warm welcome on his arrival. After living there for some time and blessing the people with his discourses, he left his mortal body leaving his footprints which are still preserved there in front of the Meerabai temple. In his writings, he idealized a city or a place to be known as Begumpura where every soul lived without pain, fear or suffering and all people are equal without any discrimination. Now his birth place has been named as Begumpura. This is evident from one of his verses,
“Aisa chahun raj mein jahan mile sab ko ann,
Chhote bare sab sam base ravidas rahe parsann”.
His message of love, devotion, universal brotherhood, casteless society and above all service to humanity is much relevant in present times.
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